It's easy to think of claimants in a negative light. After all, they represent an expense item that affects group experience and could result in a rate increase. They require service, and service ties up resources. But without claimants, we have no business. We exist because people collect money to help them when something bad happens to them.
So let's think of ways to connect with different types of claimant customers.
The beneficiaries of employer paid or voluntary group life insurance expect us to pay the death benefit quickly and with as little red tape as possible. Life insurance provides a cash payout which is generally not tied up in probate, and there is very little proof of claim required beyond a death certificate. But a group plan can provide so much more.
If the employer or carrier offers the group an employee assistance plan (EAP), then beneficiaries and family members should be eligible for grief counseling—and financial counseling is also often provided by EAPs.
These services can be a great help to the survivors, and can help make sure the life insurance proceeds are used wisely. Ask the EAPs you recommend for information on their services in these areas. They can be a much more meaningful differentiator to the employer than a couple of pennies in the group life rate, and a much more fulfilling service to beneficiaries and family members.
Turning to products with living beneficiaries, critical illness plans provide a great opportunity for packaging services related to finding the best treatment. Advisory services packaged with critical illness plans can help identify the best place to be treated, best recovery options, and can help with understanding explanation of complex benefits forms. These services provide peace of mind, while the cash benefit takes pressure off the insured's finances.
Disability claimants are the best customers of all. The periodic payments they receive give advisors and insurers an opportunity to shine. If their experience was great, they will likely share it. A great claims experience has a very positive effect on voluntary participation. The disability claims experience can be improved by customer-friendly contractual provisions, including partial disability, trial work day provisions and associated counseling services (again, from an EAP).
This is the age of the customer. The world of benefits is often viewed negatively by the public, and our poor reputation is partly based on confusing contracts, difficult processes for customers, opaque reports and unfair denials. A claim is often the genesis point of this customer discontent. Think how much better we will be viewed if the claimant/customer tells everyone what a great experience they had.
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