Don't ignore the importance of SIIAP!

• Buying insurance/investment?
• A simple transaction?

For many people (including Service personnel) buying insurance, making an investment or arranging a mortgage is a straight forward enough affair, requiring little thought on the differences between one providers offering and the next. After all they're all pretty much the same aren't they?

They see an ad on television, a poster in the bank (or these days pick up a leaflet from their local supermarket) and after a brief telephone call to a Call Centre (in England if they're lucky) or a few clicks with a mouse they're on cover.

But have they bought the right cover for their needs?

Under current legislation an insurance provider is obliged to identify your 'needs and demands' but the small print, contained in most policies, can affect many Service personnel and the insurance provider may not even realise how inappropriate their product actually is! If the buyer doesn't ask about possible shortfalls then the sale will be regarded as 'compliant' with no come back on the Insurer if the cover doesn't meet the customer's requirements when a claim occurs.

And it's not just the inadequate product that's the problem. Sometimes the service provided just cannot meet the requirements of Service personnel and their families.

The mortgage lender who declines an application because the borrower is not on the electoral register has frustrated many a family who are simply currently based overseas.

For some Service families trying to deal with a number of UK based companies can be a nightmare which gives the impression that their definition of BFPO is B****y Forces Posted Overseas!

SIIAP Member Firms are well aware of the circumstances of Service life and will have made special arrangements to overcome these problems. Data Protection Act rules that prevent wives from handling routine matters when their husbands are deployed can be easily overcome with a little forethought that will be second nature to a SIIAP Member Firm but far too much trouble for many organisations who simply don't understand the problem.

So what are the pitfalls of buying an insurance product from a non SIIAP Member?

Perhaps surprisingly almost every insurance product you can think of requires special attention to meet all the needs of a Service lifestyle.

In this guide we highlight the typical problems encountered and what you can expect from a SIIAP Member Firm.