Navigating the general insurance conversation during a remortgage

In today’s challenging economic climate, we’re seeing that remortgages and product transfers are dominating the UK mortgage market. According to UK Finance’s 2026 mortgage market forecast, the volume of remortgages and product transfers is predicted to be vastly higher than new house purchases, with 10,000 fewer property transactions in 2026 compared to 2025. A 10% rise in external remortgaging and 2% rise in product transfers is expected, with the continued high cost of living and persistently high inflation rates likely to be the key drivers behind this trend.

As mortgage advisers, you’re undoubtedly experiencing an increased demand from clients seeking the best mortgage deals available. With 1.8 million fixed rate deals expected to mature this year and many of these likely to be on lower interest rates secured during the Covid pandemic, it’s understandable clients could be looking to lock in the stability of five-year fixed terms to provide greater financial security and peace of mind when managing their budgets.

However, while the focus is often on securing the best mortgage rates, I firmly believe it’s equally important to ensure that your clients’ home insurance cover stays aligned with their evolving needs. I appreciate that discussing home insurance during a remortgage process can be challenging, especially as clients often already have cover in place. But with the right approach and effective objection handling, you can turn this into an opportunity to add value to your clients’ financial planning.

Why home insurance conversations matter

A remortgage or product transfer application is a great time to reassess your clients’ home insurance. As their lives progress, their insurance needs may change, whether due to renovations, new hobbies, or changes in personal circumstances such as getting married or starting a family.  

By encouraging your clients to review their cover, you can help ensure they’re fully protected against life’s uncertainties. And don’t forget that home insurance also offers a fantastic way to maintain and build a relationship with your client. 

Home insurance may be the only product you can offer that’s annually renewable. This gives you the perfect touchpoint to check in with them regularly, so that they remember you and the service you offer and hopefully leads them to choose you when they need to have their next remortgage conversation.

Supporting you in the GI conversation

I caught up with Jill Carter, one of our regional account managers at LV= General Insurance. Jill has also spent many years as a training manager and shared some of her top tips which can help make it easier to introduce the subject of GI with a remortgage. 

• People buy people. Jill referred to the principle of authority first identified by Psychologist Dr Robert Cialdini. This is where people are more likely to follow advice or requests from experts or authority figures because they trust them. 

This helps them make decisions more quickly and easily without overthinking. Demonstrating your credibility and expertise is a great way for your clients to build trust in you. There’re many ways to do this including:

- Set expectations by introducing protection at the start. Explain that you’re going to help them fully protect their mortgage by reviewing their life and GI cover. If you introduce it later down the line, it can invite objections and the client may have been to price comparison sites. Think of the mortgage journey like a supermarket shop. Put a fully protected mortgage in the basket from the very beginning, not at the end. 

- Highlighting your relevant qualifications and experience can provide reassurance.

- Using third-party reviews and endorsements and examples of where you’ve successfully helped other clients. 

• Lead your conversation with the value of the cover they’re getting, not price. It can be easy for a client to focus on price, especially when it feels like their bills are at a high. However, if something goes wrong, it’s likely that their first thought will be "I hope I'm covered" not "I'm glad I paid less." 

• Flip the home insurance conversation around. Home insurance isn't just a safety net for worst-case scenarios such as a house flooding or burning down - it's protection for the things that happen every day, the lost mobile phone that’s a huge inconvenience, or spilling a glass of red wine on a sofa. Find out what’s important to your client every day and use that to start the conversation.

• Show them what they could be missing by not reviewing their cover. People generally don't like missing out. By addressing any potential gaps in their current policy, you can help clients understand the importance of tailored protection for their home and belongings. Open and honest conversations are key. This helps position you as a trusted adviser who truly cares about their broader financial wellbeing.

Remortgaging: Tools to open the door to GI 

At LV= General Insurance, we’re committed to equipping you with the tools and confidence needed to have meaningful GI conversations with your clients. We’ve developed a suite of resources designed to make the process a bit easier. These include a short questionnaire that you can send to your clients prior to the GI conversation which will allow you to personalise the GI conversation, focusing on the right features and benefits that meet the changing needs of clients and their circumstances.

For example, if you send the questionnaire to your client and they say they have children living at or visiting the property, our sales aid can help prompt you with the right questions to ask to get them to consider their needs. In this case it could be whether they need accidental damage cover or whether there could be more to insure away from the home such as pushchairs. 

As your clients’ lives move forward, their home insurance shouldn’t stand still. By taking the time to review their cover during the remortgage process, you can help them safeguard the things they love most.