Zurich recognised for customer satisfaction

Zurich has been independently recognised as one of the best brands in the UK for customer satisfaction.

The insurer rose from 188th to 12th in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI)—thanks, in part, to Zurich paying out 99% of all UK claims during 2017 with payments worth more than £1.7 billion, and investing in a major brand campaign to highlight its claims record and commitment to doing the right thing.

Published by the Institute of Customer Service, the UKCSI rates customer satisfaction across 13 sectors, incorporating the views of 10,000 consumers on 247 brands.

Zurich was also ranked first in the insurance sector for ethical business behaviour and connecting with consumers, and fifth and seventh respectively across all companies.

Its score of 83.2, which saw it gain eight points from 2018, places it above the 77.7 national average.  This comes at a time when the overall index continued to decline.

The index takes into account more than 25 different customer measures, including staff professionalism, the quality and efficiency of the service, trust and transparency, the actual customer experience, complaint handling and ethics.

According to the UKCSI, Zurich improved across a range of areas, including product, service quality, price, billing and ease of dealing with the organisation. It was also boosted by high scores for its ethical standards and emotional connection with consumers.

Tulsi Naidu, chief executive of Zurich UK, said: “We are delighted with our improvement in this year’s survey which tells us that the work we have done over the last few years is having a real impact on how customers perceive us. We want to be known as the quality option for customers and our ongoing transformation is about creating a simpler, more innovative business that is highly customer focused.”

“It is particularly gratifying to be ranked as the number one insurer for ethical standards and connecting with consumers. Whether it’s investing in our charity partnerships, our employees using paid volunteer days to share their skills in challenged schools and communities or our approach to the customer and paying claims, corporate responsibility is a fundamental part of Zurich’s culture. It’s a key driver for why people want to work for us and it clearly matters to our customers too.”

She added: “At a time when the overall index has continued to show a decline in customer satisfaction, it’s good to see us bucking the trend.  We are very clear that we have more to do and this feedback from the survey only makes us more determined to continue on the journey we are on.”

Here’s a selection of five initiatives that have contributed to Zurich’s rise up the rankings:

• Zurich paid out 99% of all UK claims during 2017 with payments worth more than £1.7 billion—and invested in a major brand campaign to highlight its claims record and commitment to doing the right thing
• Zurich has revamped its complaints handling process and developed a systematic approach to using net promoter scores to improve service, including Close the Loop calls, where senior leaders ring customers to discuss positive and negative feedback they have given
• The insurer undertook a number of initiatives to improve customer service including improving communications, using technology to improve routine servicing and claims handling and improving complaints handling procedures
• The insurer rolled out vulnerable customer training to more than 1,000 frontline staff, set up a Vulnerable Customer and Dementia Friends Champions and became the first UK insurer to launch SignLive, a service enabling customers with impaired hearing to contact the company using a video interpreter
• Through the Zurich Community Trust and Zurich employee fundraising, more than £1.5 million was donated to UK and overseas charities in 2018 with staff giving 4,100 days of volunteering. Through its Youth Skills Programme, Zurich and its employees also supported 1,900 school pupils in the UK on improving financial and risk literacy and with skills and careers advice

Mark Dugdale