Customer reviews 'critical' to future of financial advice

Customer reviews are "critical" to the future of financial advice, according to ClearView.

The listed financial services company has released a new booklet of customer reviews — Claims at ClearView: What our customers say about us — which features nine customers who shared their experiences in getting life insurance and claiming on their policy, after suffering an unexpected accident, injury or illness.

Of the nine customers, seven have had a claim paid in the last 24 months including five in the past year.

“The industry has historically struggled to clearly articulate the tangible value it adds but it’s on full display during claim time,” ClearView managing director Simon Swanson said.

“That looks like helping a client in desperate need complete and lodge a claim application, arrange doctors’ appointments, liaise with insurers and, ultimately, telling them that their claim has been accepted.”

The booklet includes reviews from a customer who lost her husband of 50 years, another who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and another who was recently diagnosed with lewy body disease.

Mr Swanson said the stories shared highlight the value of professional advice and the difference it can make in peoples' lives.

“Life insurance advice and the impact of the Life Insurance Framework are key focus areas of the Quality of Advice Review (QAR), which creates a unique opportunity for life insurers and financial advisers to get their clients to advocate for them,” Mr Swanson said.

“Customer reviews are extremely powerful and if we don’t talk about our successes, then no one else will.”

The booklet release comes after ClearView claimed that the QAR could determine the fate of almost 90 per cent of Australian advisers. 

A survey conducted by the company between 20 April and 23 May 2022 found that 67 per cent of respondents would stop providing standalone risk advice and 20 per cent are unsure if they would continue if further changes were made to life insurance commissions.

Participants also said that the contentious Life Insurance Framework (LIF), introduced in 2018, had “no material impact” on advice quality and actually hindered advisers’ ability to serve clients.

Just 5 per cent said LIF did have a material impact on advice quality.

Appearing on a recent episode of the ifa Show podcast, Mr Swanson said that view by the survey respondents was “a fair call”.

“My view is that's quite understandable too, because I don't actually think the LIF framework actually does have much impact on the quality of advice per se,” he said.

Listen to the full podcast with Mr Swanson here.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.