The GI opportunity advisers can’t afford to ignore

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How general insurance helps advisers stay connected with clients long after mortgage completion

SECURING A mortgage and buying a home can be one of the most stressful times in a client’s life. The headline moments in the homeownership dream − questions around finances, interest rates and payment plans − tend to dominate the conversation, meaning that one key element is often overlooked: general insurance (GI). GI plays a critical role in protecting not only the client’s property but also everything that goes into it − while simultaneously offering advisers a touchpoint for future conversations. In a recent interview with Mortgage Introducer, Scott McLoughlin, head of intermediary at LV= General Insurance (LV= GI), revealed that by actively ignoring that important GI element of the mortgage conversation, advisers are doing themselves a huge disservice. “Because of people’s concerns now with issues such as the cost of living and mounting bills, mortgage advisers are more aligned to financial advisers nowadays. I think it’s more important than

LV= General Insurance (LV= GI) provide a range of insurance products for intermediaries to sell to their clients, because they know you’ll always have your clients’ back, so they’ll always have yours. At LV= GI, they believe outstanding people deliver outstanding service, and that powers performance for you and your business. But it’s their combination of people and technical capability that delivers better results for everyone. One community, working effortlessly together to bring the best to you and your clients.

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What’s included in LV= GI’s personal belongings cover?

Personal belongings cover is an optional extra that you can add to your LV= home insurance policy.

“That could be nearly £2,500 worth of items you’re carrying in your bag without even thinking about it. Is it insured? Probably not”

Scott McLoughlin, LV= General Insurance

ever for financial advisers to instil [the need for GI] in their clients,” he said. Clients need to understand that their adviser is considering the bigger picture, not just the transaction because, as Scott put it, advisers should always have their clients’ best interests at heart.

“If you’re ill or in poor health, people can rely on their protection policy to help them pay all those bills,” he said. “And home insurance should absolutely be seen as no different. You’re going through this process to make the single biggest outlay of the money you have in your lifetime in getting that mortgage, so you want to make sure you can stay there and that your worldly possessions going into the home are covered too.” “The reality is that the contents of a home accumulate slowly over time, often without people noticing how valuable they have become. After all, no one buys the contents of a house over a weekend − it’s over a long period of time and we’re all

constantly adding to and upgrading [those contents]. And the financial impact of losing those possessions can be enormous. “In that moment, when they’re having a catastrophic home insurance claim, their mind goes to ‘How do I replace all the belongings in my house?’ It’s not just about getting a new wardrobe − it’s about replacing everything. When you start to relay that to the clients, that’s really when they have their ‘aha’ moment.” In the current economic climate, the challenge is even greater. With inflation still sitting high and the cost of living taking a toll on people’s finances, people simply can’t afford to draw huge sums of money from their bank accounts. “People don’t have enough savings in the bank to do most things at the moment, let alone go and completely kit out a kitchen or a bedroom or replace their entertainment system,” added Scott. For advisers, the goal is not to create fear but to build understanding, with Scott highlighting that the conversation is about perspective rather than pressure. “It’s not about putting the fear factor into them; it’s about getting them to see the bigger picture. The value of insurance becomes clearer when clients consider the everyday items they use constantly − the bit that they’re living and breathing day in, day out. When they’re sat on the sofa and they’re looking at the TV − when they consider the clothes they’re wearing or the toys their children are playing with.”

‘Start sowing that seed the first time you meet your clients’When GI, or rather the risks of not having it, are brought to light, the cost of forgoing the coverage just doesn’t bear thinking about. For Scott, a core part of making open conversations work is emphasizing communication from the very beginning of the client relationship − and especially ensuring a smooth GI conversation when clients are remortgaging. “The key to all of this is communication − that really is everything,” he explained. “Advisers should start really sowing that seed the first time you meet your clients.” Setting expectations early helps to avoid unwanted surprises later in the process. As Scott pointed out, if a client is confronted with an incident that they didn’t expect, their guard automatically goes up − and that makes the adviser’s conversation even more uncomfortable. However, if advisers explain their role clearly, those conversations feel natural rather than intrusive.

“We’re trying to champion GI and better educate the industry that it’s not just a transactional requirement; it should be in place for the life of that mortgage”

Scott McLoughlin, LV= General Insurance

Once this groundwork is laid, GI can also become a valuable way for advisers to maintain ongoing relationships with their clients. And, because GI policies typically renew annually, they create a natural point of contact every year, while also keeping advisers connected to their clients’ changing circumstances. When advisers explain from the outset that they will be in touch again, clients expect the call. Without that contact, however, relationships can easily fade over time. “If you arranged a mortgage with somebody and they had no indication they were going to speak to you again but then they picked up the phone to you four and a half years later, would you remember who they were?” asked Scott. “People’s lives change very, very quickly. You might be on your first property on your own, but over a period of time you find a partner, you then might get married, you then have a dog, you might then have children, all the while grappling with job and health changes. If you didn’t speak to somebody for five years, you wouldn’t know any of those changes had happened.” The value of the bag: tools to help customers understand the value of GI

All of these changes lead to opportunities to further discuss a product or better protect somebody. At LV= General Insurance, their remortgage toolkit includes a questionnaire that advisers can use to better understand where their clients are and what their insurance needs might be as circumstances can change throughout the term of a mortgage deal. “It’s important to ask clients about any recent life events,” Scott said. “Have you got married? Have you bought any expensive items of jewellery? Do you now have any children? Have you changed jobs? It opens up the conversation for the advisers.” Each of these life events and milestones requires different types of protection. One of the most effective ways Scott illustrates the benefits of possessions cover is through what he calls the “value of the bag” example. He explained that when running events, he would sometimes ask participants to empty the contents of their everyday bag onto the table. The result is often surprising. People may casually list the items they carry − an iPad, a purse, a wedding ring −- but rarely stop to consider the combined value. Until, suddenly, the reality becomes clear. “That could be nearly £2,500 worth of items you’re carrying in your bag without even thinking about it,” revealed Scott. “When you’re carrying all of that in your bag − is it insured? Probably not. Fast forward five years and you’ve got yourself a family − they’ve got their own iPads or handheld gaming consoles or e-books even. If one of those items goes missing, the reaction can be immediate.”

Manager meeting clients in his office. Happy young married couple sitting at table listening to realtor, real estate agent, loan broker or mortgage advisor telling about options they can choose

Published 20 Apr 2026

With their personal belongings cover there’s a limit of £5,000 per item. Any item worth more will need to be specified on the policy.

Money and credit cards are covered for £500 for Gold and £1,000 for Platinum policies as standard. If personal belongings cover is selected, then they'll cover these away from home too.

Source: LV= GI

People Powering Performance: A new podcast series from LV= GI

At LV= GI, they’ve gathered some of the sharpest minds in the industry to share their insights, so you can put their knowledge and expertise into practice. Real conversations that offer practical advice to power your GI business forward. Each episode, their head of intermediary, Scott McLoughlin, sits down with a different guest to tackle the topics that can make a difference to your business right now. Take a look at the innovative new series here.

Home insurance should be seen as no different to life insurance “Advisers should adopt the stance that they’ll make sure that the income the client has helps them get the property that they want and, ultimately, that the client can stay there for as long as they want to − until they move house or sell up,” said Scott. This broader mindset is where GI becomes critical. The mortgage itself may be the starting point, but the surrounding protections are what ensure long-term security. As Scott told Mortgage Introducer, the real role of an adviser is “making sure that there are mechanisms and products around the outside of the process that cover for all eventualities − not just that initial mortgage”. While the mortgage application itself may be relatively straightforward − “I found a house I want, I want a mortgage, can you tell me if I can get one?” − the risks surrounding homeownership are not always so simple. However, Scott argued that securing GI should be placed before income protection.

Commission calculators Going beyond the benefits for clients, GI also represents a significant opportunity for advisers themselves. Scott described GI as “the golden egg of opportunities for advisers that they pass by.” The key difference lies in its recurring nature. “The beauty of it being renewable every 12 months is a massive USP to home insurance,” he explained. “Home insurance pays you that commission at year one, and then when it renews it can pay you the same commission at year two and year three and year four. [In fact], the merit commission that you would

earn over the lifespan of a home insurance policy would probably be on a par with the sort of commission you could earn from proc fees.” At LV= General Insurance, they offer advisers access to commission calculators − a free online tool that helps build a clear picture of any earnings potential. By taking the guesswork out of the equation, these calculators help advisers really see the rewards of offering their clients GI at the start of the mortgage process. There is a long-term business advantage to GI too − a strong GI book can become a valuable asset in its own right. “If you have a home insurance book of business, you can sell that and somebody will buy that from you,” said Scott. “Advisers who build a portfolio of policies effectively create a recurring income stream that has real market value. You could say, ‘I've got a book of maybe a thousand GI policies. It earns me X amount in a year.’ And, if people are looking at the longer term and going, ‘What’s my get-out plan here?’ it’s not a bad way to go by having GI in there.” Educating the industry on the power of GIFinally, Scott highlighted an important industry issue that advisers can help address – that buildings insurance is a mandatory requirement when taking out a mortgage. “Having buildings cover with your mortgage is a mandatory part, so you have to have the building insured before you can have your mortgage,” he explained. “As soon as you’ve got your mortgage, there’s no checks in place from a lender point of view or from a regulator point of view to make sure you’ve still got that cover in place. “If that’s cancelled on day one of you moving into a property, that doesn’t exist anymore and the risk is still very much there. If the house was to fall down, how do you rebuild that with no insurance in place? “At LV= General Insurance, we’re trying to champion GI and better educate the industry that it’s not just a transactional requirement; it should be in place for the life of that mortgage. [Essentially], that GI really is an integral part of the picture − and I think advisers can really help drill that home from their side too.”

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Disclaimer: LV= General Insurance is a leading insurance business offering a range of general insurance products and is owned by Allianz. LV= is one of the UK’s leading life and pensions mutual insurers, offering a range of investment and protection products. LV= is not owned by or associated with Allianz.