CIExpert has launched its own customiser tool in response to Zurich’s upgraded critical illness cover product range which offers a new level of personalisation for clients.
The tool enables advisers to exploit the new flexibility that Zurich has provided. CIExpert’s additional functionality is designed to meet Consumer Duty requirements by enabling a cost versus quality assessment for every customised option that the personalised Zurich product range provides.
Zurich’s tiered policy portfolio has three quality levels; Core, Enhanced & Enhanced Plus. Each can be selected as either adult only or with core child or enhanced child quality levels, with the additional unique aspect of enabling congenital conditions, pregnancy complications and birth defect cover as an add-on option for both child variations.
This creates 15 main policy variants, but additionally the children’s cover can also be selected at any amount between £10K & £100K.
CIExpert’s solution enables all 15 policy variants to be selected for comparison and has also developed a customiser tool to enable the child sum assured to be altered from the pre-selected amount to match a client’s choice.
The tool automatically updates the quality rankings to reflect the new child sum assured chosen.
The tool also allows advisers to create indicative premiums for Zurich’s customised options. This enables them to immediately understand the cost implications of choosing any of the policy combinations and furthermore, when altering the child sum assured, the difference in price is displayed to assist in the choice.
Consequently, the tool enables advisers to interactively review the options available and assess the balance between cost and quality, making it easier to select from the options that best matches the individual needs of each client’s demographics.
Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, (pictured) said: “When we initially saw Zurich’s outline for their new products I have to admit to being concerned about the level of complexity that it might create. But as we came to understand the rationale behind it we could see that this was a significant market innovation focused on matching product design to the individual needs of a client.
“We viewed this as an extremely positive market direction that others will no doubt follow and therefore we set out to create for advisers a simple & fast solution that would make this personalisation viable.
“To support a Consumer Duty process it is essential that cost and quality for each option considered can be readily understood. However if an adviser has to go to a provider’s portal to get a price for a customised option then it introduces complexity, which we all know is the enemy of a sensible interaction.
“It was a significant challenge for our development team to create an interactive solution that can compute both new rankings and indicative premiums in a few seconds. But in doing so we believe we have created a powerful tool for advisers to illustrate the new level of flexible options for their clients.
“While being inspired by Zurich to make these changes, we have taken the opportunity to build in some new visual enhancements to the navigation of our user interface, assisting advisers in understanding the myriad child cover options available.
“The solution clearly labels those policies that include congenital conditions and captures clients’ plans for future children.
“It also includes a new children’s cover filter to further aid advisers in identifying the best match for their clients’ personal needs.”
Emma Vaughan, head of protection and health solutions at SimplyBiz, said: “It’s extremely important that advisers are able to research the most suitable solutions for their clients as independently and accurately as possible. So we’re delighted to see CIExpert introduce yet another innovation to their range of services today.
“With the added requirements of Consumer Duty at the front of all our minds I believe the functionality CIExpert has developed allowing advisers to personalise Zurich’s new Critical Illness plans to exactly meet the needs and budgets of their clients, really starts to challenge the constraints of rigid product design while allowing advisers to evidence the quality of their advice and easily demonstrate fair value.
“To be able to do this in such a simple and intuitive way, all supported with a full compliance report generated in just a few seconds, is an adviser’s dream come true.”
Louise Colley, director of retail protection at Zurich, said: “Our improved three-tiered approach for critical illness cover, as well as the new options we have available for children’s cover enable advisers to craft tailored solutions for each of their clients.
“CIExpert’s unique ability to individually customise and compare the quality and cost of every combination of cover, including for any children’s cover amount between £10k & £100k, really compliments the enhancements we have made.
“When sharing the new proposition with the CIExpert team they fully embraced what we are setting out to achieve – in crafting a solution for every customer who has their own unique protection needs.
“The new functionality that CIExpert has developed significantly reduces the research burden on advisers. It also provides them with tangible evidence to support their recommendation as well as helping them to fully meet both their Consumer Duty and fair value obligations.”