About 2 weeks ago I responded to an online advert by OUTsurance for Life cover at significantly reduced premiums (because they were cutting out the advisor and therefore the commission). Within “minutes” I received the following email from them acknowledging my request for a quote:
“Thank you for requesting an insurance quote from OUTsurance! We are committed to AWESOME service and will do our best to quote a premium that really suits your pocket. One of our highly trained advisors will call you shortly to complete your quote. And just in case you had any doubts as to why we are the largest direct insurer, see attached a brief summary of our product features and service offering!
Regards, OUTsurance”
Despite the promise of AWESOME service I heard nothing for a week. And so I contacted them again and again I received an acknowledgement promising me that my request would be sent to the appropriate person for an immediate response. Still nothing…
And that is a problem with going direct (or cutting out the advisor) – there is no one to speak to, no one who is really interested and my “urgent” need for life cover has not been addressed.
Around the same time I was contacted by a client who was looking for life cover. He had heard that we charged a fee for the work we do, that we do not earn any commission and that as a result his premium would be significantly lower (up to 30% less).
After explaining to him how we worked he asked me to get some quotes for him and told us that it was urgent as he was going away on the 15th August for a month and wanted the cover in place before then. We duly sent him the quotes and then the relevant application form which he completed and sent back to us on Tues 10th August. The case was underwritten the same day, medicals were done the next day and the case was issued on Friday the 13th…now that is AWESOME service by the relevant insurance company (Altrisk, for the record).
If the client had gone “direct” he would still be waiting for someone to return his call…
And IF, OUTsurance ever get back to me, I will write a follow up post comparing their quote with what we can get elsewhere.
