The Keep Britain Working report lays out a stark reality: the UK is losing working-age people to ill health at scale, and it is impacting households, employers, and the wider economy. In this final episode of Season 2, we unpack what the report says, what needs to change, and why staying connected to work is often better than falling out of it entirely.

Stevie and Matt are joined by three expert guests: Dr Julie Denning (Working to Wellbeing, Chair of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association), Monica Garcia (MT Consulting, Trustee of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association), and Roy McLoughlin (Protection Distributors Group). Together they explore how early intervention, vocational rehabilitation, and the modern income protection proposition can help more people stay in meaningful work and reduce long-term absence.

Key learnings from this episode:

• Why the report is action-focused and what it is trying to unlock next (frameworks, evidence, and delivery)
• Early intervention in practice, including how it shows up across both group and individual income protection
• The value of proportional benefits and alternative roles: “can’t do your job” does not mean “can’t work”

To read the Keep Britain Working report, use this link, or search “Keep Britain Working report”.

📣 Send the podcast your questions, thoughts or advice to feature on a future episode via:

Voice notes via SpeakPipe
Or email Info@IPTF.co.uk

📣 For More Education, Collaboration and Insight:

IPTF Website
IPTF on LinkedIn
IPTF on YouTube
IP Task Force on Instagram

Produced and edited by SEA Studios

Consumer Duty regulations are reshaping protection advice by shifting the industry from box-ticking compliance to a genuine focus on client outcomes. This shift enables advisers to deliver more meaningful, goal-oriented conversations about financial security.

Keith Richards from the Consumer Duty Alliance joins us to discuss how things are shaping up 2 years on, before we get an adviser's view from Jiten Varsani from FortyOne Money

Key learnings from this episode:

• Consumer Duty represents a transformation from prescriptive, rules-based regulation to outcomes-focused approaches
• Keith Richards explains how the Consumer Duty Alliance provides free self-assessment tools and resources for advisors
• Vulnerability considerations have expanded beyond permanent conditions to include temporary circumstances requiring additional support
• Claims handling is improving with streamlined processes, digital signatures, and dedicated support contacts
• Cross-referrals between protection specialists and wealth advisors are increasing to provide holistic financial planning
• Documentation now focuses on evidencing client outcomes rather than just product recommendations
• Consumer Duty encourages advisers to break complex advice into manageable, client-friendly segments
• The Protection Alliance is being developed to support protection specialists specifically

To claim your unstructured CPD and learn more about Consumer Duty, visit consumerduty.org for free tools and guidance. Register now for Income Protection Action Week 2025, running 22nd September, at iptf.co.uk.

📣 Send the podcast your questions, thoughts or advice to feature on a future episode via:

Voice notes via SpeakPipe
Or email Info@IPTF.co.uk

📣 For More Education, Collaboration and Insight:

IPTF Website
IPTF on LinkedIn
IPTF on YouTube
IP Task Force on Instagram

Produced and edited by SEA Studios

In the latest episode of Let’s Talk Income Protection, Matt and Stevie dive into the rise of menu plans. More advisers are recommending combinations of products like life, critical illness, and income protection together.

To help us dive into this topic this month, we’ve got two fantastic guests joining us today, firstly Zoe Mears from iPipeline to dig into what the latest data is telling us about trends in this space and then we speak to Gemma Sawyer from Switch Financial Services to get a real-world view from the adviser side.

Income protection usage is growing significantly, with multi-benefit plans showing a strong upward trend as advisers deliver more comprehensive protection recommendations to clients.

Listen now to learn more about:

• How income protection sales up 15% year-on-year, with even stronger growth in multi-benefit structures
• Why multi-benefit plans now account for 33.7% of all applications through iPipeline
• Why income protection now features in half of the top 10 multi-benefit combinations, up from 30% last year
• How short-term income protection with 4 and 13-week deferred periods dominates multi-benefit plans

📣 Send the podcast your questions, thoughts or advice to feature on a future episode via:

Voice notes via SpeakPipe
Or email Info@IPTF.co.uk

📣 For More Education, Collaboration and Insight:

IPTF Website
IPTF on LinkedIn
IPTF on YouTube
IP Task Force on Instagram

Produced and edited by SEA Studios