To ensure all our customers have the same experience and positive outcomes, we recognise that those who are living with characteristics of vulnerability may require additional support.
We are committed to the following:
- Understanding the needs of all customers, including those living with characteristics of vulnerability that may expose them to greater risk of harm and, therefore, require more support.
- Ensuring our products and services recognise and respond to vulnerable customers’ needs, protect them from foreseeable harm, and that their experience is as fair as other customers.
- Designing our products and services to work on the assumption that all customers could potentially be vulnerable at any stage of their journey with us.
- Recognising the need for bespoke support in exceptional situations such as safeguarding and threat to life.
Everyone at Ageas is a vulnerable customer champion, regardless of our role in the business.
The Ageas Care Programme
Introduced in 2019, our Ageas Care Programme is our commitment to understand customers who are living with characteristics of vulnerability and to support them to manage their insurance.
With customers at the heart of what we do, understanding the many different types of vulnerability is important to knowing how we can mitigate harm across the customer journey.
From training to a supporting toolkit, this programme ensures that regardless of role or function, our people have a heightened awareness, understanding, and are vulnerable customer champions.
As our people discover in our mandatory e-learning training, anyone can find themselves in a vulnerable situation or facing harm through lived experiences. Designed to educate all our people regardless of their role, this programme acts as a reminder to consider vulnerability and customer needs when developing new systems, processes, communications and customer journeys. It encourages the application of an inclusive lens, and we highlight the barriers customers can face if we don’t act as vulnerability champions.
To complement this course, we have also developed a virtual face to face training course for our people who speak directly with our customers. Split into two sections, this brings the customer conversation to life and looks specifically at the practical steps needed to support our vulnerable customers.
In line with our customer ambition to ensure we deliver brilliant service to every single one of our customers, we are constantly reviewing and refreshing our Ageas Care Programme.
Online help for vulnerable customers
From accessibility to life events, our Customer Support Hub offers our customers additional support if and when it’s needed.
We offer all customers more choice when managing their claims, and we are always looking to develop our telephone and online journeys.
Learn more about how customers can communicate with us.
Being there during the cost-of-living crisis
We responded to the continuing cost-of-living crisis by upskilling our teams to support customers under financial pressures better.
With specialist training in new affordability rules, handling debt and financial difficulty, our customer-facing teams can provide maximum support to those living with characteristics of vulnerability.
Customer Immersion Programme
As part of our Customer Immersion Programme, our customer experience team recently held a vulnerability session for our Executive Team.
This brought to life the challenges experienced by customers who are living with certain characteristics of vulnerability, including financial difficulty and long-term ill health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. By utilising the expertise of external charities, the session was well received and stimulated ideas on how we can ensure our customer journeys are designed with an inclusive lens.
Find out more about our Customer Immersion programme.