Areas where we have taken action
We have made a number of improvements to our annuity literature this year (see below) and we continue to improve and enhance our service to customers.
We have made improving the literature we send to customers approaching retirement a priority and we are carrying out work that will:
- Provide improved customer literature based on the feedback we have received through this and other customer surveys. This includes revamping our annuity quotes that we send to customers six weeks before they are due to take an annuity.
- Allow us to offer customers a wider choice of annuity options at retirement - including 'income choice' annuities that allow customers to choose a starting level of income that suits their needs, with the option to change this level of income as customers' needs change.
Other initiatives that we are putting in place over the next year that will seek to add satisfaction from the service we provide include:
- We have set up an online research community that allows us to have a continuous dialogue with customers to help us understand customers' views on their product needs.
- We have over 100 Customer Champions across the business whose role is to champion the experience we provide to our customers and continually look to enhance and improve the service we offer.
Areas where we took action after last year's results:
Time taken to arrange annuities
Last year we saw a fall in the number of customers who were happy with the time it took to arrange their annuity.
During the course of 2008, Prudential and seven other companies worked with the ABI to deliver an electronic exchange, aimed at speeding up the time taken to send monies to set up a pension annuity - this exchange was launched in December 2008 and has already reduced the amount of time taken.
We also set up a team to review the process of setting up an annuity with customers who vest internally.
These are two examples of a number of actions across the business that have had a very positive effect on our scores and we have seen the score for the time taken to arrange an annuity rise from 45% (rating us very good or excellent) in 2008 to 62% in 2009.
Clarity of our written information for annuity customers
Last year we saw a fall in the percentage of new annuity customers who were happy with the clarity of our written information. As a result of this fall we took a number of steps to improve our literature for both new and existing customers.
1. Developing a new user guide for customers
We have developed a handy post-sale user guide that provides answers to the most common questions we receive from new annuity customers.
The guide aims to reassure customers that everything is in hand by letting them know what will happen next, and over the long term, in relation to their policy. It also provides them with our contact details should they need to get in touch with us.
This was launched in August 2008.
2. Revising our post-purchase research
Around a month after purchasing an annuity we send a questionnaire to customers where we ask for feedback on how the customer feels the process of setting up the annuity went. We have revised this questionnaire to ensure we capture the key issues better. We review the results and comments on a monthly basis to help us improve our service to new customers.
3. Improving communications for customers
We have revised the communications we send to customers six months, and six weeks, before they take out an annuity. Our simplified communications aim to provide the right level of information at the right time for customers. We started sending out the revised documents in April 2008.
4. Improvements to annual P60 tax mailings
We have reviewed the tax mailings we send to annuity customers to simplify communication and improve clarity. This was implemented in April 2009 and has led to a significant fall in the number of queries we receive about these mailings.
