Key Performance Indicator:
Continue to maintain high standards of customer service.
Continue being a responsible investor on behalf of our clients.
We operate in the UK, Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East, providing savings, protection and other products and services to over 20 million customers, policyholders and unit holders worldwide.
"The PruHealth Vitality programme helped me to achieve and maintain my health and fitness goals."
Janusz Orlowski, PruHealth customer
We are committed to providing a high level of customer service and consumer information and to monitoring levels of customer satisfaction using key performance indicators. We aim to be open and transparent in all our dealings and ensure that our products and services will meet our customers’ needs.
PruHealth
Public health issues around obesity, smoking, exercise, and nutrition are becoming ever more important in the UK. Through PruHealth and PruProtect we are making it easier for customers to get healthier by offering financial incentives to encourage efforts to lead healthier lives, including preventative measures such as going for health screenings and assessments. We have also announced a partnership with Sainsbury’s, a leading supermarket chain, to ensure that policyholders are rewarded for eating healthy food.
The rationale is clear - healthier people are less likely to need medical treatment or to suffer from serious illnesses. By helping people to get healthier, not only do we help them to enjoy the immediate health benefits, but we can also provide better quality private medical insurance and protection products that genuinely meet the changing customer need in addition to the better quality of life that they will enjoy as a consequence.
PruHealth and PruProtect policyholders can earn ‘Vitality’ points by, for example, improving their fitness, managing their weight, and not smoking. These points form the basis for determining a discount to the following year’s premium.
Improving public health requires a commitment to change individual behaviour that underpins what are often life-style related illnesses. We have sought to contribute to this important policy debate by becoming a corporate partner of the King’s Fund – an independent charitable foundation working for better health – and sharing our knowledge of how behavioural change can be initiated and maintained, and the impact this may have on an individual’s health and wealth. We also sponsor and participate in a variety of policy seminars intended to encourage government to develop a holistic approach to incentivising positive behavioural change.
Treating customers fairly
In the UK, Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) is an initiative spearheaded by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK regulator. The FSA considers that fairness should be central to the corporate culture of all financial services organisations in the UK.
Our ongoing programme of activity ensures that doing the right thing for our customers is at the heart of everything we do. This includes all aspects of our culture, product development and service, as well as people issues such as training and competence and performance management.
UK Association of British Insurers' Customer Impact Scheme
Prudential UK is accredited to the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) Customer Impact Scheme, which aims to improve people’s experiences of the life and pensions industry.
Being a member of the scheme will give us a chance to shape and influence industry initiatives and benefit from its customer research and good practice guides. It includes an integrated package of three customer promises and an annual customer impact survey seeking customers’ views and experiences across the industry. The three customer commitments are to:
- Develop and promote products and services that meet the needs of our customers.
- Provide customers with clear information and good service when they buy our products.
- Maintain appropriate and effective relationships with our customers, and provide them with good service after they have bought a product.
All members have committed to putting customer needs at the heart of how they do business. By joining we will be required to:
- Participate in the annual customer benchmarking survey to measure performance against the promises, and produce a Customer Experience Index – an exercise that we already carry out.
- Allow the ABI to make public the aggregate industry level results of the Customer Experience Index.
- Provide public disclosure, through Board commitment, to the set of three customer commitments as stated above.
- Produce, and make available to our customers, an annual report on our progress and performance in delivering the customer commitments.
As a customer-facing business, it is vital that we listen to our customers on an ongoing basis. We undertake extensive qualitative and quantitative research into what our existing and potential customers want from us.
Prudential is one of 32 companies that took part in the ABI’s Customer Impact Survey, which asked 20,000 financial services customers for their views on all aspects of a company’s performance including service quality. The results of the Customer Impact Survey 2007-2008, were announced in February 2008.
The latest results show that overall satisfaction with the long-term insurance industry remains high, with 85 per cent of consumers stating that their provider ‘treats customers fairly’. A majority of people, 53 per cent, agreed that the industry has an excellent reputation, up from 48 per cent last year. But room for improvement remains, in particular on complaints handling. Further information can be found at: www.abi.org.uk
Consumer/Customer education
Responsible marketing and providing clear information are key to establishing consumer confidence.
Prudential UK provides free guides to help those looking ahead and in particular to their retirement. Prudential UK’s guides provide information on topics such as 'understanding pension annuities' and 'choosing the right investment'. These booklets are available to customers and non-customers alike.
M&G has developed spin-free guides for investors which provide straightforward, easy-to-understand information on a range of investment options, including bonds and equities, while also tackling subjects such as understanding risk.
Jackson has developed a new approach to explaining the challenges of retirement to help consumers and customers understand the reality of longevity. Greg Salsbury, Executive Vice President Jackson National Life Distributors, has authored a book entitled ‘But What If I Live: The American Retirement Crisis’. The book was named ‘Best of Show’ in the writing category of the US Insurance and Financial Communications Association’s 2007 awards competition. All royalties from the sale of the book benefits Jackson’s new financial literacy programme (see Financial Capability in the US).
Retirement planning seminars
Adapted from the previous Meet Pru programme, Prudential UK offers free retirement planning seminars for customers and non-customers to learn about saving for retirement. In 2007, over 2,000 people in 16 locations across the UK were given the opportunity to speak directly with a Prudential employee to ask specific questions on any aspect of retirement saving and/or products offered by Prudential UK. Following positive feedback throughout 2007, the retirement planning seminars will continue in 2008.
Product innovation - Islamic financial products
In Malaysia, Prudential Fund Management Berhad has been managing Islamic funds since 2002, on behalf of Prudential plc. It now manages eight Islamic funds for institutional and retail investors. Our core strength is our tried and tested fund management approach coupled with our knowledge of Shariah investments, through undertaking research into consumer demand and needs. Several of our local funds have been awarded for fund performance, and in 2007, Prudential was voted Best Islamic Fund Manager by the readers of Islamic Finance News.
Customer service - Jackson
Jackson is dedicated to continually maintaining and improving good customer service and to having the necessary sophisticated technology, effective training programmes and quality reference materials available for its employees to use.
One method Jackson uses to measure its customer service quality is through benchmarking surveys. The Service Quality Measurement Group (SQM) specialises in annual benchmarking surveys and covers over 250 leading North American call centres in various industries. In 2007, Jackson achieved World Class status, for the third time in the last four years.
To achieve world class distinction from SQM, at least 80 per cent of customers surveyed must rate their experience with a company’s call centre as “very satisfied” – the highest possible rating. SQM surveyed more than 800 individuals, of whom 84 per cent said they were “very satisfied” with their customer service experience at Jackson.
Customer satisfaction model - Prudential Corporation Asia
Prudential Corporation Asia has continued to develop how it listens to its customers and puts them at the heart of the business. We have built on the work completed in 2006, the first Customer Satisfaction Model in Malaysia, and are now rolling out this model to our Life business in Singapore. We have also developed a regional survey to assess the likelihood of customers recommending Prudential Corporation Asia to their family and friends. The findings will allow Prudential Corporation Asia to track customer loyalty across its business and to assess the effectiveness of its various customer initiatives.
While high satisfaction scores tell us if things are going well for our customers, we are also very keen to get early visibility if things go wrong. All of our businesses have continued to monitor complaints from customers: three of our businesses are starting to measure compliments from customers, so we can understand the ratio of complaints to compliments; and we are introducing a customer dashboard for our largest businesses, in order to bring together a single business view of customer and corporate data.
Responsible investment
M&G manages two ethical investment funds: Prudential M&G Light Green Fund (for institutional pension fund clients) and the Prudential Ethical Trust Fund (a unit trust). M&G’s approach to responsible investment is set out in the booklet ‘Issues Arising from Share Ownership’, available at www.mandg.co.uk
PRUPIM is committed to making a significant contribution to the development of responsible investment in property. For example:
- Through PRUPIM’s participation in the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, we seek to promote better understanding of the investment implications of climate change.
- PRUPIM is currently working in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Responsible Property Investment Working Group, to promote responsible property investment. The working group has recently undertaken a key markets survey to identify and highlight emerging opportunities in responsible property investment.
- In 2007, PRUPIM set up an innovative project called the Improver Portfolio to examine ways it can reduce a ‘typical’ property portfolio’s carbon footprint while maintaining or even enhancing investment returns. The Improver Portfolio consists of 25 PRUPIMmanaged properties covering all sectors.
Unclaimed policies
Prudential UK takes its responsibility to its policyholders seriously and is keen to ensure that all claims are settled promptly. We understand that policyholders may misplace their policy or forget about it when moving house. If customers believe they have old policies they should contact Prudential by telephone on 0800 000 000, write to Prudential, Customer Service Centre, Stirling, FK9 4UE, or register to use Prudential’s secure email: www.pru.co.uk/prumail2
Further information can also be found on the Prudential plc website and the Prudential UK website (www.prudential. co.uk and www.pru.co.uk). In 2007, the two sites received a combined total of over 14,700 hits.
If a customer/policyholder has no information, but suspects that a life insurance policy exists, they may wish to consult the Unclaimed Assets Register (UAR). This is a unique service that helps its users find lost assets and re-establish contact with financial institutions. The UAR has a database of unclaimed life policies, pensions, unit trust holdings and share dividends drawn from many companies. The UAR charges a fixed fee of £18 for each search. This includes VAT and a contribution to charity. www.uar.co.uk