AEGON has extended its successful tele-claims service to include income protection, waiver of premium and total and permanent disability, following a successful roll-out in March of the tele-claims service across critical illness and terminal illness claims.
Says a spokesperson: “AEGON ran a three-month tele-claims pilot for critical illness and terminal illness claims at the end of last year, with the results showing that the average time for a claim decision to be made was reduced from ten to five weeks.”
Matt Rann, group jead of Underwriting and Claims at AEGON, said:
“When advisers began to understand that their customers were speaking to highly trained claims assessors and that the speed of the claims process was significantly improved, the take-up rate of the tele-claims process surged to around 90 per cent by the end of the pilot.
“One of the key concerns we had from advisers at the start of this process was how customers would perceive the service. Would they be intimidated by the process, or feel they were being interrogated? We’re pleased to say that customer feedback has been positive with all agreeing that the service was very helpful, sensitive and assisted in a quicker claims decision being made.”
Jason Betteridge, an IFA at Sutherland Independent Ltd, said:
“Tele-claims can provide a better way of handling a claim as it’s important for claims to be processed as quickly and easily as possible. At what is no doubt a difficult time for the customer, the last thing they want to do is complete paper forms, which for many can be difficult to understand. With tele-claims all of the information can be obtained over the phone by the claims assessor in one go, allowing the customer to focus 100 per cent on battling their illness, in the full knowledge that their claim is being handled as quickly as possible.”
AEGON’s claims assessors have a minimum of five years experience and are able to discuss and explain policy definitions and answer customer queries over the phone. This ensures the correct information is obtained at the beginning of the claims process, allowing the claim to be submitted quicker.
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Further information
Kevin Brown
Media Relations Manager
AEGON
0131 5492859/ 07740 897282
About AEGON:
In the UK AEGON offers pensions, life insurance, asset management and financial advice to around two million customers. AEGON UK has assets under management of £55.7 billion and employs approximately 4,900 staff.
AEGON is one of the world’s leading insurance groups with approximately 28,000 employees world wide and 40 million customers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON’s revenue generating assets totalled EUR 361 billion at December 31, 2009.
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