BT named Risk Company of the Year
BT Financial Group has been named Risk Company of the Year in the Money Management/DEXX&R Risk Company of the Year Awards, securing the win from TAL and OnePath, which have taken the top spot for the past four years.
BT Financial Group, Life Insurance Products, National Manager Scott Moffit attributes the win to proactive product development and transparency in the claims process as well as offering choice to advisers and clients as to how they access and pay for life cover.
"We have been active in product development while there has been a contraction in the market and we have expanded our range in key areas. We also invested in the service proposition to advisers including a new underwriting booking service and making it simple to roll cover over for people who wish to fund their cover via superannuation," Moffit said.
"Phil Hay (BT Financial Group's head of life insurance) is also very vocal about transparency in our claims process and we have evolved that to a high degree and it has played a large part in our advice offering."
BT's success in the awards follows a number of years of working on the claims process according to BT Financial Group, National Claims Manager, Life Insurance, Paula Bourke who stated the group has been awarded the C-MAP A* Mark of Excellence for 2011 to 2015.
‘We understand that being transparent about our claims service is important for building trust with advisers and consumers. Since we are confident that we strive to deliver the best we can, we continually allow independent assessors to review our claims service."
"Our goal is to help our customers achieve better health outcomes following a period of disability, particularly if they have been out of work. We know that long-term worklessness is one of the greatest known risks to public health, so helping customers avoid long-term disability is one of the most rewarding roles in life insurance," Bourke said.
Adviser Choice Risk Company of the Year 2014
Gold - BT Financial Group
Silver - TAL
Bronze - OnePath
Adviser Choice Term & TPD Products 2014
Gold - AIA Australia : Priority Protection - Term Life Plan
Silver - OnePath: OneCare Life & TPD
Bronze - TAL: Accelerated Protection Life & TPD
Adviser Choice Risk Trauma Products 2014
Gold - OnePath: OneCare Trauma Premier
Silver - MLC: MLC Insurance Critical Illness Plus Rider - EBO
Bronze - BT Financial Group: BT Protection Plans (Living Insurance Plus)
Adviser Choice Risk Disability Income Products 2014
Gold - TAL: Accelerated Protection Income Protection Premier
Silver - MLC: Insurance Income Protection Platinum
Bronze - AIA Australia: Priority Protection - Income Protection Advantage
Adviser Choice Risk Business Overhead Products 2014
Gold - Clearview: LifeSolutions Business Expense
Silver - BT Financial Group: BT Protection Plans (Business Overheads and Key Person Income)
Bronze - Macquarie Life: FutureWise Business Expenses
Adviser Choice Super Risk Term & TPD Rider Product 2014
Gold - BT Financial Group: BT Protection Plans (Term Life, with linked TPD Benefit) on Platform
Silver - Russell Investments: Russell Super Solution
Bronze - OnePath: OneCare - Life Cover Super
Adviser Choice Super Risk Disability Income Product 2014
Gold - BT Financial Group: BT Protection Plans (Income Protection) on Platform
Silver - MLC: MLC Insurance Income Protection Platinum Super
Bronze - OnePath: OneCare - Income Secure Basic Super
Recommended for you
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.
The firm has announced it will no longer be writing new life insurance policies in the retail advised and corporate group insurance channels, citing a declining market and risk adviser numbers.
