APFS cuts AXA from risk menu
AssociatedPlanners Financial Services(APFS) has droppedAXALife Insurance from its list of recommended insurers after the two groups failed to reach an understanding over claims made by planners with the dealer group.
It is not the first time such an action has taken place in the industry, but has set a precedent, with APFS one of the first groups to go public with such a move.
APFS risk products marketing manager Col Fullagar says the move was due to concerns over issues relating to how claims were handled by the insurer.
“There was feedback in the group around problems with AXA claims and as part of reaching our decision, we undertook a review of policies held with Australian Casualty & Life (AC&L) and AXA,” Fullagar says.
The review was carried out on a confidential basis with AXA management, with APFS stating it was satisfied with the AC&L approach to claims management.
However, Fullagar says the dealer group was not satisfied with the way “files reviewed were handled by AXA and was disappointed by the attitude of the AXA management”.
He says in one case, the findings were material to the decision made but AXA had refused to discuss the file, claiming it had already been internally reviewed on several occasions and the client should take legal action to have the matter considered again.
As a result of this, APFS has dropped AXA from its recommended list of products for new risk business and notified advisers last week of the move, with Fullagar stating APFS would also monitor existing policies and claims in the future.
AXA risk products national retail sales manager Adrian Emery says it has worked with APFS for four months to explain how AXA handles claims and felt the impasse had been reached over a handful of technical issues.
“In the past 12 months we have paid out more than 45 claims from AC&L and AXA to APFS clients and this matter has been to the highest level in AXA. We feel we are correct in our position in this case,” he says.
As a result of APFS actions, Emery says AXA will continue to work with the dealer group and outline full details behind all the claims between the two groups as a way of illustrating why it has maintained its position.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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