Aviva has entered a partnership with cancer charity Macmillan to provide additional support to protection customers.
The partnership aims to help Aviva’s protection customers who are living with cancer get access to emotional, clinical and financial support.
The insurer plans to work with Macmillian to train over 200 of its frontline protection claims employees to support protection customers living with cancer, or those who live with someone who has cancer, by signposting to the charity's support services.
Aviva and Macmillan will also host learning events for financial advisers and corporate employer clients to provide guidance on giving emotional support to customers.
Paul Brencher, managing director of individual protection at Aviva, said: “I’m delighted to be entering a new phase of our partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support that will build on the success of our individual critical illness claims process with their specialist cancer nurses.
“Together, Aviva and Macmillan helped hundreds of customers and their families to quickly access financial support from their policies in 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic on cancer diagnosis and treatment, enabling them to focus on their health and wellbeing.
“Through the partnership of our two well-known brands, our aim is to lead the industry in helping more protection customers navigate the financial challenges of living with cancer and ultimately to support them in every way that we can through the on-going development of new initiatives.”
The agreement follows Aviva’s work with the charity’s clinical nurse specialists since 2017, which provides a quicker claims process for critical illness customers with cancer.
According to the insurer, it has been able to pay more than 300 such claims within days.
Natasha Parker, head of corporate partnerships at Macmillan Cancer Support, commented: “Our partnership with Aviva enables Macmillan to provide better support for people living with cancer, particularly those struggling with the financial impact that a cancer diagnosis can bring.
“By working together we are able to signpost Aviva customers to our clinical, financial and emotional support services whilst working closely with our Clinical Nurse Specialists to help reduce the time it takes to process an individual critical illness insurance claim.”
Parker added: “Partnerships like ours with Aviva are more important than ever before, especially at a time when people living with cancer may have more complex needs and significant financial pressures from living with cancer due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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