Following criticism over customer service and complaints handling, life insurance companies (as well as other financial services firms) are looking to improve!
Following an IBM survey, 92% of firms said they were looking to improve. Since 1 December 2001 when the Financial Ombudsman Service received full powers, insurance companies must publish their complaints handling procedures and make them easily available to customers.
Complaints must be handled within 8 weeks and if they are upheld, the correct levels of redress must be offered. Better customer service should reduce the need for complaints. However, for those issues that slip through the customer services net, efficient complaint handling systems should make the process less painful.