Launched in 2006 the Association
of British Insurers’ (ABI) Customer Impact Scheme, an initiative to
improve customer experiences of the life and pensions industry, has
achieved mixed results, indicates the 2007/2008 annual report of
the ABI Customer Impact Panel, an independent oversight
body.

On a positive note, 53 percent of customers surveyed “strongly
agreed” or “agreed” that the industry has an excellent reputation,
compared with 48 percent surveyed for the 2006/2007 report. For the
latest report 19,425 customers of 32 companies were surveyed.

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Another positive finding was that 86 percent of customers “strongly
agreed” or “agreed” that their company was “easy to do business
with” while 77 percent felt their provider “really cares about its
customers.” These scores were up from 85 percent and 75 percent in
the previous survey. The proportion of customers who felt that
their provider “treats customers fairly” remained unchanged at 85
percent.

However, in other areas there was deterioration in customer
perceptions. Among these was satisfaction with service with 51
percent of customers saying they were “extremely” or “very
satisfied” compared with 53 percent in the previous survey.

Another question posed to survey respondents related to their
willingness to recommend a company to friends or family. This noted
the ABI panel “is a key indicator of trust and satisfaction.”

To the question 53 percent of customers said they would be
“extremely” or “very likely” to recommend their service provider,
compared with 55 percent in the previous survey.

The proportion of customers who said they would be “not at all” or
“not very likely” to recommend their company increased from 20
percent to 21 percent.

The survey also revealed deterioration in satisfaction with the
sales process with 58 percent of customers rating this “excellent”
or “very good” compared with 54 percent in the previous survey.
Clarity of information at point of sale scored lowest with only 48
percent of customers rating it “excellent” or “very good,” compared
with 50 percent previously.

Commenting on the survey the ABI panel’s chairperson Melanie
Johnson said: ”We’re recommending that firms review their complaint
handling processes to ensure improvements continue, and that the
valuable insights complaints provide are captured and acted
upon.”