A Statement of Advice may not be what you think it is

I suspect we can all agree that, in simple terms, a Statement of Advice (SOA) is a record of advice given, recommendations made, and associated justifications. As with many things about life and health insurance advice, this simple explanation raises many questions, for example:

• What do you want to achieve with a SOA?
• How long should a SOA be?
• How detailed should it be?
• Will clients read it?
• When must it be given to clients?

What do you want to achieve with a SOA?

Do you see a SOA as essential to ‘closing the sale’? If you do, you are likely to want to keep it short and sweet. While I see the attraction of this approach, for me a SOA is much more important than simply a sales tool.

I see a SOA as important evidence accurately reflecting the advice you have given and the various recommendations made, with accompanying justifications.

In the case of initial life and health advice for a family, for example, a SOA may need lots of detail because that is what is necessary to ensure the client has enough information to make an informed decision.