Addressing the customer protection gap

The guide, Transparency and insurance, encourages insurers to apply the CII’s Code of Ethics to ensure that customers have a clear understanding of their insurance product, and that communication before, during and after a product is purchased is maintained.

“Far too often there is an expectation gap between what customers thought that promise was and what the provider intended,” said Sian Fisher, CII CEO. “By focusing on actions that can be taken to improve communications and product design, I hope we can reduce the gap between expectation and delivery and therefore increase trust in our united profession.”

The code of ethics

According to the CII’s guide, the ‘five core duties’ of the CII Code of Ethics are:

• You must comply with this Code and all relevant laws and regulations
• You must act with consistent ethical standards and integrity
• You must act in the best interest of each client
• You must provide a high standard of service
• You must treat people fairly regardless of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation

Another aspect that the guide asks insurers to consider is that professionals aim for reading material to be understood by those with a reading age of 13 or under – further highlighting the need for clear policy wording.

Hopefully, this guide will mark a step towards improving customer perception of insurance, and therefore increasing insurance penetration. This will be especially important at a time when UK travellers are on the verge of losing the European Health Insurance Card and will, therefore, be increasingly looking for comprehensive travel insurance to protect them while abroad.

And with Covid-19 losses now higher than originally predicted, insurers will no doubt be looking for innovative ways to entice new customers and maintain customer loyalty.