AFRM Launches Claims Advocacy Service

6

Specialist risk advice practice Australian Financial Risk Management (AFRM) has launched a claims advocacy service for retail and group insurance policy holders.

ACA Founding Director, Rob Vitnell
ACA Founding Director, Rob Vitnell

The service has been developed in conjunction with claims administration specialists, Gallagher Bassett, will operate under its own brand as AFRM Claims Advocacy (ACA) and be headed by AFRM, General Manager – Victoria, Rob Vitnell, as ACA Founding Director.

Retail life insurance clients who use the service will be charged a fee for service, which Vitnell said “…would be a miniscule percentage of the figures lawyers are charging”.

Costs for super funds members were still being finalised with Vitnell stating ACA was negotiating partnership with super funds who wanted to offer the service to fund members.

 …clients who use the service will be charged a fee for service, which “…would be a miniscule percentage of the figures lawyers are charging”…

Clients using the service will be provided with a Claims Advocate who will assist with a claim, provide resources and build a support network using AFRM’s claims experience and Gallagher Bassett’s return-to-work capabilities.

Vitnell said there was an “…opportunity to provide a more complete customer-service approach to insurance” and ACA was designed to meet that opportunity in the area of claims, particularly for policyholders lacking adequate claims advice or advocacy.

“We put the customer at the centre of everything we do. ACA aims to give policyholders the best support and advice in their time of need, which we believe will enable them to achieve better financial and wealth outcomes,” Vitnell said.

Gallagher Bassett Managing Director – Australia, John McNamara said the service would be valuable to claimants suffering financial and emotional stress and ACA would vet claims to ensure those which were valid were passed onto an insurer.



6 COMMENTS

  1. This sounds interesting. The potential positives are kind of obvious. A few left field thoughts, triggered by this quote: “we believe will enable them to achieve better financial and wealth outcomes”.

    1: If “better financial and wealth outcomes” are achieved by helping people back to work to earn income as appropriate, that’s gold. That’s a win, win for all. But especially the claimant.

    2: If “better financial and wealth outcomes” are achieved by making sure the claimant maximises the insurance payout, then one must wonder who pays for this. Ultimately, it’s all the other insurance policyholders via higher premiums.
    3: An extension of 2 would be that, as data analytics improves, imagine a life company charging higher premiums for an adviser/practice who uses something like ACA for that purpose.

  2. Hi JM, it isn’t possible to claim more $$ than what an insured is insured for and is eligible for, so please explain what you think you mean by ‘maximising the insurance payout’? Either it’s a claim or it isn’t and claims advocacy is not about bullying anyone, it’s about cooperation and collaboration to speed up evidence gathering and interpret the terms correctly and also in this case as stated it appears to be about peripheral support for claimants’ return to work and recovery-related services. I read Option 1 as the goal…

Comments are closed.