Process Ineptitude Personified

Insurance as a concept is not a difficult thing to grasp - so why do so many companies make a complete mess of it?

Yesterday I called around to get some quotes on a fairly niche insurance product - landlord insurance for a holiday rental property. Most insurance companies couldn't (or rather wouldn't) provide cover. But one who did was one of the major banks. Happily I used their online quote tool. After entering only my address details it instantly spat me back a quote.

Hmm...something not right there. Knowing what I do know about insurance and having completed other online quotes I knew that there was something wrong. Nonetheless I pressed on and was greeted with a screen which said something along the lines of "Oh you want an insurance quote, great, but this is all too difficult for our system to grasp so you're going to have to fill in a crappy form and someone will call you sometime in the future".

Confidence dwindling - but as their product looked good I pressed on and completed the online form. It gave me the option to enter my customer number (I have an account with this bank) which I thought was smart as it would streamline the application process.

A few hours later I had already signed up for another insurance provider (Ray White Insurance) who had provided me with some really good service.Still I was curious to see what our inept banking friends would do next.

At 11:30 am the next day (a mere 24 hours later! - too slow!) I received a call from the bank who proceeded to grill me about my account details: "what is your card number? What is your limit? What is your address? Do you have any regular payments? Where did you collect the card from?"

"Wait, is all of this necessary? - I just want to get an insurance quote" I replied to which I was told that it was necessary as the bank had called me and they needed to verify my ID (which I had no idea why they had trouble doing this since I knew very well what my address, card number and other details were). "What you'll need to do is to call us back."

"What????" I replied "But what if I wasn't a customer? How would I get a quote"

"Oh, you'd have to call us, we wouldn't call you".

So I take down the number I am supposed to call her back on and throw it in the bin. Or should I say, the "too hard basket".

So by all accounts this bank don't call people back to give them quotes. They also don't make it easy for current customers to take out insurance. They also don't have an online quote tool that works. They have created a process that suits themselves and not their customers, and the equation is therefore very simple - the customers will not buy - and that includes me.

- TPN 

Comments

[Robert]

Next time you need to ring them, begin with "How did you go using the recording from last time? Have you been able to use it for training purposes and to improve your business?"

[Robert]

Coincidentally, one of my Allianz insurance renewals came in the mail today. I use the convenient option of paying monthly on my credit card. They have now included a 9% "Service Fee", so I rang.

I asked the lady what service it was that Allianz were providing for the 9% fee. She was puzzled, so I explained that they wanted to charge me for a service, so what exactly were they providing, and more importantly if it wasn’t a service that I wanted could I opt out.

“We are charging a 9% fee for all customers who choose to pay by the month, and this has been introduced because when people have their credit cards cancelled or their bank account has insufficient funds, we have to go chasing them for payment”, she said.

So I replied, “Well, I have had three policies for 30 years with WMG which became IHI which became Allianz, and I have never missed a payment, and I like the convenience of paying automatically, and you want to penalise me??? I must be one of your best customers!”

“You can save yourself 9% if you pay each one annually,” was the reply.

[I have a problem with a company which jacks up their price and then 'helps' me to save money!]

I think the correct answer is “All our customers who are paying monthly won’t complain about this 9% since automatic payments from people who are ‘locked in’, so we can pick up an extra 9% for nothing!”

What am I going to do about it? I am writing to the MD whose name is on the bottom of the letter and suggesting that he employs some people who can figure out a nice process which penalises the lousy customers and rewards the loyal ones.

Idea: Give me the option to pay an extra month in advance, so that if my credit card does go haywire, it gives them 1 month to chase me up and continue seamlessly with my insurance. That's rather more palatable to me, and it actually does protect me by giving me cover for 1 month if my card is stolen (for example).

If I have any luck, I will let you know.

[Van Perez]

I'd laugh if this was the same bank we once worked for...