The Intermediary –- May 2026 - Flipbook - Page 8
BRIDGING THE
GENERATION
GAP
PROTECTION ADVICE FOR
GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS
by Marvin Onumonu
The protection market is undergoing a quiet
clients are immediate and tangible. High debt
challenges facing older borrowers or the self-
burdens, job insecurity, and limited employer
employed, a new conversation is emerging among
benefits mean that even a short-term loss of
advisers: how to bridge the generation gap and
income can have lasting consequences.
ensure Gen Z and Millennial clients are not left
As the cost-of-living crisis bites, younger
vulnerable as they enter the property market and
borrowers are more exposed than ever, with
face new financial risks.
many lacking the financial safety nets older
For brokers, this shift is not just an
opportunity – it is a responsibility. The way
generations took for granted.
advisers engage, educate, and support younger
The protection question
clients will shape the future of protection and
Despite the clear need, take-up of protection
financial resilience for decades to come.
products among under-35s remains low. LV=
The new generation
young people have income protection, and
The UK’s younger generations are facing a
CIExpert reports that fewer than 10% of first-
research suggests that only 5% of self-employed
financial landscape that is radically different
time buyers (FTBs) discussed protection in depth
from that of their parents.
during the mortgage advice process.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS)
estimates that nearly 40% of workers under 35
Alan Lakey, founder and director of CIExpert,
says: “Among younger clients, one of the most
are engaged in non-traditional employment – gig
persistent misconceptions is that serious illness,
economy roles, contract work, freelancing, self-
disability or death is something that happens to
employment. With rising rents, student debt, and
‘other people’ much later in life.
delayed family formation, their financial lives are
anything but vanilla.
Rhys Schofield, protection adviser at Peak
Mortgages and Protection, says: “One of the
“If you’re in your 20s or 30s, reasonably
healthy and busy building your career, it’s very
easy to assume, almost unconsciously, that you
are invincible.”
biggest misconceptions is that protection is
Lakey points to a poor understanding of what
something you only need when you’re older,
protection does, adding: “Many younger people
married, or have children.
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Yet the truth is that the risks facing these
revolution. While headlines often focus on the
think of it as a kind of vague back-up, without
“A lot of younger clients think, ‘I’m healthy, I
appreciating the specifics: replacing income
rent, I don’t have dependants – why would I need
if they cannot work, clearing or supporting
life cover or income protection?’”
mortgage payments, funding adaptations to
The Intermediary | May 2026
