AVBOB Integrated Annual Report 2018

interactions. This system enables us to measure customer satisfaction, based on the customers’ recent interactions with the Group. To deliver on our brand promise, “We’re here for you” , the Group maintains a 24-hour call centre that enables our clients to contact us at any time of the day or night. In case of a reported death, the call centre agent provides a first line of support, to ensure that the client is assisted by the relevant Funeral Agent. We also provide a 24-hour bereavement counselling helpline to customers who make use of AVBOB Funeral Service. We realise the need to focus on understanding market needs and customer mind-sets and as such we have subscribed to Ask Afrika’s Orange TGI tool, which gives us access to a single-source database, that links all aspects of a customer. This tool will provide us with direction on geodemographic, psychographic and media consumption trends relative to the markets we serve. Our centralised Complaints Department plays a pivotal role in our strategy to improve customer service and we are continuously reviewing and improving processes to ensure that all complaints are dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Various indicators or metrics are monitored on a monthly basis to ensure that complaints are resolved effectively. We have also maintained our subscription to Hellopeter and all complaints or compliments are monitored and responded to immediately. The same applies to comments or complaints posted on Facebook and Twitter. Complaints, which are received via the website, e-mail, media channels and/or Ombudsman are attended to by the Complaints Department. We also continue to monitor other media channels i.e. radio, television and print to ensure timeous and appropriate responses to negative publicity. The annual report of the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance was released on 15 May 2018. The report contains information on the performance of the Ombudsman’s Office as well as details of complaints for subscribing members. Compared to the 2016 year, the number of written requests for assistance handled by the office increased by 9.3%, the number of transfers increased by 12.6% and the number of full cases decreased by 10.9%. The decrease in the number of full cases is ascribed to the success of the revised business model where complaints received are first sent to insurers to resolve, failing which a full case for investigation is opened. The percentage of full cases resolved wholly or partially (W/P) in favour of complainants increased marginally from 28.1% to 29.0%. The Society’s W/P percentage of 20.0% for complaints resolved in favour of the complainant is below the industry average. The Society has the lowest rate of complaints resolved in favour of the complainant when compared to our main competitors. We are continuously improving our complaints handling and resolution processes, and analysing the root causes of complaints to identify areas of improvement in both our products and services. In 2014 the Society became a member of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF). ICMIF has an active public affairs and relations strategy that gives members the tools to promote their mutual values to external stakeholders in the global mutual and cooperative sphere. A number of ICMIF members have already embraced their role as sustainable businesses. According to ICMIF’s 2015 Global Mutual Market Share research, the mutual and co-operative insurance sector represents 26.7% of the world’s insurance market by premiums. There are over 5 000 mutual insurers in the world. Collectively these represent USD1,3 trillion in premiums and over USD8 trillion in assets. Mutual insurers also serve more than 988 million people as members or policyholders across six continents. With the introduction and implementation of new and additional intensive statutory and regulatory obligations associated with the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act, Solvency Assessment and Management (SAM) and the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) outcomes, we have to ensure that our communication practices and systems will effectively engage stakeholders both 41