ProtectionAug 18 2015

2014 in Numbers – A Success Story in Group Risk

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2014 in Numbers – A Success Story in Group Risk

This builds on its first place position in terms of employees and employers covered – according to the Swiss Re Group Watch Survey of 2014 – and shows that the insurer is now the largest on every industry metric.

The 7th wave of the ORC International Adviser survey 2014, an industry-wide assessment of how group risk insurers are performing, placed Canada Life Group Insurance at the top of the industry for the third year in a row and first place for service for the sixth consecutive year.

For the first time ever it was also the top of the table for medical underwriting.

Rated as good or excellent by 93 per cent of advisers, versus a market average of 68 per cent, the insurer created a clear lead between itself and the other providers in this market.

Part of this success is due to CLASS - the Canada Life Automated Self Service platform, for sub-100 employee group risk cases - which now holds in excess of 7 per cent of all Group Risk schemes, enabling advisers to profitably operate in the SME employer segment.

Having re-contracted Best Doctors Second Medical Opinion Services and Capita Health and Wellbeing Services in 2013, in 2014 there were record amounts of service users taking advantage of these benefits.

Red Arc was also re-contracted in 2014 and its service usage for Group Critical Illness claimants had a 90 per cent plus claimant take-up.

Case volumes continue to grow significantly every year on the back of growth in the Critical Illness product that was launched, with Best Drs and Red Arc uniquely combined, in January 2011.

This promotion of value and service over price has continued with the October 2014 launch of the Medical Care Direct ‘Treatment Sourcing Service’ in preparation for the full roll-out of the Government’s ‘Fit for Work Service.’

This is further evidence that support for employers, employees and family members will continue as the insurer aims to provide much more than a financial benefit.

Canada Life Group Insurance is also a supporter of the Seven Families initiative, a charity-led campaign that is providing income to seven families, who have lost their income due to a long-term illness or disability.

As a further demonstration of Canada Life’s firm commitment to the Group Risk industry and evidence of providing support beyond the purely financial, the insurer continues to seek ways to increase the industry and product profiles in wider media.

Canada Life Group Insurance also won the following awards in 2014:

 Health insurance – Best Group Risk Provider.

 Corporate Adviser – Best Group Risk Provider.

 ILP Moneyfacts – Best Group Protection Provider.

This has manifested itself in a record breaking performance with new business, persistency and in-force premiums all significantly exceeding 2014 business specific targets.

Success in the Group Critical Illness market considerably bolstered health new business premiums, while scheme expansion in Group Life schemes on the back of Automatic Enrolment pension extensions of cover led to added growth in this product area.

Ian McMullan, Managing Director at Canada Life Group Insurance, comments: “2014 has been an amazing year for us. With the support of our devout intermediaries we have finally reached the very pinnacle of our particular industry with number one position in virtually everything we can be measured on.

“But that in no way means that we have even a hint of complacency and advisers can continue to expect genuine and meaningful market leadership from us in 2015.

“We have an amazing raft of focused initiatives on each product set, we have gained significant further investment from our shareholder to grow and support both our adviser and employer clients, and we have a clear mandate to support employees and family members.

“I promise we will not rest on our laurels and 2015 will see us further invest, enhance and champion the importance of employee health.

“I’d also like to personally thank all of our customers, suppliers and partners for their support and wish everyone a healthy and prosperous new year!”

Paul Avis, Marketing Director at Canada Life Group Insurance, commented: “When many financial services organisations are facing challenges that are often beyond their control, having weathered a recession and on-going austerity, we believe we are a success story – research and surveys showing better than ever results even as the battle for wages and the cost of living struggle continues.

“While good news stories rarely make the news, we believe that placing customers at the heart of everything we do, underpinned by exemplary service, investing in technology for customer benefit and providing differentiated products at competitive prices has set us apart from other providers.

“As we enter 2015, we see a bright, exciting and challenging, future for the industry and something which we can lead. We simply cannot wait for 2015 to really take off!”