Royal London – a step ahead in keeping your applications progressing
Wed Aug 5 2020
Last month, Royal London announced it would be reintroducing face-to-face nurse medical exams, for eligible customers, once the Government loosened restrictions on 29 June. The provider was the first to confirm this move in the market.
This followed its May launch of the innovative Digital Nurse Medicals, a market-first service that ensured eligible applications above normal medical limits could still get on cover during Covid-19 restrictions.
Colette Houton, Underwriting and Claims Lead at Royal London, commented,
“We’re delighted to have been able to work effectively with Financial Brokers during these very strange times, to make sure customers continue to get the cover they need, when they need it.
While the majority of applications are accepted straight-away, as you know, applications for cover at a certain age or sum assured need to undergo a nurse medical exam.
Now, in circumstances where a medical exam is needed, we will assess the application’s eligibility for either service and discuss the best approach with their broker. Suitable clients can choose what best suits them, a face-to-face consultation safely conducted in their home, or a telephone-based assessment. Both options are conducted by a qualified MDG nurse and take only around 30 minutes.”
| Face-to-Face Nurse Medicals
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Digital Nurse Medicals
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| Nurse arrives to your client’s house in full personal protective equipment (PPE) ensuring safety and wellbeing.
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Carried out by phone so your clients don’t have to leave their house.
Is the first of its kind to include a self-check finger-prick blood test (sent by post in advance).
Report is electronically signed by the client.
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| Conducted by a qualified nurse. | |
| Completed in about 30 minutes. | |
| Available on all Royal London products. | |
| Provided by industry experts, Medicals Direct Group (MDG). | |
In these challenging times, Royal London has moved quickly and worked with Financial Brokers to ensure more customers get the cover they need, swiftly and safely.
Colette continued,
“We’re committed to providing excellent support and positive options to you and your clients at all times. For those clients that are asked to undergo a medical exam prior to the policy going live, having choice and control of the situation is important. With Royal London, clients who would rather not invite a nurse into their home can still complete their medical exam and get the cover they need. All they need is an email address and weighing scales. And then, as soon as possible, we offered face-to-face exams as an alternative option.
“Of course, most people do not need to undergo a medical exam. And that’s where our online systems and processes really came into their own during the initial lockdown. Our teams were all able to immediately work from home, and our phone and email facilities continued to operate.
“Our online reflexive underwriting system and our fully integrated eSignature service mean that applications can be completed from start to finish electronically.”
Reflexive underwriting is extremely effective when working with clients over the phone. It means as you fill out the application with your client over the phone, the online system will automatically respond with any follow-up underwriting questions that are needed. So, if a medical disclosure is made, the online system will respond by asking a series of required follow-up questions related to the condition, saving you and your clients time.
Colette concluded,
“As you hopefully know, supporting brokers and making it easy for you to do business is a key focus for Royal London. As a company that chooses to only distribute through Financial Brokers, we’re committed to offering you the highest quality and best value services, offers and products.
“If you’d like any more details on any of Royal London services please get in touch, either directly to me (Colette.Houton@royallondon.ie) or through your Broker Consultant.”
