More advisers have moved away from life insurance, with 12% writing no new business in the past year, according to a new Investment Trends survey.

The figure is up from 10% in the previous year.

The average planner has seen risk advice fall from 35% of total practice revenue last year to just 28% – the lowest proportion since 2013.

And consumers cancelling policies is a growing trend.

Investment Trends Senior Analyst King Loong Choi told insuranceNEWS.com.au 56% of the most recent policy cancellations were initiated by clients.

“Only 33% of cancelled policies were replaced, with 24% placed with a different insurer to the cancelled policy,” he said.

“We found only 9% of these cancelled policies were renewed with the same insurer.”

Mr Choi says the best-interests duty may be a driver in advisers writing business with different insurers.

“If an insurer [has a] more competitive offering, then the adviser is obliged to meet the best-interests duty. Insurers need to promote the competitiveness of their offerings, because the top reason advisers switch insurers is they found a better deal elsewhere for their clients.”

The report says 50% of the 620 advisers surveyed have stopped using a particular insurer during the past year.

Mr Choi says this shows insurers must increase their brand awareness among consumers, because it is easy for advisers to recommend a group of which the client has heard.

“Insurers can improve retention and reduce attrition by being responsive to advisers’ needs and keeping them satisfied,” he said.

“Opportunities for differentiation include addressing any inefficiencies in the application process, providing advisers with great support and improving their brand image among consumers.”

The report also features an adviser satisfaction survey. BT Life ranks first, followed by AIA and TAL.