There has been a huge improvement in providers’ service standards this year, with nine companies achieving a five star rating in Corporate Adviser’s Provider Service Ratings Report.
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This is the fifth year of these service ratings, which seek the views of independent advisers and consultants working across the sector on key aspects of customer service. The biggest improvements have been in the healthcare sector, as providers’ efforts to put the extraordinary strains put on the system by the Covid-19 outbreak behind them appear to have borne fruit.
In the workplace pensions sector both Aviva and Royal London achieved a five star rating. This is the fifth year that Royal London has achieve this award. Four star ratings were achieved by Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, TPT Retirement Solutions and SEI.
There were the highest number of five star ratings in the healthcare sector, with this coveted rating being achieved by Vitality, Benenden Health, Healix Health Services and Bupa.
In the cash plan sector Medicash and Health Shield got a five star rating, as did Unum in the group risk sector.
Corporate Adviser editor in chief John Greenwood said: “Service levels are central to the relationship between provider and intermediary. Bad service is keenly felt by advisers, consultants and brokers, causing an increased workload, creating potential for errors and straining their relationship with their employer clients when things go awry. Good service strengthens the intermediary’s client relationship, evidencing why they recommended a particular provider in the first place.”
The Corporate Adviser Service Ratings give advisers, consultants and brokers an unbiased and independent evaluation of the levels of service providers are delivering across the market. These ratings support advisers in understanding what they should expect from providers and enable them to see how their own experiences of providers compare with those of their peers.
Understanding how they perform against each of the six different metrics within the survey can help providers focus their resources on those areas most in need of improvement.