The latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for life insurance, conducted by Consulta, finds that South African life insurance customers are the most satisfied with Metropolitan\u00a0Life’s products.<\/p>\n
Now in its fifth year, the SAcsi Benchmark for Life Insurance offers insight\u00a0into the South African life insurance industry, by blending a Customer Expectations Index, Perceived Quality Index and a Perceived Value Index to achieve an overall result out of 100.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s top six insurers are included in the industry index: Metropolitan, Discovery, Old Mutual, Liberty, Momentum and Sanlam. The sample included 2,460 customers who were randomly selected for inclusion in the 2016 survey.<\/p>\n
Metropolitan\u2019s score of 82.6 places it well above the industry average of 79.0, the group said, adding that the company has consistently improved its score over the past three years, having climbed from 81.4 in 2015 and 74.0 in 2014.<\/p>\n
Old Mutual scored 80.3 (up 2.3 points), while Liberty scored 78.1 (up 4 points), Sanlam and Momentum were on par with the industry at 77.5 points each (up 2.6 and down 1.8 respectively).<\/p>\n
Discovery was the only company to score below the industry average, with a score of 74 points (down 1 point since 2015 and still below its 2014 score of 74.8).<\/p>\n
| #<\/th>\n | Life\u00a0Insurer<\/th>\n | 2016 Score<\/th>\n | 2017 Score<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1<\/td>\n | Metropolitan<\/td>\n | 81.4<\/td>\n | 82.6<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n| 2<\/td>\n | Old Mutual<\/td>\n | 78.0<\/td>\n | 80.3<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | <\/td>\n | Industry Average<\/em><\/td>\n | 77.3<\/em><\/td>\n | 79.0<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 3<\/td>\n | Liberty<\/td>\n | 74.1<\/td>\n | 78.1<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 4<\/td>\n | Sanlam<\/td>\n | 74.9<\/td>\n | 77.5<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 4<\/td>\n | Momentum<\/td>\n | 79.3<\/td>\n | 77.5<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 6<\/td>\n | Discovery<\/td>\n | 75.0<\/td>\n | 74.0<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n | \u201cIn (life insurance)\u00a0there isn\u2019t a wide gap between the leaders and the laggards, compared to other industry benchmarks in the SAcsi,” said Consulta CEO, Professor Adr\u00e9 Schreuder.<\/p>\n “In other sectors – such as short term insurance, medical insurance and retail banking\u00a0– the difference in satisfaction is much more varied as customers deal with the services more frequently and would be more cognisant of poor customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Schreuder\u00a0said that there has been a consistent improvement in the service quality of companies such as Metropolitan and Old Mutual, leading to their high scores.<\/p>\n Discovery, on the other hand, fell short in both perceived quality and value, leading to it falling short on meeting demanding customer expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Metropolitan customers prefer the in-branch, face-to-face experience and make enquiries more often, Discovery customers prefer to be served electronically online and via apps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMetropolitan customers believe that the insurer offers them the best product that meets their specific needs, and delivers on the promises made.\u201d<\/p>\n The average customer loyalty across the industry recovered slightly with a score of 69.5, having dipped to 67.6 in 2015 from a high of 73.6 in 2014.<\/p>\n The current economic climate has placed pressure on South African households, and therefore some insurers are predicting an increase in policy cancellations. However, those who remained have a low price-increase tolerance of 66.3, meaning they may cancel their policies should there be any increases in cost relative to value.<\/p>\n Metropolitan enjoyed the highest customer loyalty score of 72.9, an increase from 68.5 in 2015. Momentum\u2019s loyalty score was in line with the industry at 69.6, while Old Mutual and Sanlam each scored 68, followed by Liberty with a score 67.7 and Discovery with a score of 64.5.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was interesting to see that while Metropolitan\u2019s number of complaints is above the industry average, it also had the best complaint handling. They turned the tide of criticism into an opportunity to show customers that they care about them,\u201d Schreuder said.<\/p>\n \n |