Ann Manning, managing director at Henley-on-Thames-based broker ManningUK, says she is ‘ashamed of our industry’. Here, she describes her recent experiences with insurers during the coronavirus pandemic…
By Ann Manning, managing director at ManningUK
Am I the only person who has lost the will to live? I have been in the insurance broking industry for 36 years and I have never known such appalling service and attitude as we are experiencing at the moment.
Insurers, you need to wake up and fast before this industry is destroyed beyond recognition.
The major insurers are the worst. For example, RSA is not answering the telephone at all and, even worse, LiveChat is only working intermittently – how are we supposed to arrange cover or discuss a risk when the response to an email is usually about three to five days?
I also spent two hours trying to get through to Chubb to discuss a renewal. I tried nine mobile telephone numbers and each were either switched off or went to voicemail.
So, I called their head office and they could not help me – they suggested I wrote a complaint to their customer services department and I was given the email address. I decided to call them instead of writing and guess what? The same gentleman answered the telephone.
Hiscox email me on a regular basis to tell me they are operating normally and how wonderful they are – clearly the writer of the emails has not tried to get any documents from their offices then.
Zurich are the same although they are at least answering their telephones eventually; you may have to wait 15 or 20 minutes, but they do answer.
As for Allianz and the other LiveChat sites, half of them are not working and the other half just say “no”.
Who is the best at the moment? It has to be Aviva – the company is answering the telephone and its LiveChat is working.
So, where are we going in the industry?
No one wants new business. It seems to be that Covid-19 is an excuse for increasing the rates and removing cover.
Can I suggest we get employees back to the office and not wait until 2021, as we are being told?
For the first time in my career, I am ashamed of our industry.
#Brokers and #insurers, do you agree with Ann Manning @ManningUK1 that insurer service has been “appalling” during the Covid-19 #pandemic?
— Insurance Times (@InsuranceTimes_) September 3, 2020
Insurers react
A spokesperson for RSA said: ”Like many businesses at the start of lockdown earlier this year, we had to change the way we work – and unfortunately that inevitably brought some disruption.
”Over the summer, we’ve worked with many brokers to identify what they’re looking for and, therefore, [identify] how we can best deliver a stronger service proposition. These insight sessions have been really valuable to helping us improve our LiveChat journey.
”Overall, we are aiming put a bit more ‘e’ into ‘e-trade’ when it comes to online brokered SME business, delivering on that mutual desire for quick and accurate outcomes for both our broker partners and end customers.”
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