AIA Australia sign direct insurance deal with Bendigo
Life insurer AIA Australia will distribute life insurance products directly to consumers after signing a five year deal with Bendigo Bank to offer a bank branded life insurance product.
As part of the deal AIA has complied a new direct life insurance product which will be offered as Bendigo SmartCover and can be purchased over the phone and via the Bendigo Bank website.
The direct life insurance product will offer cover a range of critical illnesses, disabilities and accidents and well as life protection.
The bank has stated the product “may be an ideal solution for customers who know they need life insurance but may find the process of determining the most appropriate cover too complex and time consuming”.
It said the deal came after the bank found a gap in insurance coverage of its customers and was designed to encourage them to purchase life insurance.
Bendigo Wealth executive John Billington said the research showed the bank needed to do more work to encourage customers to have insurance cover and the direct insurance route removed barriers to that taking place.
Billington said the bank had partnered with the insurer due to its scale with AIA Australia Life Insurance general manager Damien Mu stating the deal would expand its reach beyond its group and retail channels.
He said that people prefer to buy insurance from a brand with which they are familiar and for AIA to offer a branded product to Bendigo Bank’s 1.5 million customers was an 'important development’ for the insurer.
Recommended for you
The Federal Court has dismissed a conflicted remuneration case brought by ASIC against the director of life insurance distributor Freedom Group, where Bali holidays and Vespa purchases were among sales incentives.
Policy and advocacy specialist Benjamin Marshan has left the Council of Australian Life Insurers after less than a year, having joined in March from the Financial Planning Association of Australia.
The declining volume of risk advisers meant KPMG has found a rising lapse rate for insurance policies arranged by independent financial advisers, particularly in the TPD and death cover space.
The Life Insurance Code of Practice has transferred from the Financial Services Council to the Council of Australian Life Insurers.
