Brokers and advisers have accused YuLife of poaching their clients with Bupa group healthcare products, with some intermediaries losing business to the organisation.
One adviser told Corporate Adviser a client who had been placed with YuLife had been asked how they were getting on with them, and they replied “great, they were on the phone last week and they were asking about the PMI as well”.
YuLife says it is not a broker and has no plans to become one. It says it has only ever been in touch with employers where they have expressed an interest in its marketing material.
But another adviser who had had a similar experience said: “When challenged, they said they had got in touch with them because the client had shown interest in an online submission, but the clients haven’t. It’s really naughty.”
One adviser suggested that the clients involved may have clicked a general consent to be marketed to by partners, rather than an explicit group PMI piece of marketing.
Another adviser said: “It seems to me that they are a broker.”
Yet another adviser reported a colleague ‘fuming’ that he had lost a client he had introduced to YuLife for its PMI, which they had placed through their relationship with Bupa.
In September 2023 YuLife partnered with Bupa for a group health insurance option, that allows members to access flexible cover alongside the range of health and wellbeing tools and services it already offers.
Keith Bale, chief revenue officer, YuLife rejected the criticisms, saying: “YuLife do not offer consultancy services to clients nor are we planning to. 50 per cent of our customers are first time buyers of benefits and our approach is to work with advisers to grow the market. But to do this we need a different approach to marketing. We market widely to all potential customers within our identified profile who are likely to need benefits for their employees. As soon as we identify the adviser for that client, we refer them to that advisor for any consultancy services required and seek to build a deep partnership with that advisor to serve the needs of the client. This is a different approach than simply sitting back and waiting for inbound quotes, but it’s the pro-activity needed to grow the market.
“We have deep partnerships with a large number of advisory/consultancy firms who appreciate our proactively and enthusiastic message to the market about the importance and value of protection products.
“We are incredibly passionate about growing the market for the benefit of all and we will continue to strengthen our relationship with advisory/consultancy firms who as this is, and always will be, our route into the market.”