Holloway Friendly’s telephone-based claims service has slashed average turnaround times for income protection cases from 12 days to four-and-a-half hours.
The tele-claims service, which is supported by electronic signatures, means claimants can be assessed over the phone rather than through a traditional, paper-based process with wet signatures.
Trials have led to dramatic reductions in the time taken to reach a decision and pay benefits, with the average time from first contact to decision standing at four and a half hours and the vast majority of claimants receiving decisions within one working day.
Andy Milburn, proposition and marketing director at Holloway Friendly, said: “We welcome the industry adopting much quicker turn-around times for all claimants – not just those with income protection policies.
“We encourage other providers to offer a range of options to claimants that speed up the claims decision making process to being one that can be delivered, in a caring way, effectively, in hours rather than days.”
Tom Conner, director of advisers at Drewberry, said: "Ultimately, how we act at claim stage is how we will be judged as an industry, so it is excellent to see such commitment from Holloway to paying claims quickly. Clients need certainty as quickly as possible at this difficult time in their lives."
simon.allin@ft.com
