Aptean Respond
Eric Insurance Underpins Complaint Handling Excellence and Regulatory Compliance with Aptean Respond. Industry Insurance
Challenges
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Introduction of RG 271 meant new compliance demands Incumbent complaint management system lacked adequate workflow and reporting Logging complaints was time consuming and error prone
Benefits
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Robust compliance with RG 271 Access to meaningful, contextual management information reports Simpler, automated way to record and resolve customer complaints Staff empowered to handle customer dissatisfaction more easily
With over 20 years’ experience in the automotive insurance industry, Australian-owned Eric Insurance is a leading general insurer with a real focus on delivering quality products, customer service and long-term relationships.
An Evolving Complaint Management Landscape The introduction of RG 271, which requires all Australian financial services firms to have an internal dispute resolution (IDR) system in place that meets ASIC’s standards and requirements, led Eric Insurance to review its existing complaint handling process to see just what would need to change to ensure compliance. In light of the increased pressure on the organisation to evidence compliance and a potential increase in the number of customer complaints to be logged, investigated and resolved, the review highlighted some limitations with the incumbent complaint management system. As John Sculli, chief risk officer at Eric Insurance, explains: “When we put it under the microscope, key functionality was missing. What we didn’t have was explicitly what was required for RG 271 compliance. There was a lack of workflow and reporting; manual controls were required to ensure complaints were managed within ASIC guidelines and timeframes; the daily bespoke business intelligence (BI) report was susceptible to human error, and the system didn’t support the analysis of complaints data needed to identify thematic issues or opportunities for continuous improvement.”
“The increased automation across all areas of the endto-end customer complaint journey has led to major efficiency savings for us.” John Sculli, Chief Risk Officer at Eric Insurance
The company’s current system couldn’t adequately monitor staff workload and priorities, meaning the Dispute Resolution Manager had no visibility of the progress of complaints and so couldn’t proactively support staff, relying instead on escalations or time-consuming case-by-case reviews. And, the business had introduced many workarounds to comply with changing regulatory requirements, which meant that the system needed significant investment to maintain compliance going forward, ultimately spending more money on a tool that was no longer fit-for-purpose now or in the long-term. The review also highlighted that the lodgement process was time-consuming, error-prone and burdensome for frontline staff. At the same time, a lack of automation, with no letter, email and SMS templates available, wasn’t helping to provide a good customer experience.
A Long-Term Solution The business reviewed all the options available, including investing more money in the incumbent complaints system; investing in a new integrated Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC)) tool; building an internal system, or opting for a standalone purpose-built solution. The business decided to opt for a specialist standalone system as it represented the most cost-effective and future-proof solution. After a five-way competitive process, Eric Insurance chose Aptean Respond, a purpose-built complaint management solution. John explains: “Respond provides the functionality we need at a competitive price, out-of-the-box, enabling us to fulfil not only our regulatory requirements but to deliver customer service excellence too, all underpinned by professional and expert support from the Aptean team. It meets the unique challenges of Eric Insurance and our partner network in terms of distributing and servicing insurance policies to our customers and is the most future-proof solution as well, providing the flexibility and scalability to grow and evolve alongside our changing business needs.” Case Study | Eric Insurance
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A Smooth Transition The implementation went according to plan and Aptean Respond has enabled complaints to be integrated into the entire operation. It’s now being used across a variety of departments within the business, including customer service staff, claims consultants and members of the independent dispute resolution team. Going forward, the plan is to roll out the solution to more users over the course of the next 12 months, as well as extend it to other partners in the insurance space. Aptean Respond has helped the business to achieve RG 271 compliance, as well as the financial savings that the increased efficiency brings. Automated controls mean fewer compliance incidents and improved process transparency too, delivering the information needed to fulfil regulatory responsibilities, with meaningful and contextual management information reports accessible at the click of a mouse.
“Respond is intuitive and easy-to-use and it’s definitely much less frustrating for the team to use than our old system. This in itself has led to higher staff engagement and increased likelihood of retention. All of these benefits contribute to a better customer experience too, which, of course, is our ultimate goal.” John Sculli, Chief Risk Officer at Eric Insurance
Excellence Across the Board The benefits don’t end with RG 271 compliance. As John explains: “With Respond, what we now have is a simpler, automated way to record and resolve customer complaints. The increased automation across all areas of the end-to-end customer complaint journey has led to major efficiency savings for us. We’re saving time on complaints lodgement and have empowered staff to handle customer dissatisfaction more efficiently. This means employees can focus their valuable time on more complex IDR cases, especially those involving vulnerable customers.” Respond has delivered other, more intangible benefits for staff and customers too. As John continues: “It’s less boring from an admin point of view. Respond is intuitive and easy-to-use and it’s definitely much less frustrating for the team to use than our old system. This in itself has led to higher staff engagement and increased likelihood of retention. All of these benefits contribute to a better customer experience too, which, of course, is our ultimate goal.”
Case Study | Eric Insurance
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Looking to the Future That’s not to say that Eric Insurance is resting on its laurels with the successes achieved so far. As John comments: “The customer service efficiency savings we’re making mean that we can use resources elsewhere in the business, so in the customer retention and sales teams for example, which has the potential to make a real difference to our bottom line.” Eric Insurance is committed to deriving maximum value from Aptean Respond, building on the benefits it’s already achieving to underpin its culture of continuous improvement not only in complaints but right across the business. As John concludes: “We’re committed to providing the best products and best customer service, all whilst meeting the stringent regulatory requirements that govern the Australian financial services industry. Respond is helping us to achieve all these things, delivering complaints excellence and regulatory compliance, as well as furnishing the business with the in-depth customer insight needed to inform our product and service development today and for the foreseeable future.”
Are You Ready to Learn More? Contact us at info@aptean.com or visit www.aptean.com.
About Aptean
Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of purpose-built, industry-specific software that helps manufacturers and distributors effectively run and grow their businesses. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean’s products, services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes to be Ready for What’s Next, Now®. Aptean is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. To learn more about Aptean and the markets we serve, visit www.aptean.com. Copyright @ Aptean 2022. All rights reserved.