Cirencester Friendly has retaliated against the government's push for simple financial products.
Paul Hudson, chief executive of Cirencester, says income protection (IP) is already a simple product and effort should be directed elsewhere rather than on the consultation on simple savings and protection products from Mark Hoban, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
He said: "The problem isn't that all IP products are complex, there are IP products in the market for all budgets and customer types. The problem is that excellent initiatives from the likes of The Income Protection Task Force and the Consumer Engagement Campaign can only do so much to raise wider consumer awareness of IP in what is a highly competitive financial services and protection market."
Mr Hudson suggests that what is needed from the government in 2011 and beyond is support to raise the profile of IP to the entire UK workforce and to help educate them on its importance. He added the government should not overlook the fact that some simple products already exist.




