New Walsham Brothers research exposes a gap between what clients expect and what advisers actually cover on redundancy risk
Most homeowners want their mortgage adviser to raise the risk of redundancy — but most say the conversation never happens.
New research published on 4 November 2026 by Walsham Brothers, the specialist provider of mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) products, finds that 81% of homeowners believe advisers should routinely discuss how clients would manage their mortgage payments if they lost their job.
Yet among those who have arranged a mortgage through an adviser, only 26% recall that conversation taking place. A further 23% cannot remember whether it happened at all.
At a time when the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Pure Protection Market Study is pushing the industry to examine how protection is sold — and to whom — those figures land with uncomfortable weight.
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Redundancy fears are rising — and clients know it
The findings arrive at a moment of mounting anxiety about job security. More than half (58%) of respondents expect redundancy risk to increase within the next five years, according to the research. That figure climbs to 61% among Generation X borrowers and 63% among Boomers.
The concern is not unfounded. Acas has predicted that a third of UK employers will implement staff redundancies by January 2027, a projection that casts the adviser conversation gap in an even sharper light.
Jamie Leong, Senior Manager – Product & Propositions at Walsham Brothers, said: "Consumers have told us they want advisers to highlight the risk of redundancy to them, at a time when that risk feels very real. But few recall this happening — either because it clearly didn't, or because they simply can't say either way. And a fifth didn't use a mortgage adviser at all."
The awareness gap compounds the problem
Part of the challenge is structural. More than half (56%) of respondents in the survey were unaware that standalone redundancy and unemployment cover — separate from accident or sickness insurance — even exists. Only one in ten currently hold any form of income protection for redundancy scenarios.
Among those who had considered it and declined, cost was the primary obstacle cited by 32%, followed by 17% who simply did not feel they needed it. Yet the provider notes that a 38-year-old borrower could secure £1,500 per month in redundancy benefit for approximately £23.67 per month — a figure that reframes the cost objection considerably when placed in front of a client.
Leong argues the conversation starts well before the product: "There are educational and awareness needs on many levels here — from the value of taking advice on the biggest purchase most people will ever make, to advisers discussing all risks and making it clear that redundancy cover is low-cost."
What this means for advisers
Mortgage advisers operating under FCA Consumer Duty obligations are required to ensure clients have the information they need to make properly informed decisions — and that includes protection.
They now face a more direct question: if a client loses their job next year, will they be able to point to a documented discussion about redundancy risk? For any adviser who cannot evidence that in their client file, it is not a technicality — it is a conduct risk.
The Walsham Brothers data suggests that for the majority of clients, no such conversation took place. That is a vulnerability — commercially, reputationally, and regulatorily — that the industry can no longer treat as a niche concern.
As Leong puts it: "Some cover is always better than none. And cover for a risk not included in traditional income protection — redundancy — could arguably be considered an essential for all."
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