Claims specialists placed at call centre: Aviva

 



Ms Lee How Teck, Chief Operating Officer of Aviva has responded to 2 letters published in the online forum of The Straits Times, one by Mr Sim Eng Cheong calling for the setting up of an insurance hotline for emergencies (Jan 17) and the other by Mr Foo Der Chyang titled; Caught between insurer and hospital!

Ms Lee has clarified the matter with Mr Foo and apologised to him for the lapse in customer service.

In line with our efforts to make things as simple and easy as possible for customers, for the past year, we have placed claims specialists at our call centre in order to immediately resolve claims queries whenever possible. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

To make things as simple and easy as possible for customers, Ms Lee mentioned that for the past year, Aviva have placed claims specialists at their call centre to immediately resolve claims queries whenever possible.

Ms Lee further reiterated that Aviva will continue to work closely with hospitals to improve the customer experience.

my comments:

i'm not too sure why mr sim and mr foo did not get in touch with their adviser to help them in their hour of need.

because i believe their adviser will do their utmost to be of service to them.

in my 18 years in the financial industry, i place the highest priority in servicing my clientele and believe me, this is where i do more than just walk the talk.

and having said this, servicing remains the biggest challenge to any company or individual because more often than not, customers can be downright demanding, often expecting the impossible to be executed almost immediately.

and as the saying goes, the customer is always right!

REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

I REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5)

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpufV

REFER to the letters ("Set up insurance hotline for emergencies" by Mr Sim Eng Cheong, Forum Online, Jan 17; and "Caught between insurer and hospital" by Mr Foo Der Chyang, Forum Online, Jan 5). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/claims-specialists-placed-call-centre-aviva-20150128#sthash.RuiJK9oA.dpuf

Death & Taxes

today, i couldn't get my daily news feed through reading the printed copies of The Straits Times & The Business Times which my office has a long-term subscription.

why?

i learnt that our newspaper vendor (literally) dropped dead this morning while on his rounds to deliver the dailies. i was told he suffered a massive heart attack.

my comments:

my empathies to the bereaved family and immediately, many thoughts crossed my mind like:

is the deceased the main bread winner?
how will the family cope, whether emotionally and financially?
what about their bills?
and lifestyle?
and etcetera, etcetera.

that's why in life, the only certainties are death and taxes, whether direct or indirect taxes or both.

and death is no respecter of persons, whether one is king or pauper and financial planning can no longer be viewed as an option but much more so when the big picture changes.

today, i am still more passionate in what i do as an IFA, even though i'm no longer a spring chicken having chalked up 17 years with PromiseLand Independent.

if there's one New Year resolution that need to be made in 2015, i implore my readers to not continue to procrastinate in doing their financial plan, very much like what the Nike tagline says, "Just Do It!"

Insurance sales: More info, less understanding

on ms elizabeth tan boon kwan's letter; "guard against overselling of insurance policies", published in the straits times last thursday, mr wilfred ling's follow up letter appeared in the straits times on Jan 03, 2015.

mr ling pointed out that there are several insurance advisers who continue to oversell insurance policies even today, even after the passing of the financial advisers act in 2002.

mr ling also highlighted investment-linked policies which have often been marketed as having the benefits of both insurance and protection.

but on both of these and i quote mr ling;

"many of these policies' insurance charges rise in exponential fashion as one ages, resulting in these policies lapsing because the policyholders are unable to continue paying the premiums and the cash values are insufficient to cover the shortfall."

there's a more significant point on the requirement of financial advisers' recommendation of products which is based on a 'reasonable basis' and hence, there is no fiduciary requirement.

mr ling concluded that our government should consider adopting the model of the united states, where a registered investment adviser has a fiduciary duty to look after the interest/s of the client.

my comments:

yes, who can disagree that in any industry, there will always be the proverbial black sheep indulging themselves at the expense of their clients.

on investment-linked policies, this was the response of the insurance industry to compete against collective investment schemes (prior to the introduction of the fa act) as the very first regular premium ilp product was launched way back in the 3rd quarter of 1992.

mr ling is correct to emphasise that insurance (or assurance) charges rise exponentially as the life assured ages, often after attaining his/her golden years and cash values may not be sufficient to keep the policy in-force. and there is even a 'double whammy' when the market enters into a bear phase and more investment units are cancelled to pay off the assurance charges.

and finally, i repeat mr ling's call on the MAS (monetary authority of Singapore) to look into more measures to protect the interests of our consumers, notwithstanding the implementation of the FAIR* recommendations already in place.

*FAIR = Financial Advisory Industry Review.

  The 5 Key Thrusts of FAIR:

1. Raise the competence of financial advisory representatives
2. Raise the quality of financial advisory firms
3. Make financial advice a dedicated service
4. Lower distribution costs of insurance products
5. Promote a culture of fair dealing

n reality, many of these policies' insurance charges rise in an exponential fashion as one ages, resulting in these policies lapsing because the policyholders are unable to continue paying the premiums and the cash values are insufficient to cover the shortfall. Many young policyholders will realise this problem only after 40 years. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/premium/forum-letters/story/insurance-sales-more-info-less-understanding-20150103#sthash.bFuy33X5.dpuf

Ms Elizabeth Tan Boon Kwan ("Guard against overselling of insurance products"; Thursday). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/premium/forum-letters/story/insurance-sales-more-info-less-understanding-20150103#sthash.bFuy33X5.dpuf

Ms Elizabeth Tan Boon Kwan ("Guard against overselling of insurance products"; Thursday). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/premium/forum-letters/story/insurance-sales-more-info-less-understanding-20150103#sthash.bFuy33X5.dpuf

Ms Elizabeth Tan Boon Kwan ("Guard against overselling of insurance products"; Thursday). - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/premium/forum-letters/story/insurance-sales-more-info-less-understanding-20150103#sthash.bFuy33X5.dpuf

AIA - Launch of New Products

 
AIA recently launched their first products for 2015 and they are:

AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus and Early Critical Protector Life (Rider) and AIA Platinum Heritage (II)

• AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus is a participating whole life plan which provides death (to age 100) and total and permanent disability (to age 70) benefits, with premium payment terms of 12 or 20 years. GPP provides a guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit which boosts the coverage up to age 65 by the choice of the MDB multiplier selected. GPP comprises AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus Accumulator and AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus Booster.
• 
  

• Early Critical Protector Life (ECPL) is an optional accelerating critical illness rider which can also be attached to AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus to provide critical illness coverage arising from different stages of severity. It also provides additional critical illness coverage on certain special critical illness conditions. ECPL provides a guaranteed Minimum Critical Illness Benefit which boosts the coverage by the same MDB multiplier chosen. ECPL comprises ECPL on AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus Accumulator and ECPL on AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus Booster.
•  
• AIA Platinum Heritage (II) -  a single premium participating whole life plan designed for Affluent and High Net Worth individuals to meet their legacy planning and wealth accumulation needs. AIA Platinum Heritage (II) is available in both USD and SGD.  
•  
• my comments: 
• with every new product launch will translate into more choices for consumers and these products are also available through PromiseLand Independent.

guard against overselling of insurance products

 

 
on January 01, 2015, there was a letter published in the straits times from a ms elizabeth tan boon kwan (ms) recounting her experience of taking up an Axa Life Platinum 5 policy in 1997.

she added that her agent sold her the policy with a projection to pay premiums for just 14 years (based on the critical year option) because of its unique bonus utilisation scheme (to pay further premiums) and that Axa Life had a solid record of paying out bonuses.

ms elizabeth tan recently found out, after calling Axa Life's customer service hotline that the policy had been doing poorly and the projected critical year had been pushed back to 2021 - by which time, she would have paid premiums for 24 years.

she ended her letter by calling on the authorities, be it the insurance companies or the Government to enforce strict regulations to stop agents from overselling the benefits of policies in order to close a sale.

note: for more information on life policies with critical year option:

http://www.lia.org.sg/node/1652

my comments:

the call by ms elizabeth tan has not gone unheeded by both the insurance companies and our Government and in the case of policies with critical year option has been totally disallowed as in the following notice from the LIA (Life Insurance Association of Singapore) issued by Mr Raymond Kwok, the then president of the LIA Singapore:

"Since 1 July 2002, the life insurance industry has decided to remove the illustration of Critical Year. This was done to remove any possibility of misunderstanding on this issue."

prior to this date, the selling of life policies with critical year option is not confined to Axa Life alone.

the other good news is that there is now a proliferation of life policies offered by many life insurers priced with limited premium payment. in other words, these life policies have a defined premium payment term, be it for example, a single premium (or single payment) or for 5, 10, 15, 20 or even 25 years. these policies are entirely dissimilar to those with critical year option and once the customer has completed full premium payment of the premium term, there is no further obligation to continue paying premium(s).

ms elizabeth tan also laments that her servicing agents kept changing and is at a loss as to who to turn to when she needed information. she also disclosed that for the last few years, no agent has been assigned to her.

ms elizabeth tan will be pleased to know there are many advisers who will be more than pleased to assist her, not only to keep her informed but can also serve her in servicing her existing policies as well as serving her financial needs and goals.

i shall be more than happy to be able to serve her as well.