Insurance Times Awards 2023: Covea sees payoff after improving customer experience

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Vicki Heslop, director of customer and compliance at Covea Insurance, discusses how the company has seen reduced complaints and what this means for their bid for the Customer Champion of the Year – Insurer award

Why did you want to enter the Customer Champion of the Year – Insurer category?

Vicki Heslop

Our role is to be there for customers when they need us and to fulfil our promise to them in the best way possible. The customer champion award shows how important that is to us and is fantastic recognition for our people who are delivering that service for our customers every day.

This year we focused on creating a better customer experience for people with neurodiverse conditions. We wanted to understand the barriers they face and use this knowledge to find solutions to bring positive meaningful change.

What do you think makes your entry stand out and why should you win the award?

We worked with many of our neurodiverse colleagues who courageously shared their personal experiences, offering valuable insights that we used to shape our approach. The authenticity of their contribution has raised awareness and increased empathy right across our business and with our business partners and brokers too.

Results show the changes we’ve made are making a real impact for customers. Employees report a 30% increase in ease of empathising, our simplified tone of voice and communications principles have achieved a 23% improvement in communication and we’re logging fewer complaints. We also have some incredible customer feedback.

What would winning this award mean to you and your firm?

It would be amazing to raise awareness even further. Our initiative has moved the conversation forwards, creating an environment where people are comfortable talking openly about their neurodiversity.

As partners with the Group for Autism Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity (Gain), we’re finding out more all the time and continue to evolve our products and service to better serve their needs.

The award would also be a huge accolade for our colleagues who bravely opened up about their own diagnoses and difficulties, which has been invaluable in enabling us to deliver these groundbreaking solutions.