Treating Customers Fairly

Our aim is to be the best in our industry for customer service. Achieving this will allow us to deliver our strategy in terms of profitability, growth and market position..

Our customer orientation is aligned with the Group's goals and strives to establish customer service as a core competence in all our business processes by:

• Challenging and improving service standards for each major process.
• Re-designing our processes to ensure an efficient operational environment
• Delivering enhanced policy production, claims management and funds settlement
• Providing a breadth of commercial cover
• Providing an efficient claims service
• Providing a range of insurance and reinsurance products tailored to business risk and supported by risk-based rating
• Providing a sophisticated underwriting capability and
• Facilitating ease of access.
   

Our Customer Service

Brit Insurance's Executive Management Committee has fully embraced the FSA's "Treating Customers Fairly" initiative and has embarked on a series of initiatives to ensure that the Group is fair and reasonable in its dealings with customers. In 2007, these initiatives will impact on all areas of the business but will benefit from the significant advances currently being made in IT and management information. 

During 2006, Brit Insurance received 502 FSA recordable complaints, which represented 6.2 per 1,000 claims (or 0.62%).  91 of these complaints were referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service, of which five (5.5% of those referred) were upheld (industry average 36.0%), six (6.7% of those referred) partly upheld, 51 (56.0% of those referred) rejected and 29 (31.9% of those referred) as yet unresolved. 

During the year, accessibility to, and visibility of our Customer Relations team was increased to ensure that the Group is equipped with the best possible service to respond to customers needs. A thorough assessment of the Group's processes and current best practice has taken place and the Group has purchased a new software system enabling superior reporting, monitoring and tracking of customer complaints.