New awards to recognise stellar life insurance service

According to a statement, the awards will be based on the policyholder and claimant component of the Beddoes Institute’s broader industry-wide customer experience benchmarking program, the Life Insurance Industry Performance Barometer.

The research uses feedback received from more than 2,000 policyholders and claimants in March and April 2016, the statement said.

Preliminary awards based on the results from the March/April 2016 research will be announced this month, with winners being recognised at the awards night in November.

AFA chief executive Brad Fox said the awards reflect the opinions of policyholders and will drive higher standards of client experience from life insurers.

“The Consumer Choice Awards demonstrate the leadership position we are taking on improving the life insurance experience of policyholders and claimants,” Mr Fox said.

“We know that consumers who arrange their life insurance through a financial adviser already have a considerably better claims experience than those who rely on direct insurance and group insurance inside their superannuation fund, but the bar can be raised even further.”

Beddoes Institute director Rebecca Sheils said: “The research provides the industry with an integrated and holistic view of how well life insurers are servicing customers, as well as their relative position in the broader market context”.