Hi everyone, we are on the final episode of Season 5 of the podcast. We are going to be taking a break over summer as we all have little kids that we are going to manically trying to wrangle during the summer holidays. We will be back in September with Season 6.
We have some super fun guests on our podcast episode today. Grace, Theodore, Sophia, Alexander, Kaydee, Kara and Zachary. The Cura Kids! It always stands out to me that the average reading age in the UK is that of a 9 year old. So does what we say to people and the documents that we give them make sense?
The kids range from age 4 to 12. I’ve done this specifically so that we get the older ones that are almost 8 through to 12, to give us a really good idea of how the average person views our terminology. The ones under 8 are here for, let’s face it, the cuteness factor.
This episode is not a super long one, I didn’t want to overwhelm the kids and there is a limit as to how much I could say insurance jargon to them without it getting super super boring. I made sure that I told them all how brilliant they were doing, that they had the brilliant job of being teachers for once, telling us adults where we are getting it wrong and being too confusing.
The key takeaways:
- The average reading age in the UK is that of a 9 year old, none of our guests were able to understand our technical jargon.
- The one thing that the kids got close to getting ‘right’ was what a policy lapsing means.
- That when we use terms like serious or critical illness the kids did wonder about cancer (included in CIC/SIC contracts) but they also thought covid too (not included in CIC/SIC contracts).
I appreciate that this was not a scientific experiment but what I can share is that out of the older children taking part they are all familiar with very serious medical conditions in their close family members. As an example my dad has Parkinsons and isn’t particularly well, my children see him most days and they didn’t think of this when I asked them about critical or serious illnesses. Others have experienced close family members with cancers and strokes. Maybe sometimes when we experience something and we see people living with a condition or recovering from it it can become almost normalised, so we don’t then see it as something out of the ordinary. It brings an extra dynamic to wondering if the reason that critical illness and income protection is sold so much less than life insurance, is because some health conditions now feel as if they are part and parcel of life.
We are back in September for Season 6 of the podcast. I am so pleased with how the podcast is being seen as a useful resource by advisers. I even spoke with a compliance consultant recently who said that she’d heard of me because one of the firms she takes cares of uses us for their IDD CPD.
So far we are at:
> A bank of over 52 hours CPD
> Over 6,000 unique listeners
> Over 13,000 downloads
> We’ve issued over 1,200 CPD certificates, that’s over 1,000 hours of CPD!
Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.
If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my Protection Insurance in Practice course here.
Kathryn (00:03):
Hi, everybody. Today is a bit of a quirky episode. Um, we have rounded up the Cura kids and asked them to help us explain insurance more. Do they understand our jargon? Could we be explaining ourselves better? There’s lots to find out. This is the Practical Protection Podcast.
Kathryn (00:24):
I am going to ask you just a couple of questions. I think there’s about 10 questions. Okay. Do we think we can do that?
Kaydee & Kara (00:30):
Yes, we can.
Kathryn (00:31):
Amazing, amazing. So, if I was to ask you, what do you think life insurance means?
Theodore (00:39):
Uh, where someone like, if something happens to you, they make sure like all your money goes to like relatives and stuff.
Alexander (00:47):
Do you mean a company? What helps people?
Kathryn (00:50):
Yeah, kind of, yeah.
Zachary (00:52):
It means you have a life, and it isn’t sure.
Grace (00:58):
Um, so like, if you needed like help with money or something like that, they would like help you with it.
Sophia (01:11):
Um, where you help people with insurance, for thier life.
Kaydee (01:17):
I don’t know.
Kara (01:17):
I don’t know either.
Kathryn (01:21):
That’s ok, that’s absolutely fine. Why would you know? That’s absolutely fine. How about if I told you that somebody had a critical illness, so someone’s poorly the critical illness. Can you think of what that might be?
Kara (01:36):
When they had a crash?
Kathryn (01:38):
When they’ve had a crash? That’s such a, such a good suggestion. Well done. Sometimes it can be that, that was a really, really good option. Well done.
Theodore (01:46):
Like something like cancer, uh, diabetes.
Alexander (01:50):
For the injured.
Zachary (01:53):
It would mean they would be critically.
Kathryn (01:58):
Okay.
Sophia (01:59):
Um, that the illness could, um, really harm you and maybe kill you.
Grace (02:07):
Don’t know.
Kathryn (02:08):
That’s okay. Well done. Well done for saying don’t know, it’s really hard actually. One of the hardest things to do as we get older, especially as well is saying that we don’t know. So how about if I do this one, I’m gonna change the word ever slightly. Okay. So what happens if I said, if I said that someone’s had a serious illness, what do you think that might mean?
Theodore (02:30):
Like maybe whichever cancer, whichever is the lowest cancer.
Alexander (02:37):
Uh, that would be not sure.
Zachary (02:42):
Um, it’ll be serious and, and it’ll be illness.
Grace (02:48):
Uh, like life, life threatening.
Kathryn (02:51):
Yeah, exactly. It would be, it’d be life threatening. That’s really, really good. Really smart way of saying it.
Kaydee (02:56):
It means they’re really ill, maybe COVID.
Kathryn (03:00):
Really ill. Maybe had COVID, really smart, really clever because COVID has been around quite a bit. Hasn’t it? And people have been super poorly with that. If I were to say something like the words, income protection to you, can you have an idea as to what that might be?
Theodore (03:16):
Like money protection in like banks, just to make sure like it doesn’t get hacked or something.
Sophia (03:22):
Income protection. Mm-hmm no.
Kathryn (03:27):
Okay. Well, well done. That’s absolutely fine. Not to worry.
Grace (03:30):
No.
Kathryn (03:31):
Okay. Well again, good job. You’re doing really well at being honest and truthful with me.
Kaydee (03:35):
Protection?
Kathryn (03:37):
Protection. Yeah, absolutely. Kara?
Kara (03:41):
I dunno.
Kathryn (03:41):
That’s okay, darling. That’s absolutely fine. So I’ve got a little bit of a scenario for you now. It’s a bit of a math one, but don’t worry. I’ve made it nice and straightforward. I think I’ve made it nice and straightforward. So if I haven’t, you get to tell me off, because I’m meant to be doing this. So it’s nice and easy for you guys. Okay. So if, as you get older, I’m assuming that you’re planning on maybe working someday. Do you know what you might want to do when you’re older?
Grace (04:04):
Interior designer.
Kathryn (04:06):
That’ll be amazing. What do you two want to do when you’re older? Do you know yet?
Kaydee (04:09):
I wanna be a vet.
Kara (04:12):
I wanna be like mummy.
Kathryn (04:14):
Oh, you wanna be a like mummy, you can absolutely come and work with us Kara. Any day. Unfortunately, Kaydee, we don’t have lots of pets <laugh> well, we do. I have a little Fudgy. I have a little Fudgy woo. Who is around me somewhere. Um, so maybe you could look after, maybe you could look after all the animals for Cura, so let’s assume that you are older. Okay. And you’re now working. And what do we say? You maybe earn a thousand pounds a month. Does that sound nice?
Sophia (04:40):
Yes
Kathryn (04:41):
That really does sound nice. Doesn’t it? Okay. So earning a thousand pounds a month, but there’s one thing about it. If you are ill, you won’t get your money. Okay. If you’re ill and you can’t work, you can’t get your money. Okay. Does that make sense?
Sophia (04:58):
Yes.
Kathryn (04:59):
So how about if I turned around and said, right, if you can’t work, you’re not gonna get your money. So when you get your thousand pounds each month, if you give me 10 pounds out of that thousand pounds, if you are ill and can’t work, I’m going to personally make sure that you get a thousand pounds every month. Does that sound like a good idea?
Sophia (05:21):
Yes.
Kathryn (05:22):
It does. Doesn’t it that’s exactly what income protection is. Okay. It’s basically, we’re giving somebody some money so that if we’re ill, that we still get our, our usual money, we still get that thousand pounds, which is really, really nice. Isn’t it?
Theodore (05:36):
Yes.
Alexander (05:36):
Yes.
Zachary (05:38):
Yeah.
Sophia (05:39):
Yes.
Grace (05:39):
Yeah.
Kaydee & Kara (05:42):
Yes.
Kathryn (05:42):
That does make, makes a lot of sense that doesn’t it? Okay. Now this next one is super, super technical words. Okay. But people really expect people to know this as an adult. Okay. So I wanna see what your thought is on it. So when we buy insurance, we can get something that’s a little bit of an extra. Okay. Which is known as waiver of premium, really specific term waiver of premium. Do you have any idea what that could mean?
Theodore (06:12):
Don’t know. I’m not sure.
Zachary (06:16):
It, it, it means waving of re re know it, it means of wave of remo. Is there?
Sophia (06:30):
No.
Grace (06:31):
No.
Kaydee (06:32):
I have no idea.
Kathryn (06:33):
You have no idea? Oh, okay. Do you know what most adults don’t know either. I think the only adults that know are the ones who work in like the companies that me and your mummy work in. Some shorter questions now. Okay. So if I were to say to you policy schedule, do you have an idea about what that might mean?
Theodore (06:53):
Is it kinda like a schedule, like a calendar, something like that, what you do for each day?
Alexander (06:59):
Like a writing document
Kathryn (07:01):
That’s really close. Well done.
Zachary (07:04):
Um, it’s policy and it is a schedule.
Grace (07:07):
No.
Sophia (07:08):
Um, a schedule for policy.
Kaydee & Kara (07:13):
I dunno.
Kathryn (07:16):
In tandem. Absolutely. Yeah. A lot of people aren’t sure what that is, so, okay then, bit of a slightly different one here. So can you think about what a policy term might be?
Theodore (07:29):
Don’t have a clue.
Alexander (07:30):
I’m not sure.
Zachary (07:31):
It is a policy and it is a turtle.
Kathryn (07:35):
It is a turtle. Okay.
Kaydee (07:37):
I have no idea.
Kara (07:37):
I dunno either.
Grace (07:39):
No.
Sophia (07:40):
The same?
Kathryn (07:42):
The same as the policy schedule?
Sophia (07:44):
Yeah.
Kathryn (07:45):
Okay then. Yeah. Well, I was gonna say that’s really smart to think of it like that. Cause it’s kinda like the terms. So what that means is, um, is how long it lasts for. Okay. But that was really clever, you know, term terms, terms and conditions. Well done. Now this has got a really, really insurance word in it. Okay. So how about if I were to say to you that something was canceled from inception, can you think of what that would mean?
Theodore (08:12):
Still have no idea.
Alexander (08:14):
Uh, I’m not sure.
Zachary (08:17):
We, we are canceled and from it and we can go in reception.
Kathryn (08:25):
Oh, okay. You can go in reception. Okay.
Grace (08:28):
<laugh> No.
Sophia (08:28):
Um, something’s been canceled?
Kathryn (08:32):
It has been canceled. And in that specific way, it means it’s been canceled from the start and it’s as if it’s never existed.
Kara (08:40):
I have no idea.
Kathryn (08:43):
That’s absolutely fine. I didn’t expect that you would. Now again, another insurancey word. Okay. Can you think of what a non-disclosure might be?
Theodore (08:55):
Nope.
Alexander (08:56):
Not sure.
Zachary (08:58):
It, it, it means, it is, is a explosion.
Kathryn (09:10):
An explosion. Okay.
Grace (09:11):
No.
Kaydee (09:18):
Don’t know.
Kara (09:18):
Don’t know either.
Kathryn (09:18):
You dunno either? OK. <laugh>.
Sophia (09:23):
Um, that it doesn’t disclose?
Kathryn (09:27):
If I said to you that your policy was about to lapse. Can you think of what that might mean?
Theodore (09:34):
Don’t have a clue.
Alexander (09:36):
Uh, that it’s going to stop.
Kathryn (09:39):
Yeah. Stop for a bit, yeah.
Zachary (09:40):
It, it means it is a place and it is lapsed.
Grace (09:46):
Collapsed?
Kathryn (09:48):
Collapse is a really good, that’s a really good way of understanding that well done.
Sophia (09:53):
Um, your policy was about to collapse.
Kathryn (09:56):
That is a really, really sensible way of thinking about it. It’s so similar, isn’t it? And yeah, it’s pretty much that it means it’s going to end,
Kara (10:04):
I don’t know.
Kaydee (10:05):
Something has crashed in to it.
Kathryn (10:08):
That’s a really, really good way of looking at it. It’s very similar to the word collapse. Isn’t it, collapsed kind of thing and things collapse when crash into them. So well done. And the last one, something that we will love to talk about in our company and in our industry is something that’s known as a value added benefit. Can you guess what might be sort of like a benefit of having an insurance policy?
Theodore (10:34):
If you work like double or something, it’d be like bonus money.
Alexander (10:38):
Helping people.
Kathryn (10:41):
That sounds good. Well done.
Zachary (10:43):
It is a value added benefit.
Kathryn (10:47):
Okay. Thank you.
Grace (10:49):
You got extra insurance.
Kathryn (10:52):
That’s really clever. That’s a really smart way of looking at it. Thank you, Grace.
Sophia (10:56):
Adding value to the benefit.
Kathryn (11:00):
Yes, it is. It’s adding value to the benefit. You’re absolutely right. So in terms of that one, what that means is if somebody has insurance, then as well as having the insurance, they get something extra on top. Something that’s really, really useful that they can use at any time.
Kaydee (11:14):
Money.
Kathryn (11:15):
Money, <laugh>, that’s a good one.
Kara (11:18):
Paying money for other people.
Kathryn (11:20):
Paying money for other people. You have all done. So, so well, and we gonna be making sure that you get lots of goodies as a thank you. Thank you, everybody to listening and, um, hearing the wise words of, uh, Theodore Alexander, Zachary, Kaydee, Kara, Sophia and Grace. Now this is the last episode for the summer. After the summer, we’re gonna be back with season six. We’re gonna be talking our way through the way that insurers analyse advisers, writing high net worth business and things like as always our health side of things. So the insurance, after having an organ donation and much, much more, if you’d like a reminder of the next episode, um, please do drop us a message on social media or visit our website practical-protection.co.uk. And don’t forget that if you’ve listened to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on the website too. Thanks to our sponsors, the Octo Members. Thank you guys.
Transcript Disclaimer:
Episodes of the Practical Protection Podcast include a transcript of the episode’s audio. The text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record.
We often discuss health and medical conditions in relation to protection insurance and underwriting, always consult with a healthcare professional if you are concerned about any medical conditions and symptoms we have covered in any episode.
