Ep.46 - Difficult conversations and three asks of the insurance industry, Kathryn Knowles, Cura The Risky Mix Podcast

The Key Learning Points:
1. Three things the insurance industry can do to help those outside of the industry with health conditions, who don’t know anything about insurance
2. The support that advisers need when speaking with customers who could be in vulnerable situations
3. How companies can create a culture that removes barriers for employees with health conditions
On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we're joined by Kathryn Knowles, managing director of Cura, protection advice business focused on ‘insuring the uninsurable’. She’s also a podcasting pro, hosting The Practical Protection Podcast and has won a number of industry awards including Female Diversity Champion of the Year and Social Media Influencer of the Year!
Kathryn entered the protection industry back in 2010 and around a similar time, she started looking for her own personal protection insurance. Because she has hypermobility syndrome and suffers with generalised anxiety disorder, only two insurers even considered her application: “I’ve got a mortgage, I’ve got a husband, I’m working full time. And yet I can’t have insurance.” Eventually, she accepted insurance at a higher premium, which she was told that was because of her mental health, an explanation she found difficult: “You’re being told that you’re still not normal!” Kathryn saw a need to help those outside of the industry with health conditions, who have limited knowledge of insurance. This became a focus when launching Cura in 2012.  
The conversation moves onto the support that advisers need when speaking with customers who could be in vulnerable situations and who need to have challenging conversations around physical and mental health. Kathryn explains that advisers at Cura have six months of training – three months training on the industry and three months on how to approach difficult conversations and also complete industry exams. “Tone and empathy is a massive thing with our advisers.” Cura has a “red flag system” in their office, so if someone needs support they wave their flag: “It’s the responsibility of the owners of advisory firms to make sure that the team is completely safe and they have these systems in place to feel safe.”
We ask Kathryn what three asks she has of insurers and the industry:
1.  More detailed decline letters - “I think there is a duty upon insurers to contact people and speak through it.”
2.  Broadening critical illness definitions – introducing more catch-all, broader, definitions
3.  More life cover for people who’ve had mental health conditions – using more self-harm and suicide exclusions: “A lot more people would be happy with exclusions than insurers think”
We then chat more about the Cura team that Kathryn and Alan have built. The team of 20 is very diverse in terms of gender, with 80% females and 20% males. She explains: “It’s who comes to apply to work for us. So far, it’s been a lot of women who want to work for us, and we’re getting quite a few female advisers now.” Kathryn explains that Cura still has some work to do to achieve a better racial mix: “I’ll be very honest and say that the company is white. That’s not something I like. I would absolutely love to have more diversity in the company." Kathryn hopes that remote working will help to achieve a greater mix around race and ethnicity.
Kathryn adds that many individuals within the Cura team have health conditions and explains: “We’re diverse when it comes to gender and we are very inclusive when it comes to health.” She has focused on removing barriers for Cura employees - for working parents, they offer adapted hours to fit around schooling. Cura also offers flexible hours to fit around sporting seasons and events for team members taking part in local sporting activities.