Martin Werth
Our Successful First Year
07 July 2009
Thank you for your fantastic support!
Fortis Life UK has been established for just 365 days. Our objective was simple; to help you improve the service you give your customers, and in doing so, making your business more efficient.
In our first year we have delivered a lot, experienced a lot and learnt a lot. We will continue to listen and learn.
Of course, as the table below shows, a lot of our competitors have been around for a long long time...
| Company | Year Founded |
| Fortis Life UK | 2008 |
| Royal London | 1861 |
| Scottish Provident | 1837 |
| Legal & General | 1836 |
| Scottish Equitable | 1831 |
| AVIVA (Norwich Union) | 1797 |
So the question for our leading competitors is this - Are you now fantastic?! If not, when did you stop listening and learning?
Consumer purchasing habits are changing and we have to continually adapt to meet their needs. In the midst of a recession the need for protection to cover outstanding debts could not be greater. At the same time, the challenge to deliver cost effective solutions is even more critical.
If we look across to the general insurance market, in 1985 Direct Line introduced a new direct to consumer telephone selling model that changed consumer expectations of value for money and service forever. They challenged old players' legacy systems and mindsets, with new technology that streamlined processes, saved cost and provided a faster service, all delivered within a time to suit the customer.
Our objective is much the same; to introduce a genuinely 21st century business with a fresh approach to life protection. The only difference is that we want to give you the tools and products to provide your customers with an even better service.
Prior to our launch, we asked advisers what they wanted in a new protection company. We listened and tried to design a solution that took into account your invaluable advice. Any shortcomings after that were down to us.
Roy McLoughlin of Master Adviser, said at launch:
"What we have appreciated about you guys is that you have actually listened, consulted and talked to us. You are a breath of fresh air and I can assure you that you have your competitors very worried!"
Peter Chadborn of CBK, said
"At last a provider has finally come to market with a realistic and modern approach who treat customers fairly."
We know how expensive it is for you to find customers and to deliver the service they expect, when working with existing providers' legacy processes. We know how the sales pipeline leaks opportunity and sucks in cost, which makes your business far less profitable. We know how you have adapted your processes, again at your cost, to compensate for the inadequacies of these providers. Whilst the market has changed, it is too slow and often this change is only delivered as cheaper products. As a new player, we have tried to be the catalyst for faster change.
Our approach to process innovation has been to design an e-business that helps you transact more easily, with processes that support customer confidence, trust and fairness. Our approach to product innovation has been to think like a consumer and design solutions that meet their genuine needs and often unspoken "peace of mind" expectations.
We really value customer centric distribution partnerships where we help our partners to build more effective and profitable businesses. There are many equally relevant customer solutions, from simple products to complex tailored packages. Each of these market segments competes for customers.
For the simple products, process efficiency is absolutely critical. Here after one year we have delivered 60% immediate decisions, with 56% immediate acceptance. L&G, who often talk of their years of experience, have only mustered a 53% immediate acceptance rate so far.
For the mass affluent, we have designed our menu and services to support your delivery of a "customer recognised" quality assured advisory service. Our products stand apart from our competitors by helping you demonstrate the value of advice. We have designed them to help you build trust and a long-term relationship with your customer.
Every component of our proposition has been designed from a clean sheet of paper to support our partners.
We haven't done everything right first time. Our systems had some teething problems, particularly with some of our more complex underwriting applications. However, over the last few months, changes to our processes have reduced the average time to complete our medical questions for a single life to 15 minutes. We have also continued to listen to your feedback and have made changes to our underwriting questions and included more information on medically rated cases. Please tell me what more we can do.
In our first 12 months, we've received more than 75,000 applications. We have valued each and every one of these applications. We know too well that you have been our "early adopters" and recognise the risks you've taken in working with us as a new player. If you have any concerns about our proposition, please talk to me. If you are happy with us, please tell others.
Over the next 12 months we have greater ambitions, but with the same fundamental goal of helping you do your business better. This is about "win win win" for your customers, you and us. Our biggest threat is your complacency, in accepting the status quo. It is only by each one of us challenging the complacency of existing providers that your business will prosper and the industry can deliver on its potential.
We believe Fortis Life is the first genuine 21st century customer and distributor centric life protection insurer.
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All enquiries should be directed to Finsbury on +44 (0) 207 251 3801
Finsbury Limited
Tenter House
45 Moorfields
London EC2Y 9AE
