New business and underwriting rank highest in importance
Advisers ranked New business administration first, followed by Underwriting services and Claims handling and administration staff.
Defaqto undertakes an annual satisfaction survey among financial advisers to establish the service levels of providers of wealth and protection products. This paper sets out the results for the protection market in 2026.
The findings are based on adviser feedback and form the basis of the Defaqto Service Ratings awarded from 1 February 2026, providing a structured, adviser-led benchmark of service standards across protection providers.
Satisfaction levels range from 72% to 92% across disciplines
New business achieved the highest satisfaction level at 92%, while Business development managers and Claims handling and administration staff recorded 72%.
Service performance differs by discipline
Highest scoring providers vary across underwriting, new business, claims handling, online services and technical support when results are weighted by adviser-ranked importance.
HSBC Life (UK) Ltd ranked first overall for service in 2026
Based on total above average scores weighted by the importance attributed to each service discipline.
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The survey assessed service performance across seven protection disciplines, combining satisfaction scoring with adviser-ranked importance to determine overall Service Ratings.
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Advisers were asked to nominate providers they had placed business with in the previous 12 months and to rank them in order of preference where more than one provider was selected.
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Satisfaction was scored using a 1 to 5 scale, where 5 represents very satisfied and 1 represents very dissatisfied.
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Defaqto calculates a satisfaction index for each provider by working out the percentage of above average scores and weighting the result by the importance attributed to each discipline. The Service Rating is based on these indexes, with 70% of the average importance ordinarily being the Gold benchmark.
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Highest scoring providers differ by discipline. HSBC Life (UK) Ltd achieved the highest weighted score across multiple disciplines including Business development managers, Claims handling and administration staff, Online services facilities and Underwriting services.
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Shepherds Friendly Society achieved the highest weighted score for New business administration and Existing business administration, while Royal London ranked highest for Technical assistance.
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Based on total above average scores weighted by importance across all service disciplines, HSBC Life (UK) Ltd ranked first overall for service in 2026.
Read the full report