Legal & General has outlined its approach to supporting intermediaries and servicing insurance customers as the UK faces the impact of COVID-19.
The insurer has reiterated its commitment to providing a fair and thorough claims approach and to paying all valid claims to support policyholders during some of the most difficult times in their lives.
Legal & General’s claims and underwriting teams will remain fully operational, with up to 90% of the workforce working from home. The teams will continue to review new case assessments within four hours, while any medical evidence receipts will still be assessed within a five-day window.
The insurer has noted, however, that there is the possibility of underwriting delays in the future due to understandable challenges in obtaining evidence from customers, GP surgeries and other third-party medical providers.
Legal & General has encouraged intermediaries to utilise the company’s digital communications systems as the primary and most efficient approach to avoid potential wait time for calls. The business has taken measures to ensure that all updates and information will be available to intermediaries via these online platforms. User systems will remain available 24 hours a day and will be the most effective method for advisers to locate the information they require.
Due to the impact of Covid-19, Legal & General’s call centres will be operating at a reduced capacity as the business continues to fully equip these teams to work from home. Call centres will now be open 9am–5pm Monday to Friday. For new registrations, intermediaries will be able to contact Legal & General via email, Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm via email only: advisercentre@landg.com
Ali Crossley, managing director distribution, Legal & General Insurance, said: “Our purpose at Legal & General has always been focused on delivering services and products that support our customers when they need it most. It is our primary focus and we wanted to update our intermediary partners about our approach to customer service during these uncertain and unprecedented times.
“We have taken a number of steps to ensure our teams can best support intermediaries and their clients, and both our claims and underwriting functions remain fully operational while working from home. As we continue to equip our call centre teams to work from home, we encourage advisers to utilise our digital communications systems and tools to find the information they need at this time.
“We would like to thank our intermediary partners for working with us as we ensure that we are able to provide the best possible service throughout this unprecedented national emergency. In uncertain times, we would like to offer two certainties: our claims approach will always be fair and thorough, paying all valid claims and our purpose of supporting our customers in some of the most difficult times in their lives will never change.”