A report released by Adviser Ratings aims to provide consumers with greater information about how different companies handle life insurance claims by ranking each insurer based on their claims performance.
The 2016 Adviser Sentiment Life insurance Report covers the claims process for life insurance, income protection, trauma and TPD insurance and draws on feedback from over 1,000 financial advisers. The 15 insurers covered by the report represent 90% of the market.
The advisers, who typically act on behalf of their clients during the claims process, were asked to rank the performance of life insurance companies in handling, disputing and denying insurance claims. From this a Net Satisfaction score was calculated to rank each insurer’s relative performance.
Based on these rankings the 5 poorest performing insurers for insurance claims were:
- Real Insurance (worst)
- CommInsure
- St Andrew’s Life
- Metlife
- Allianz
The 5 life insurance companies rated highest for their claims processes were:
- Asteron Life (best)
- AIA Australia
- TAL Life
- Zurich Australia
- OnePath
Adviser Ratings Managing Director, Angus Woods, stated “Australian consumers have a right to know which companies are the most likely to make the claims process difficult for them.”
Another source of information about insurance claims can be found on the Insurance Watch website at Life Insurance Company Reviews. Policyholders who have made a claim have written about their experience with the insurance company and given a rating for how they were treated.