Aviva- a premium brand with 2nd class customer service ?

Nato_3

Aviva may be the biggest insurer in the UK however over the past 12 months I have observed a rapid deterioration of front end customer service as well as ceasing to providing the value they once did, at least in my case. Two years ago all of my major insurance needs were covered by Aviva ; today I canceled my motor insurance with Aviva. Allianz provided exactly the same cover for half of the price. My observations being ;

Communication :

• You used to call an 0800 number which was toll free . It is still possible to call an 0800 number however the 0844 number (which you pay 3p a minute as mentioned in the small print) is much more widely advertised . Customers notice things Aviva
• After calling the 0844 number you end up talking to voice recognition software and pressing 1 this ,or, 2 for that verses talking to a person for the first 3-4 minutes. If you are being sold something or renewing a policy a UK call centre customer service person comes on the phone . If it is claim or administrative you end up talking to an off-shore call centre . Sometimes the service is good sometimes not so good with the innate frustration of having to repeat yourself or having the representative repeat themselves because of the nuance of language and accents. I am sure automation and off-shore call centres make recent profits look wonderful at the expense of over-all customer experience. I am interacting with a premium brand supported by cheap customer service. I suspect more automation is creeping in as India is not as low cost as it once was and to maintain margins remove the human element of customer service all together . Customers notice these things Aviva.
• A five year motor insurance relationship ended by being asked to return the certificate that they included in the automatic renewal which I didn't ask for . No prepaid envelope was provided nor was one offered when I asked the representative who was canceling the 2011 policy. A second class stamp will be used for a company that is providing second class service. A simple "thank-you for your custom Mr X and sorry to see you leave us this year" would have been better than a threatening "send us back your insurance certificate or you are breaking the law". A premium brand supported by second class service.

Value for money

I would love to be a fly on the wall in how Aviva price new customer business and repeat customer business. My house and contents which used to insured by Aviva and now isn't, is a 1/3rd the price it used to be with Aviva for exactly the same cover. My car insurance which is due for renewal imminently is now being placed with Allianz for the same cover as Aviva at half of the price.

Andrew Moss looks please with a 21% increase in profitability and 4% increase in sales on his web-cast. I wonder in a year or two's time if the statistics will still be as positive. May be the automated voices should be asked and see how they respond? The virtual assistance on the website may also be able to advise.

My views could be isolated and I may be one of those customers that Aviva's algorithms has decided the company doesn't want anymore. I'll be interested in others opinions as I'm sure Aviva's competitors will be and just may be Aviva itself . Multiple consumers expressing their view may encourage Mr Moss to support a premium brand with first class service rather than looking at what they doing now and pretending it is .. it just isn't.

dunstonh

over the past 12 months I have observed a rapid deterioration of front end customer service as well as ceasing to providing the value they once did

hmm. This post must be in a timewarp. You could really have posted it every year for the last 15 or so years. Aviva have never been strong on service. Their pricing swings between the extremes typically with one minute saying they dont want to do unprofitable business and then pricing themselves to buy market share the next.

I would love to be a fly on the wall in how Aviva price new customer business and repeat customer business. My house and contents which used to insured by Aviva and now isn't, is a 1/3rd the price it used to be with Aviva for exactly the same cover. My car insurance which is due for renewal imminently is now being placed with Allianz for the same cover as Aviva at half of the price.

That probably means that they are not losing as much money by having you as a policyholder as they would if you were and they used the same pricing.

mikey72

Renewals are expensive with every insurer on here. Most drop the price if you ask them to. Most offer much better prices if you take out a new policy with them. They will all try it on, every customer that doesn't notice, or gets caught by autorenew is just extra cash to them.

Quentin

mikey72 wrote: »

Renewals are expensive with every insurer on here. Most drop the price if you ask them to. Most offer much better prices if you take out a new policy with them. They will all try it on, every customer that doesn't notice, or gets caught by autorenew is just extra cash to them.

Good advice about autorenewing, but isn't this thread about aviva being rubbish? They are, aren't they?

mikey72

For once we agree.
I fell foul of them as Norwich Union, with a third party claim against them over 30 years ago.
I have never insured with them.

dacouch

In twelve months the Allianz renewal premium will have shot up