ING Life has once again scooped the top award for the total and permanent disability term and rider category of the Money Management/Dexx&R Adviser Choice Risk Awards 2010.
ING’s OneCare product secured poll position last year following a number of changes to the restrictions on the sum assured as well as age restrictions on life insurance, and it seems it is still garnering favour with the adviser community.
“Over the years, we believe we have had the leading product in this field and continue to make enhancements to ensure we match the individual needs of all our customers.
"We have a very good service proposition, which is easy to use and allows advisers to submit business easily,” says Gavin Pearce, general manager, insurance at ING Australia.
Pearce says the firm’s work with advisers and consumers enables it to act on feedback and deliver on its promises and credits ING’s win in this category to the flexibility of its product.
“The main focus we have is to keep responding to adviser and customer needs by evolving the product. Our term and total and permanent disability (TPD) solution enables advisers to tailor the solution to the needs of the customer.
"Advisers can now combine multiple lives under the same contract and allows a range of customers’ needs to be covered at a reasonable price.”
Technology and a product overhaul were the reasons Tower Life took out silver in the term and TPD rider category. Its newly launched, Accelerated Protection product was 18 months in the making, with the firm flushing out the best bits of three separate products to introduce a more streamlined solution.
“We were looking for simplification and better technologies to both the product and the application process,” says Jim Minto, managing director at Tower Life.
“We were looking to integrate the Accelerated product, Partner product and Tower product together to produce one quality solution for advisers. Our prime focus is on death and TPD and lump sum business, and we want to continue to innovate and develop this through best practice and technology.”
A review of premium rates and improved flexibility in benefit levels were contributing factors to Zurich’s success in securing bronze in this category. The firm has introduced a number of enhancements to its product over the last 24 months including improved definitions and additional features such as accidental injury.
Zurich has also become very focused since April 2009 on trying to tap into the 35-55 year-old TPD market, an area it will continue to focus on, said Marc Fabris, national manager, sales, strategies and research, life risk, at Zurich Australia.
“The 35-55 year-old target market is our prime focus and we aim to continue to be competitive in this key segment of the market where insurance is critical,” he said.
Fabris added Zurich has generally been in the top three firms, in terms of price, since further reducing its premiums in May this year.
