ING has commenced the introduction of new systems to manage its lapse, dishonour and policy reinstatement processes.
The insurer says the process changes have been made in order to address specific concerns raised by advisers, which include:
- Making the lapse and dishonour process clearer and consistent across products
- Reducing the time given clients to pay premiums before their policy lapses
- Making it easier for customers to reinstate their policies
- Access to transparency over ING’s processes
The changes impact ING’s One Care and World of Protection product ranges:
Lapse and Dishonour Processes
- Alignment of processes, letters and timelines
- Lapse cycle has been reduced to 60 days (previously 90 days in most cases)
- Correspondence improved with clearer messages, instructions and dates for customers
- Policy holders will now re-debit after 14 days for insufficient funds on direct debit and credit cards (previously re-debited after 30 days for OneCare and previously not collected for World of Protection policies)
Policy Reinstatement
- The policy reinstatement form will no longer be sent to customers in the final Lapse letter
- Clients will now be asked to call the National Contact Centre who will collect the premium and auto-reinstate all customers within 30 days of laps
- Within 31-60 days of lapse, clients will be asked two underwriting questions, and the National Contact Centre has the ability to reinstate clients if they meet the questions’ requirements
These new systems/processes will be progressively phased in between now and early November 2010. Advisers can contact their ING BDM’s for more details.
