At an inaugural event in Sydney last night, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and the Beddoes Institute announced winners of the new Consumer Choice Awards which recognise the best insurers as rated by advised policyholders and claimants.
Based on results of in-depth research conducted by the Beddoes Institute, the Award Winners of the top three categories are:
• Most Recommended Company – BT Financial Group – Winner
• Honouring Commitments – TAL – One Path and BT Financial Group – Dual Winners
• Best Total Customer Experience – BT Financial Group– Winner
The AFA Consumer Choice Awards are based on customer ratings from more than 2,100 consumers across all major life insurance companies. Claimant awards reflect the opinions of surveyed policyholders who are going through or who have gone through the claims process, while policyholder awards reflect the views of all surveyed policyholders.
Speaking at the event, National’s Senator John Williams said the insurance and advice industries were helping to build a better life for more Australians.
“Unless you are really wealthy and have millions in the bank, you need insurance to get you through life. You mean a lot to a lot of people.”
Last night’s gala event held at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney, was attended by FSC CEO Sally Loane, Senator Williams, insurance providers, the AFA Board and advisers.
According to AFA CEO Brad Fox, the Consumer Choice Awards are an important part of its role as a leading professional body as they bring the Association closer to the consumer.
“All parties – insurers, advisers, and product manufacturers – need to call out actions that don’t reach the highest standards and not wait for the media or consumers to call them out.”
Beddoes Institute’s Dr Rebecca Sheils said: “We saw a gap between perceptions of customers and the experience of claimants, and we believe these awards and our research go some way to addressing this.”
Life companies needed at least 50 customer ratings to be eligible for a policyholder choice award or claimant choice award. All claimants from participating companies in the previous 12 months were invited to contribute and 25% to 30% responded, which is a significant number for this type of research and much higher than expected.
More information on the Consumer Choice Awards.
Complete list of finalists and winners of the Consumer Choice Awards.
