Paymentshield has launched a series of webinars to help brokers develop general insurance (GI) knowledge to enable them to protect and grow income.

The webinar aims to tackle a range of topics, including how to compete and win business against online comparison sites.

A recent YouGov survey commissioned by the insurance provider found that 38% of consumers preferred to use a price comparison site to find home insurance, compared to 5% of people who said consulting a professional broker or financial adviser was their chosen method.

The threat was also highlighted in Paymentshield’s annual broker survey, conducted in March, where more than half (53%) of brokers cited price comparison sites as the biggest threat to the financial services industry.

The findings revealed that 60% of respondents are missing opportunities to sell GI, with 45% saying that less than a quarter of the advisers in their wider business activity sell GI.

Recently, Paymentshield reported that in 2019 mortgage advisers missed out on £47.8 million of untapped earnings simply from failing to provide a home insurance quote to every mortgage client.

In light of this, its webinar series is aiming to plug the knowledge gap and arm brokers with ‘the confidence to carve out new opportunities in GI’.

Alongside competing against online comparison sites, the webinars will tackle subjects such as how to effectively use the Defacto Compare tool, how data-led decisions can drive sales and influence behaviour, and how technology can drive a positive customer experience.

Emma Green, head of sales at Paymentshield, comments: “We realise advisers can sometimes find it challenging to compete with internet comparison sites which focus on delivering the cheapest price, but which does not necessarily translate to delivering the best advice or value for the customer.”

“We have designed the webinar series to specifically target the skills and strategies necessary to empower brokers when having GI conversations with their clients.”

Green says tools such as Defaqto Compare can help advisers to highlight the value of their advice by comparing policies on features and benefits. In doing so, they can find the right policy that truly meets the needs of the client.

The series will run weekly between 6 August and 3 September and will be available via Paymentshield’s BrightTalk webinar channel.