Aviva service levels win adviser support

Following a review of its underwriting and administration processes, as well as a variety of product enhancements, Aviva has won this year’s Risk Company of the Year Award.

Taking the crown from Lumley Life, which has won this award for the previous two years, Aviva’s chief executive officer Allan Griffiths, says: “I believe this is in recognition for the steep improvement in Aviva’s risk offering, and our response to the market’s changing demands for wealth protection products — be this reduced prices or clearer medical definitions, excellent underwriting and of course the strength of our claims management process.”

Aviva has also achieved first place for its term and total and permanent disability (TPD) product Protection Life. Tim Cobb, general product manager, says: “I wouldn’t have been surprised if we hadn’t won term & TPD, but disability or trauma instead. From our point of view, we have made enhancements across the range and it could have been any product.”

According to Cobb, the service level given to advisers is just as important as product features in terms of generating business. He explains: “There’s no point having a really good product or really good premiums if you’re underwriters aren’t top class. You have got to make sure you can deliver the features, but also the processes that advisers can work with to get a deal for their clients.”

A consistent approach is also necessary, says Cobb. “Advisers need to know how long it’s going to take for a case to be underwritten and that, if you have got two similar cases, they are going to get the same treatment and the same answer. When they are talking to a client in advance, they want to have a pretty good idea of whether there is going to be an issue or not.”

Aviva currently offers advisers an upgrade guarantee, which means any improvement made to definitions applies to pre-existing policies. Cobbs says: “Earlier this year we upgraded 300,000 policies for all the improvements we made last year.”

Post-financial services reform, Cobb says there is a greater need for advisers to qualify the risk insurance advice being given to clients. He explains: “Advisers have got a need to know that what they sell, while it may be best advice now, will still be relevant and up-to-date in a year’s time.”

This year’s finalists in this award are Tower and Prefsure, which now owns Lumley Life, winner of this award in 2003 and 2004. Both risk providers were also named as finalists in other product categories.

According to David Callander, chief executive officer — risk, at Tower: “Tower has been around selling insurance in New Zealand, and now here, for about 145 years. They lost the plot a little bit and decided to get back to basics. So a new management team was formed about two and a half years ago, and we put together a whole set of actions to get our position back in the market.”

These actions included a dealership strategy that focused on targeting those advisers and dealers Tower wished to do business with, as well as rebuilding their claims procedure, enhancing products, and ensuring the underwriting process was sustainable.

Geoff Black, managing director at Prefsure Life, says their product range is very competitive because of its adviser input. He explains: “We certainly don’t actively look at the research and see where we sit. We do quite the opposite in fact and talk to the advisers who are advising customers and find out what they think is needed.”

Prefsure Life also has a product committee, which is made up of executives, actuaries and advisers. He says: “We use that as a sound board for product development.”