WHAT DO LIFE CUSTOMERS EXPECT?
There might be some surprises in an article addressing this question which appeared in Resource, the magazine of the Life Office Management Association (LOMA). Based on a study of individual Life, Health, and Disability markets, the results came from 4,470 policyholders and 3,616 producers. The two thorny areas calling for improvement are communications and problem resolution.
P/C agencies involved with Life/Health production are in advantageous positions with both problem areas. Both policyholders and agents, the survey showed, are concerned with problems in communication. Policyholders are dissatisfied with:
- The frequency of contact with their agent
- The frequency with which their agent meets them to review policies, coverages, and benefits
- The updates they receive about new products and services
Agents want more communication, too, the survey shows. Their concerns are:
- Communication about new products
- Communication about procedural changes
- Updates on legal and economic developments in the industry
More specifically, agents want underwriters to keep them apprised during the underwriting process. They're also concerned about explanations of why policies are denied or issued at a higher rate. Agents want to be heard. One-third of the respondents do not feel the company values their input, the poll reported.
On the subject of problem-resolution, the survey noted that more than one-tenth of the policyholders experienced a problem within the last year. Most reported contacting the company about the problem, but for some the results were inadequate. They found it difficult to reach someone to resolve the problem and felt the resolution process took too much time.
Comment: P/C agencies and their Life associates are well-positioned to avoid the two major problems discussed, and to resolve them satisfactorily if they arise. Communications and frequency of contacts are easily addressed when the agency's staff and outgoing mail are attuned to Life/Health topics. Every P/C occurrence with an insured can be seen as a lead to a Life/Health (L/H)-related query, and every P/C contact should be considered a potential L/H communication. P/C insureds should never complain about infrequent contacts. Those two leading complaints about Life agents, then, should not exist in the P/C setting.