Our friends at Compass the LGBT Financial Advisers were recently featured in Money Section of the Independent on Sunday as part of their annual Gay Pride edition. Their Lead Financial Adviser was interviewed about all areas of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender financial advice, including questions about Life Assurance, Mortgages and Parenting.
Here are some extracts and comments from the article first published in the Independent on Sunday 28th June 2015.
So is there really a need for minorities to seek specialist finance advice?
Historically there certainly was. Chris Morgan is Lead Financial Adviser at Compass, a mortgage and insurance advice service that specialises in looking after Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and HIV Positive clients. He has spent much of his career working to end discrimination among insurers against the gay community.
He says that in the past there has been a real need for IFAs to champion their client’s interests and steer them towards providers that were less likely to treat them badly simply as a result of their sexuality. “Going back a decade, there was a lot of discrimination towards gay people by the insurance industry in particular, which of course knocked on to their ability to get mortgages”, explains Mr Morgan.
“Gay men used to be sent for an automatic HIV test by insurance companies and there were lifestyle questionnaires where they would ask about a person’a sexual behaviour. There was even a thing called speculative underwriting, where insurers would speculate about a person’s sexuality based on their occupation. For example, male ballet dancers, hairdressers and cabin crew would routinely be automatically sent for an HIV test”.
Today, however a lot has changed, Insurers will not ask life insurance applicants about their sexuality; instead, all life and protection applicants are asked a general question about whether they have been exposed to risk of HIV infection in the past five years. Some insurers may ask whether the applicant practises safe sexual behaviour, but their actual sexuality is not considered relevant.
Chris Morgan believes that many still prefer tailored LGBT Financial Advice.
“I spend most of my time these days planning Life Assurance for gay families – gay and alternative parenting is exploding. ” he says. ” We look after gay & Lesbian couples who have children, transgender people who have children. Last week I arranged Life Assurance for someone who is intersex. There is definately a demand for specific financial advice within the LGBT community.”
For some people, that demand is driven by a desire to keep their relationship or family status private. Mr Morgan explains: “A person’s sexuality can be a private issue that they don’t want in the public domain. For example, a client came to me recently who really didn’t want to talk about his personal affairs with a local IFA – he came from a small village in Scotland.
“Then there was a young guy in Manchester who simply did not want his parents to find out about his sexuality, so did not want to use a local adviser. People have their own reasons for using an LGBT financial adviser. So, there’s discretion and privacy, but also understanding and empathy with their circumstances. Gay parents, for example, or alternative parents like trans parents, come to me because they feel they can discuss their affairs openly without any judgement or issues”.
Another area where customers may prefer specialist knowledge is insurance for those living with HIV. Mr Morgan suggests that many HIV Positive people of any orientation will prefer to approach an LGBT financial adviser. “Sometimes HIV Positive people simply don’t want to share their health status with a bank, building society or mainstream brokers.
Compass are the UK’s leading LGBT Financial Advisers. They have been at the forefront of fighting for equality for the LGBT Community since 1999 and are currently the UK’s most experienced financial advisers servicing the Gay, Lesbian, Bi sexual, Transgender and HIV Positive communities.
If you require more information on LGBT Finance including Gay Life Insurance, Gay Life Assurance and Gay Mortgages you an contact our sponsors Compass Mortgage & Insurance Services on 0845 474 3075, or by email at Enquiries@compassindependent.co.uk or on the web at www.compassindependent.co.uk