And now for something completely different

And now for something completely different

We started with a clean sheet of paper, and then put ‘customer’ pride-of-place in the centre.

We then logged their needs, ranging from essential to luxury; we examined the causes that could disrupt their income; we looked at the actuarial relative risks and benefit amounts; we took into account thousands of calls we have had with real customers; we crafted key customer sales messages that are motivating and relevant to them.

We then focused on the critical catalyst: that we must up-sell the customer from a successful product (in terms of volume of sales) rather than try to convert them to a failing product (even if, at first sight, this seems the logical and technically correct thing to do).

We then returned to our sheet of paper and added these words: ‘Treating Customers fairly requires keeping it simple’. Blindingly obvious? Brilliantly simple? Unashamedly, absolutely yes, and it was this eureka moment that became the driving force behind Real Life Cover.

Real Life Cover is what consumers and the market have crying out for. It is sensible and easy-to-understand. Its focus: to cover all the really important aspects of financial protection for the mass market. There should be no reason for the mass-market customer not to buy, no barrier for the intermediaries to selling and no reason for providers not to pay genuine claims. It has been designed to deliver on everyone’s expectations, throughout the value chain.
We believe that only this proposition could justify the name of Real Life Cover. The industry currently markets a plethora of life and general protection covers, together with reams of options included within menus or otherwise, designed to meet any conceivable need. The result is an offering so complex that sophisticated IT systems struggle to cope, much less the ordinary customer or intermediary. Even in the FSA’s thematic review of CI (May 2006), they drew attention to the fact that, where there are many optional covers, policy documents were long and complex. Indeed, our kick from complexity has spawned an impenetrable science, intelligible only to actuaries and medical consultants!

Real Life Cover:

meets the basic needs of the mass-market, leaving the nice-to-have covers as top-ups, or standalone additional sales. It is designed to be fail-safe. It also meets the baseline specification of MPPI, as proposed by the CML and ABI in its Sustainable Homeownership Initiative.

offers an easy, pre-set range of well-balanced covers, just as a car manufacturer includes a range of basic safety features. Because it’s simple, it actively helps the customer to make better decisions.

has been designed for the world of TCF and ICOB, and is great news for intermediaries. It’s clear, simple approach will help them make personal recommendations that meet their customers’ core reasonable demands and needs. It is the basic building block or starter pack for customers with no cover and a limited budget. No longer will intermediaries have to make difficult product comparisons and recommendations among similar products with an overlapping range of claims triggers. Nor will they have to tell the customer that the policy does not meet all their demands and needs. Nor will they have to seek detailed medical disclosures to know whether a pre-existing condition bites, or explain complex exclusions or benefit limitations.

is a better solution for non-advised sales, as it has been designed to meet the customers’ real needs – unlike the hit-and-miss lottery of many of today’s non-advised products. Of course, advice will always lead to a better quality of decision.

is well-set to stop the decline in rider sales (as we have seen with accelerated CI and MPPI) and allow the life insurance industry and life intermediaries to grab a greater share of the existing MPPI market.

is unique: it is simple and understands the needs and aspirations of 21st century customers; and it’s a genuine breakthrough, set to become the most significant single development in the life protection market.