Customer Impact Report for 2009

Transcription

1 Customer Impact Report for 2009

2 Contents Page Who is Scottish Provident? 3 What is the Customer Impact Scheme? 4 How did we do? 5 Customer Commitments 6 Areas highlighted for improvement 7 Summary 8 2

3 Who is Scottish Provident? Scottish Provident is one of the leading providers of life, critical illness, income protection and unemployment cover. Recognised by the industry with many awards, Scottish Provident has a wealth of experience and expertise and a flexible product range to suit everyone. Our products are available exclusively through Financial Advisers. We have a track record you can trust: since 1996 we have consistently paid out on claims. In fact, we paid out over 114 million in critical illness claims in 2008 alone*. Scottish Provident became part of the Royal London Group in December The acquisition by Royal London is excellent news for Scottish Provident and brings long term stability to our business. Royal London is committed to enhancing our proposition and investing in the products and services we offer. Royal London also brings further advantages through its mutual status, financial strength and clear customer focus. Because you never know what challenges life will throw at you, Scottish Provident is there to help you meet them. After all, it makes sense to have a plan for the future, especially when you don't know what the future holds. By choosing protection from Scottish Provident, you can enjoy a product that is comprehensive and flexible - so that it can adapt as your circumstances change. We bring innovation to the market, constantly reviewing and improving the products that we offer and always striving to listen to our customers' views. * Source: Scottish Provident critical illness claims paid, Jan-Dec

4 What is the Customer Impact Scheme? The Customer Impact Scheme is an Association of British Insurers (ABI) led initiative to research customers experiences and to track our performance. Over 85% of our sector takes part in the scheme including all the leading names in the life, pension and investment industry, and each company reports the results annually to measure progress. The 2009 survey involved over 20,000 customers and 34 participating companies. This volume of data ensures the results provide a true perspective of customers experiences. Find out more on the Customer Impact website: What is the ABI? The ABI represents the collective interests of the UK s insurance industry. It helps to inform and participate in debates on public policy issues, and also promotes high standards of customer service in the insurance industry. The Association has around 400 company members. Between them, they provide 94% of domestic insurance services sold in the UK. ABI member companies account for almost 20% of investments in the London stock market. Find out more on the ABI website: 4

5 How did we do? This was the first year we participated in the Customer Impact Scheme and our results were mixed across our customer base. This, however, gives us the opportunity to understand where we can improve and take the necessary actions to deliver an enhanced customer experience. Some of our highlights: 89% of customers rated our products as good, very good or excellent 91% of customers rated our pioneering menu protection concept as good, very good or excellent for offering a wide range of product options 93% of customers rated our customer service centre staff as good, very good or excellent for being courteous & professional Key areas for improvement: The results highlight specific areas we need to focus on, such as getting through to a person who could deal with the enquiry there and then, and staff following through on any issues. Customer Impact Index The overall Customer Impact Index score is a key indicator of customer satisfaction based on the following questions: How would you rate the overall quality of the life, pensions or savings products and services provided by Scottish Provident? If someone asked you to recommend an insurance company, how likely would you be to recommend Scottish Provident? We have already started a programme of work in these areas. This includes establishing a dedicated customer contact centre and improving the knowledge and training our service staff receive to ensure they can deal with your enquiries confidently and quickly. We will continue to monitor this area closely. Scottish Provident Industry Average Peer Group % rating excellent/extremely likely/very good/very likely Summary: Our Customer Impact Index score is behind both industry and peer averages. 5

6 Customer Commitments All companies participating in the Customer Impact Scheme have made a formal Board level resolution to ensure that the needs of the customer are at the core of the way they run their businesses. This includes three core Customer Commitments and we ve shown below how we performed against these commitments in relation to the industry as a whole and our peer group: 1. Developing and promoting products and services which meet the needs of customers 31 Scottish Provident Industry Average % rating excellent/very good Peer Group Summary: Whilst we re broadly in line with industry and peer scores under this commitment, our products are recognised as industry leading and have won a number of awards including the top Defaqto 5* Star award for four of our products. We are therefore understandably disappointed that this hasn t been recognised with a better performance under this commitment. 2. Providing customers with clear information and good service when they buy products Summary: Whilst 54% of you rated us as very good or excellent under this commitment, we are slightly behind industry and peer averages. Scottish Provident Industry Average Peer Group % rating excellent/very good 3. Maintaining appropriate and effective relationships with customers, providing them with a good service after they have bought a product 35 Scottish Provident Industry Average % rating excellent/very good Peer Group Summary: We are behind both industry and peer averages under this commitment. We fully appreciate the importance of maintaining effective relationships with our customers and have a significant piece of work under way to enhance our customer experience. We are also conducting more research to understand what our customers needs are to ensure we make the necessary changes. 6

7 Areas highlighted for improvement Our acquisition by the Royal London group in December 2008 brings with it alignment of experience and expertise in the protection industry. Royal London is committed to enhancing our proposition and investing in the products and services we offer; we have already committed to a service development programme in 2009 that will deliver a comprehensive range of actions and measures to ensure improvements to our customer experience. A few of our key activities are detailed below: In addition to our ongoing participation in the Customer Impact Scheme, we have implemented a customer survey tool in order to gather further customer feedback. Through a series of questions we are able to capture issues of importance to our customers. Since the beginning of 2009, each month we have invited 700 customers to participate in our survey activity where they have been asked to tell us what they think of the service they have received. The output from this has fed directly into our service development programme. We have already increased the number of service staff on customer contact teams, and implemented some changes to improve service delivery in our underwriting teams. We are working on improving our call routing and ensuring that, wherever possible, the first person you speak to can answer your query or deal with your request. We appreciate that the time taken to arrange a plan is important, consequently, we are reviewing our end-to-end processes, with a view to reducing the time it takes to arrange a plan. We have projects in place to increase the proportion of cases that have an immediate point of sale acceptance, and to reduce the number of requests for underwriting evidence. 7

8 Summary Overall, a mixed set of results for our first year in the Customer Impact Scheme. Since our transfer to being part of the Royal London Group, we are more committed than ever to establishing improved customer insight; listening and learning to what our customers want and finding ways to improve. We are committed to the principles of the scheme and can assure all of our customers that we view these results very seriously and will take the required actions to improve. This was Scottish Provident s first year participating in the Customer Impact scheme and although our results don t position us where we want to be, we are pleased to have gained valuable customer insight as to areas where we can improve. We have begun the programme of service improvement required and are working harder than ever in establishing where we can better our customer experience. We have started to see the benefits of this work already and are confident that this will drive an improved experience for our customers. Gordon Watson, Operations Director Scottish Provident is a division of the Royal London Group which consists of The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Ltd and its subsidiaries. The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority No and is registered in England and Wales No The registered office is 55 Gracechurch Street, London, United Kingdom EC3V 0RL. SCPR 5802 JUN 09 LD 8