Aviva has dramatically reduced the turnaround time for medical evidence assessments, making it quicker and easier for customers to get life cover, even when additional medical information is required. Now 95% of underwriting decisions are made within eight hours of questionnaire completion and all within 24 hours.
When further medical details are needed beyond the standard application process, customers are interviewed over the phone by a team of specially trained nurses to fully understand the applicant's health history. This information is then passed directly to Aviva's underwriting team so an underwriting decision can be made. In the last year, this streamlined process has helped around 5,000 customers.
Aviva's thorough underwriting process is borne out by the company's excellent claims record. In 2010 Aviva paid out 99.6% of life insurance claims and 94.7% of all critical illness claims.
Robert Morrison, chief underwriter for Aviva says: "This is a brilliant result for both customers and intermediaries who will benefit from the improved speed of service. When a person contacts us regarding life insurance, we want to be able to offer a decision as quickly and smoothly as possible. If additional medical details are required this means the applicant will undergo a more detailed underwriting process to make sure they have the cover that's right for them. And of course getting it right at the beginning means that customers benefit when they need it most - in the event that they need to make a claim.
"Our "one stop" approach effectively combines gathering medical evidence with our underwriting decisions, which means a better end-to-end journey for the customer. Our nurses are able to immediately identify any aspect of the client's medical history which is likely to require clarification during the initial interview. This makes our evidence complete and ‘underwriter-ready', which of course is great news for the customer."
In 2010 Aviva paid out a total of more than £400 million (up from £300 million in 2009) to people claiming through life insurance and critical illness cover. This includes:
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Life insurance claims (death): £271,901,094
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Critical illness claims: £136,604,965
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Child critical illness claims: £770,000
Aviva was awarded the title of ‘Organisation of the Year' at the Protection Review Awards in June 2011.
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