Customer Impact Scheme

Introduction
Customer commitments
Survey
What progress have we made since last year
What we are doing to improve our customer service

This is a report to customers by the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited.

Introduction

Since March 2006 we have been a member of the Association of British Insurers’ Customer Impact Scheme. The Scheme is an industry-wide initiative aimed at putting customers’ needs at the heart of everything we do. A total of 32 companies are taking part in the Scheme, representing over 85% of the life and savings industry.

Talking to our customers and really understanding their needs lies at the heart of our success.

Customer commitments

The Customer Impact Scheme aims to improve our service and focuses on three customer commitments:

Developing and promoting products and services which meet the needs of customers
Providing customers with clear information and good service when they buy products
Maintaining appropriate and effective relationships with customers, providing them with a good service after they have bought a product.

As a co-operative, these commitments fit naturally with our heritage and our values.

Survey

One of the main ways our progress is checked against these commitments is by taking part in an annual customer satisfaction survey, the first one of which took place in 2006. Conducted by an independent market research company, this survey gives feedback on how we are doing, and it gives customers the opportunity to tell us how we can improve the service we provide.

What progress have we made since last year?

In this year’s customer satisfaction survey customers told us that in some areas we have made improvements, but in others there is still some work to be done.

Industry Average
The Co-operative Insurance Society Limited

Overall, our satisfaction scores relating to the three Customer Commitments were:

Graph showing that in 2008 41% of customers thought that the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited was Very Good or Excellent at developing and promoting products and services which meet the needs of customers, compared with an industry average of 34%, an increase from 39% in 2007 against an industry average of 35%

Developing and promoting products and services which meet the needs of customers

Graph showing that in 2008 62% of customers thought that the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited was Very Good or Excellent at providing customers with clear information and good service when they buy products, compared with an industry average of 58%, an increase from 60% in 2007 against an industry average of 60%

Providing customers with clear information and good service when they buy products

Graph showing that in 2008 40% of customers thought that customers are Very Good or Excellent at maintaining appropriate and effective relationships with customers, providing them with good service after they have bought a product, compared with an industry average of 41%, a fall from 41% in 2007 against an industry average of 41%

Maintaining appropriate and effective relationships with customers, providing them with a good service after they have bought a product.

We are pleased with these results that show an improvement on two of the three customer commitments.

When we looked at the results in detail, customers told us that, compared to the industry average they were:

Graph showing that in 2008 67% of customers thought that they are much more likely to recommend the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited to friends and family, compared with an industry average of 53%, a fall from 68% in 2007 against an industry average of 55%

much more likely to recommend us to friends and family

Graph showing that in 2008 56% of customers are more satisfied (Very Good/Excellent) with the overall quality of the products and services provided by the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited, compared with an industry average of 77%, the same as in 2007 against an industry average of 75%

more satisfied with the overall quality of the products and services we provide

Graph showing that in 2008 41% of customers are much more satisfied (Very Good/Excellent) with the overall sales process – that is, in the way they bought their product from the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited, compared with an industry average of 34%, an increase from 39% in 2007 against an industry average of 35%

much more satisfied with the overall sales process – that is, in the way they bought their product

Graph showing that in 2008 79% of customers are more likely to agree (Agree/Strongly Agree) that they felt cared about as customers than those with other companies, compared with an industry average of 77%, an increase from 79% in 2007 against an industry average of 75%

more likely to agree that they felt cared about as customers than those with other companies

It is great to know that in these areas our customers rate our performance to be better than the industry.

Last year’s report mentioned some areas where more work was required to improve our customer service. This year’s results show that in some of these areas there has been a modest improvement but in other areas there is still more work to be done.

For example, customers told us that they were:

Graph showing that customers are less satisfied with the service provided by our customer contact centre. In 2008, 45% said that the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited was Very Good/Excellent, compared with an industry average of 52%, a fall from 50% in 2007 against an industry average of 53%

less satisfied with the service provided by our customer contact centre

We acknowledge that we have fallen further behind and that there is more work to do.

We recently put in place a detailed training programme for our colleagues so that they are better able to help customers who contact them. We have also reviewed how the customer contact centre is structured. Certain teams have been merged to create single points of contact for queries, and we have improved processes to speed up our service.

Graph showing that customers are less satisfied in terms of the ease with which they can do business with us. In 2008, 81% Agree/Strongly Agree compared with an industry average of 86%, down from 82% in 2007 against an industry average of 85%

less satisfied in terms of the ease with which customers can do business with us.

Although we remain below the industry, we are continuing to look at how we can improve. This year we have introduced leaflets and updates to help customers understand what we do. For example, we have developed a new leaflet for all customers who apply for a protection policy, explaining what the underwriting process is and what the possible next steps and outcomes are. We have also introduced a monthly fund fact sheet for our financial advisers, with investment market and fund updates, so that they can provide customers with more detailed information. We have also improved the way we handle customers’ business so that we can minimise delays and let them know what is happening more speedily.

Graph showing that customers are less satisfied with the quality of the documentation sent by the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited. In 2008, 43% thought the quality was Very Good/Excellent compared with an industry average of 41%, an increase from 40% in 2007 against an industry average of 42%

less satisfied with the quality of the documentation that we send.

To address this we have improved the clarity of some of our marketing and claims documents, and introduced guidelines for using clear language and layout in all our correspondence. For example, we have reviewed customers’ yearly statements and have identified how we can improve them. Some changes have already been implemented whereas others will be made once the outcome of a review of customer communications is complete. It’s worth mentioning that we have improved on last year and are now ahead of industry.

We listen to our customers and are always looking for ways to improve our service.

What we are doing to improve our customer service

Using customer feedback from last year’s survey, together with guidance given by the Customer Impact Scheme, we produced a list of actions to improve our customer service.

Thanks to customer comments we have also in the last year...

Held a Plain Language seminar for over 100 colleagues
Commissioned additional customer research to help us identify the issues of customer concern and to find out what they thought of the improvements we had made
Developed a new brand style which should make documents much easier to read and provide a consistent approach.

And using the results of this year’s customer satisfaction survey, we have identified some further improvements...

Better training for colleagues so we are better placed to help customers with questions
We will look to develop new products and sell them through new channels, so customers can buy the right product for their needs in the way they want
We will look to improve how we communicate with customers once they have bought their product from us, so they have all the information they need when they need it
We will continue to support and adhere to the Financial Service Authority’s ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ initiative, which will help us to continue to put the customer at the heart of everything we do.

We are always looking to improve our service and look forward to receiving customer feedback and comments in next year’s survey.

Meanwhile, we can be contacted easily through our website at www.cis.co.uk or by calling one of our Customer Contact Centre Advisors on 08457 464646.