December 2019.
On point

December 2019.

Ho ho ho – welcome to your December issue of On Point!

This month we’re focusing on claims. We’ve got a great new flyer summarising our FY19 claims stats and a story about a customer who’s not letting Parkinson’s slow him down.

Don’t forget, if you have any feedback on On Point or the way we communicate with you we’d love to hear it - click on the link at the end of the page.

Get your claims info here

We know advisers love claims info! That’s why we’ve been working on building out the claims page on Adviser Hub so you’ve got everything you need at your fingertips.

2019 claims flyer

We’ve published this great new flyer highlighting our $1 billion claims milestone and a breakdown of the claims we accepted in FY19. Printed versions will shortly be available from Soar, in limited quantities.

Case studies

We’re also working on some new claims case studies. In our latest one, Mike Havill was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2012. While he was determined to keep working for as long as he could, by 2018 he needed to reduce his hours and claim on his income protection policy.

But Mike’s not letting Parkinson’s slow him down. In February he joins over 1,000 riders from all over the world taking on the Tour Aotearoa. Read about Mike’s journey here.

Claims tips

Claim time can be stressful enough for customers so, to help avoid any surprises or delays, make sure you understand the cover your customer has in place before you submit a claim. For example:

  • If your customer is claiming under trauma, is the condition they’re suffering from listed under their policy?
  • Are there any stand-down periods that might apply or limitations to pass-back wording by way of pre-existing conditions?
  • For income protection claims, is the time off work likely to exceed the wait period?
  • If your customer has an indemnity policy, are they self-employed and do they have a complete set of business accounts they can provide, if required?

If you’re ever unsure your customer might have a claim under their policy, feel free to get in touch with our Claims team. They’re here to help – call 0800 88 22 88.

For more claims tips, go to our claims page

Listening Post

Customers’ feedback about their claims experience tells us:

  • It’s the moment of truth - it’s when they get a return on their years of paying premiums. Their expectations of a positive outcome are extremely high
  • They’re usually in distress, so frequently and proactively keeping them informed throughout the process is important
  • If their claim’s declined, we need to clearly explain why if we want to maintain their trust

We’ve found it’s a much smoother experience for customers when advisers and Fidelity Life work together to address these points.

Holiday hours

Date Opening hours and commission payments
24 December
Last commission payment before Christmas
25-26 December
Our offices are closed
31 December
One-off commission payment
1-2 January
Our offices are closed
6 January
Commission payment schedule back to normal

Our retention efforts are paying off

In October’s On Point we mentioned the great work our Retention team’s doing to help customers retain their valuable cover.

By saving policies from being cancelled, assisting customers to pay arrears and reinstating lapsed policies, we’ve been able to retain policies with a combined API value of $3.6 million since July this year!

Retention is good business. This excellent result shows the value our combined efforts are having in keeping our customers protected – so thanks!

Updated Replacement Form

If your customer has existing cover with us, or another insurer, and it’s being replaced, you must complete a Replacement Form. Using this form gives you a framework for explaining to your customers the risks and benefits related to replacement policies.

The updated form is more user-friendly with less technical jargon and will be available on Adviser Hub and Web Apollo from 31 December. We’ll be rolling it out across Desktop Apollo and paper applications through January. Keep using the current version until your physical stock has run out and we’ll let you know when Desktop Apollo has been updated.

In brief

Menu
  • Adviser Centre / Adviser Hub login issues?
  • Do you have a communications strategy?
  • Be Free out this week

Adviser Centre / Adviser Hub login issues?

If you’re having trouble, make sure you log in to Adviser Centre using your agency number and to Adviser Hub using your email. Check out our FAQs for more help.

Do you have a communications strategy?

Your business should have one explains Trecia Brown, our Head of Professional Development, in this article published on RiskInfoNZ recently. For more professional development resources check out the Professional Development page.

Be Free out this week

The December issue of our customer newsletter covers the Mike Havill story and features top tips for sunblock coverage with a giveaway - read more here

I hope you enjoyed this issue of On Point. As always, if you have any questions or if I can help in any way please drop your Business Manager, Business Account Manager or the team a line.

On Point is taking a little break and will be back in February 2020. In the meantime, we hope you have an enjoyable holiday season and we’ll see you refreshed in the New Year.

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