Making application process easier
Asteron Life is working on making the application process for life insurance easier for advisers.
Wednesday, July 24th 2013, 3:18PM 
8 Comments
It says 40% of applications are missing information and can’t be underwritten but its latest changes are designed to address this issue.
Advisers will be able to use old-fashioned paper-based applications, but they can also use Sure App and a new process, Asteron Life Express.
Under the new Life Express option advisers will only need to collect some basic information from prospects. This includes name, date of birth, answers to a couple of basic questions and suitable contact times.
An Asteron underwriter will then contact the prospect at the agreed time and do the rest of the data gathering.
Chief underwriter Nadine Tereora says they would be able to underwrite a policy in real time and the company was likely to get better information and fully complete application forms.
She said it might help overcome issues of non-disclosure.
As this service is transferring some of the workload from the adviser to an Asteron underwriter it is a pilot programme.
Asteron managing director director David Carter said there would be no change to remuneration, although the adviser would do less work.
However the company will review its success (or otherwise) as the end of the year. This could see changes such as restricting the service to advisers.
Tereora said the change would “transform the time to issue (policies).”.
As well as these changes Asteron now has a plain English, Writemark, approved application form and has simplified the form, reducing its size by one third.
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Comments from our readers
On 24 July 2013 at 5:50 pm shultz said:
40% of applications are missing information... surely this is a training issue...
On 25 July 2013 at 4:33 pm 4:34 pm said:
Reading this you'd think Asteron were the first to offer telephone underwriting. On 26 July 2013 at 9:11 am Johnny said:
I support anything that reduces time to issue. Why are they all so slow at the moment? On 26 July 2013 at 10:05 am legs11 said:
TOWER tried this years ago. Had trouble with people not being there at the arranged time. Advisers did not have full details of clients medical history for future reference. Clients often had trouble understanding what underwriter was asking. On 26 July 2013 at 11:09 am 6ftndr said:
If advisers can't be bothered collecting all the information and basically pre-underwrite the cases, well they shouldn't be in the business, it's not as if they have more important things to do. On 26 July 2013 at 11:29 am Broker said:
I agree with 6ftndr. Isn't this an integral part of our job and how we add value? I can't see how anyone wins out of this... On 27 July 2013 at 9:36 am billy the broker said:
Sometimes like the cheese ad said good things take time....if unsure I write on the prop please write to doc as client is unsure or vague about his/her medical history...whats a couple of weeks wait time, they come out the other end eventually and they are correctly underwritten.....I note Sovereign have a relatively new service you can send props to..Clean Skins..when a client says basically no to every health question....be interesting how much that gets used!! On 27 July 2013 at 5:22 pm Observer said:
Not a new approach and seems they are trying to play catch up. A little concerned how the head of underwriting thinks the process might help overcome non-disclosure. Are they having a problem.
I hope that Asteron are recording these calls so that when an issue arrives at point of claim you as the adviser are able to have comfort that the right questions were asked.
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