riskinfo has recognised the top three initiatives that it has reported during 2012.<\/p>\n
Each of these initiatives has contributed to enhancing the life insurance and broader financial services industry for advisers and consumers. They have been motivated by individuals and organisations\u00a0seeking better ways of delivering information and\/or services to advisers and their clients.<\/p>\n
Our top three initiatives for 2012, each of them positioned as ‘industry firsts’,\u00a0are:<\/p>\n
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BT Insurance Trauma Tele-Claims Service<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In April, we reported that\u00a0BT Insurance (BT) had launched its new telephone-based service to accommodate trauma insurance claims.<\/p>\n Heralded as an Australian first, the trauma tele-claims service<\/a> can be used by policy owners to claim up to $250,000 on certain trauma conditions.\u00a0 The service\u00a0is available for policies that have been in place for five years or more, and follows the launch of BT’s\u00a0income protection tele-claims service.<\/p>\n At the time we reported\u00a0this initiative, BT said it had processed 16% of all trauma claims over the phone.\u00a0 Head of Life Insurance at BT Financial Group, Phil Hay<\/strong>, said that processing time for trauma tele-claims had been reduced to an average of 14 days, compared to 68 days for a paper-based claim.<\/p>\n … it\u2019s about understanding the needs of our customers<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe fact that we have the ability now to assess and pay a claim through a phone based system without the need for the customer to fill in a claim form is not just about ease of process it\u2019s about understanding the needs of our customers and providing a service that is sensitive to their situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n