Expert claims importance of trust is overstated
By Lucy Quinton
The importance of consumers trusting the industry has been exaggerated, according to one market commentator.
Speaking at the Sesame Symposium, Peter Hamilton, protection management director at Zurich, said that, while there was a trust issue, it had been overstated in the industry. He added that although the perception in the media was that every claim was turned down, a recent Swiss Re report found that less than 7% of customers said trust would be a reason why they did not buy protection.
However, Iain Mallon, director of protection marketing at Axa, disagreed: "The industry is price driven, which puts pressure on actuaries to have longer application forms. It leads to greater distrust as the customer wants to know why the industry asks all the questions."
Darren Dicks, head of protection marketing at Norwich Union, added that, contrary to perception, the industry does pay out on claims. However, he acknowledged that the industry made the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, Dave Priestley, sales director at PruProtect, slammed the industry for lagging behind in its product evolution. "People are now being diagnosed earlier and quicker so they are expecting an earlier pay out, but products have not evolved to keep up with this, so people keep being turned down when it comes to the claims stage."
He added that, over the next few years, the industry should expect to see PruProtect being far more active in portraying a positive perception to consumers. The declaration came after it blasted the industry in 2007 when it launched a new product claiming £43.9bn worth of protection claims had been turned down in the past five years.
