Partners Life throws “serious funding” into service recovery

Speaking at an adviser webinar, CEO Michael Weston said Partners Life will be investing into products, as well as the claims experience and data analytics. COO Daniel Walker said the company has “been to some dark places in terms of service” for medical claims in particular, but is “absolutely treating it as a priority.”

Walker noted that the last month was the highest for processed payments, and that’s meant that the backlog of invoice reimbursements has reduced by 40%.

“At our worst, we were as many as 21 days behind,” Walker said. “We’re currently at 7, and we’re making progress as we go. We’re acknowledging to the advisers that we’re not necessarily where we want to be still, but we’ve made really significant progress and will continue to do so.”

Walker also acknowledged that the company struggled with underwriting and new business services in the last year, partly due to an “underwriting churn merry-go-round” that saw underwriters switching companies, as well as operational structures that didn’t align with distribution segmentation.