Gerard Kerr

OnePath has refined its new business and customer management process, connecting its leading edge technology innovations that power OneCare to unlock further efficiencies and speed.

By linking the innovations, OnePath has made insurance simpler and more streamlined, saving time and creating a seamless end-to-end experience for both advisers and their clients.

Using Illustrator as the central gateway, advisers can pre-assess, quote and apply online for insurance from one central access point while also having access to all their clients’ portfolios.

OnePath’s Head of Propositions and Group Life, Gerard Kerr says advisers are looking for an insurance solution that saves time and to partner with insurance providers that are easy to do business with.

“Over the past few years, OnePath has invested in developing market-leading and award-winning technology to simplify insurance and save advisers and their clients time. Linking these technologies is the next step in OnePath’s work to deliver advisers and customers a more valuable customer experience.”

The technology solutions which power OneCare include:

Illustrator – Advisers use Illustrator as their central gateway to a seamless insurance experience, to pre-assess, quote and apply for insurance online as well as access clients’ portfolio information, providing a consistent experience across all devices.

OneCare Express – Developed in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney’s Advanced Analytics Institute, this award-winning underwriting engine completes applications up to 30% faster. Using everyday language to ask medical questions, the engine makes completing Personal Statements more flexible and more conversational.
Advisers can also get immediate acceptance for some medical conditions and get clients covered faster. Further, integration with Illustrator saves time as some answers from the pre-assessment are available in the Personal Statement.

OneView Life – Advisers can manage clients’ policies and information in one place,  making changes to clients’ insurance as their needs change. This includes quoting for cover increases and decreases, 10-year projections and declining CPI increases. Advisers can access portfolio analytics for proactive client management.

“OneCare has a raft of innovative technologies which support it as a leading life insurance product,” said Kerr. “By connecting these capabilities, OnePath is providing advisers and their customers with an insurance solution that is in not only in sync but is speaking the same language and working for them from start to finish.”

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath’s group insurance claims technology has won the Community Innovation Trailblazer Award at the Salesforce Dreamforce 2019 conference, international recognition of its use of data analytics and AI to drive claims performance.

By invitation only, OnePath showcased its Einstein tool which utilises Salesforces data analytics to generate visual representations of the claims data. This allows group insurance clients to identify key trends and outliers much quicker so they can develop initiatives to better manage claims in their fund.

OnePath has been working with easy-to-use online analytics to support funds, particularly in the areas of underwriting and claims. This work demonstrates OnePath’s commitment to make insurance better and to strive for positive change to set new standards in member experience.

OnePath’s Head of Propositions and Group Insurance, Gerard Kerr said this claims analysis helps group insurance clients more deeply understand their member base so they can make informed decisions that are in the best interests of their members.

“Super funds are looking for help when it comes to understanding their member bases even more, particularly in the area of insurance. We can play a key role in facilitating this exchange of insights that makes for deeper and more engaging relationships.”

An annual event, the Salesforce’s Dreamforce 2019 conference this year featured speakers such as former US president Barack Obama and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Presenting on behalf of OnePath was Solution Delivery Manager David Neate who accepted the award.

“With competition from around the world, this award is a fantastic achievement for the OnePath team,” said Kerr. “It’s also testament to the strength of our analytical tools.”

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath Life has established 10-year premium projections on alteration quotes for OneCare and OneCare Super policies, providing greater certainty and clarity for advisers and their clients.

The projections enable advisers to have more meaningful conversations with their clients about the estimated future cost of their premiums, facilitating greater understanding and trust. It replaces the current manual process where advisers contact OnePath Life, rather than doing the projection on-the-spot with their clients.

OnePath’s Head of Propositions and Group Life, Gerard Kerr said OnePath will continue to invest in its products and enhancements as it takes a ‘new path’ to make insurance better.

“OnePath Life is on a new path to increase the understanding, engagement, and interaction clients have with their insurances. Developing tools such as the 10-year premium projection tool is another example of our ongoing development.”

Earlier this year, OnePath Life introduced the ability to quote on increases and decreases for OneCare policies through OneView Life, giving advisers the capability to generate a quote to either reduce, remove particular covers or increase existing OneCare policies.

Both enhancements have the similar goal to make OneCare insurance policies more flexible and relevant to the changing needs of clients.

“OnePath Life recognises there is always more to do to make insurance better, and we are building a good track record of enhancements and innovation that show true commitment to this goal,” said Kerr.

The 10-year premium projections automatically shows up when a quote is generated through OneView Life.

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath has launched a comprehensive customer engagement program taking insurance in Australia in a new direction to give customers greater clarity over their insurance cover.

Known as ‘The New Path’, the program includes next generation adviser and customer tools designed to engage, clarify, empower and reward insurance customers, making it more relevant to and valued by OnePath customers.

The tools include:

• OnePath Clarity – a policy education program delivered via a mobile friendly website, offering multi-media tools and content which can be distributed by financial advisers.
• My OnePath Life – a single sign-on customer self-service portal enabling customers to keep policy details up-to-date, track claim progress and access their policies and cover.
• OnePath Rewards – a health and rewards portal filled with educational content and tools to help customers live a healthy lifestyle, earn wellness points and cash-back rewards for groceries, fuel, and department store vouchers.

OnePath Head of Propositions and Group Insurance Gerard Kerr said the launch of the program represented a new chapter in insurance in Australia.

“We want to change the way customers think of insurance, so while it is there to protect them for the unexpected, it is also about helping them maximise and protect their quality of life.”

To do this, OnePath is delivering clarity, control and commitment to both customers and their adviser, setting a new course on client engagement and value.

“Advisers are looking for ways to deliver greater value to clients. We want to partner with advisers and give them the support tools they need to do this.”

OnePath’s customer engagement program will be rolled out in phases over the coming months. Financial advisers will play an important role in its release and how customers engage and use the tools and content in the program.

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath has announced further enhancements to its comprehensive client management portal, OneView Life demonstrating its ongoing commitment to partnering with financial advisers and its continued positive momentum.

The enhancements include the ability for financial advisers to now quote increases online to existing client’s OneCare cover, giving advisers greater flexibility when responding a client’s change in circumstances and needs. It also compliments OnePath’s existing capability to quote online cover reductions, which has been averaging 4,500 unique logins per month for the past 4 months.

OnePath has consistently evolved its value proposition to meet the needs of financial advisers and their clients. This includes the ability for advisers to decline CPI increases without a client signature and to access more portfolio analytics for deeper client insights, via the OneView Life portal.

According to OnePath’s Head of Propositions and Group Life Gerard Kerr, OnePath is investing further in its partnerships with advisers, ensuring that OneCare and its business solutions meets the needs of clients and it is easy to do business with at every step of the advice proposition.

“To do this, we are continuing to invest in our people, products and technology to create simpler, faster, clearer and sustainable solutions for advisers and their clients. This investment is generating a long-term program of initiatives with the release over the coming months of new tools for advisers and their clients.”

OnePath plans further initiatives to provide clients with greater clarity and confidence with their cover and to reinforce the benefits of insurance and reward them for choosing OnePath Life. This includes giving clients access to make basic changes to their cover, such as updating personal details, providing more time for advisers to spend time on what matters most.

Also now available, a 10 per cent premium Kickstart discount for new OneCare and OneCare Super Lump Sum policies in the first year (then reduces by 2.5% each year). This discount applies to life cover and any linked TPD and/or trauma covers with stepped premiums.

“OnePath wants to demonstrate to financial advisers our commitment to their needs and those of their clients. We are excited about our future with Zurich and the dual brand approach giving advisers even more choice and control when meeting their client’s needs.”

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Peter Tilocca

OnePath continues to invest in its inhouse underwriting engine to ensure its efficient and easy-to-use for advisers and their clients.

Since its launch in November, more than 70 enhancements have been made to the underwriting engine, based on internal and external feedback.

Further, almost 1,000 unique conditions (including aliases) have been selected from the catalogue, 900 of which are medical. Image testing, vertebral disc-related issues and muscular back pain the top three most selected medical conditions.

A further 52 unique travel destinations and 41 unique pastimes were searched for using the engine, with the US, Indonesia and the UK the top three travel destination searches and skiing, dirt biking and diving the most common pastime searches.

According to OnePath’s Chief Underwriter Peter Tilocca, the volume of enhancements reflects OnePath’s commitment to its usability and ongoing development as a leading-edge underwriting engine.

“Two years ago, OnePath made the decision to develop its underwriting engine inhouse so it could ensure the dynamism of the engine and its adaptability to the needs of both advisers and customers. By partnering with the University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Advanced Analytics Institute, we can bring together the best of AI with our rich history in insurance.”

The enhancements have been well received by advisers who in April awarded the engine a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +65. NPS has a scale from -100 to+100 with anything over +50 regarded as ‘Excellent’.

An increasing number of advisers are now using the underwriting engine, making the most of its usability and its customers benefits.

“Close to 2,000 advisers have now used the risk engine to research conditions. With every enhancement we make there is an educational period that follows, so we expect this number to grow considerably over the next six months.”

Over the next quarter, OnePath will continue to respond to adviser feedback on the engine, prioritising enhancements and inclusions based on this and claimant request.

“Ongoing monitoring of feedback and the updating of the medical catalogue and aliases are crucial elements of maintaining a leading-edge underwriting engine,” said Tilocca. “Our ability to monitor this feedback and respond to requests is only enhanced by our decision to develop this capability inhouse.”

Last month, OnePath and UTS won three Merit Awards in the NSW State iAwards in the AI Data Driven Underwriting Solution category – Data Insights Innovation of the Year, Business Service Markets and Research and Development Project of the Year – progressing to the National iAward final.

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath has reviewed more than 25,000 trauma policies to ensure the most up-to-date and optimal trauma definitions are being used.

The result is more than 600 trauma definition updates across 60 trauma products with policies dating back to 1988 included in the review. Some cover definition names have also been updated to provide customers with more certainty.

According to Zurich’s Head of OnePath Propositions and Group Life, Gerard Kerr, this project demonstrates the true spirit and drive of OnePath.

“From the outset, we wanted to ensure our policy holders benefited from improving definitions where applicable.  At the same time, we recognised older policies may have definitions with broader coverage than present day.”

For policies in this situation, OnePath has retained the older more favourable definitions.

The motivation for the review was OnePath’s desire to take the customer centric mindset of the Life Insurance Code of Practice.

The project commenced in 2018 and sourced information from OnePath’s Claims Technical team as well as the expertise of chief medical officers, re-insurers, and actuaries.

“We want to provide our customers with high standards of service, a benchmark of consistency within the industry, and a framework for professional behaviour and responsibilities. This project delivers on all three,” said Kerr.

The new definitions are applicable for any new events from 1 December 2018.

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OnePath is providing specialised mental health and wellness training to its claims team.

OnePath has announced it is providing specialised mental health and wellness training to its claims team, developing the skills needed to meet the increasing number of insurance claims based on mental health and wellness issues.

By the end of the month, about 200 staff members will have completed 20 different mental health and wellness training sessions, including the OnePath claims team, managers in underwriting and customer-service teams.

National mental health organisation SuperFriend is providing evidence-based practical training to improve participants’ understanding and awareness of mental illness and health.

OnePath head of mental health and wellness Maria Falas said the training aligns OnePath’s goal of becoming the leading insurer for mental health and wellness solutions.

“SuperFriend’s mental health and wellness training offers the opportunity to build on our strong skills base, allowing our team to process mental health claims fairly and efficiently while also taking an empathetic and individualised approach.”

Demand for OnePath’s mental health programs is expected to continue increasing during 2019 as advisers and clients become more aware of the support available.

On average, OnePath services 20 mental health claims a month, with expectations this could double once the new initiatives are implemented. To date, claimants use the CaseWorks and doctor-to-doctor programs the most.

Falas said OnePath’s specialised mental health claims team was critical to delivering on OnePath’s commitment to meet customer’s needs and expectations.

“Mental health claims come with added sensitivities. We want to give our customers full confidence that OnePath staff understand this and have the capabilities to deliver exceptional service.”

Adding to its mental health initiatives, OnePath recently announced its partnership with SuperCharged Food author Lee Holmes. OnePath will work with Lee Holmes over the next 12 months to spread awareness and education about the important connection between gut health and mental health.

OnePath’s mental health and general wellness programs include:

• General health coaching – OneCare customers with a high body-mass index or cholesterol/blood-pressure problem may reduce their loading with the help of a health coach,
• CaseWorks early engagement program – mental health claimants can get help from a nurse to fill in their claim application, providing them with a more personal service in the comfort of their own homes,
• Doctor-to-doctor interactions – OnePath facilitates doctor-to-doctor case management, providing a centralised service with a customer’s treating doctor to help the customer regain their health sooner,
• Mental-health coaching – Customers lodging income-protection claims relating to depression or anxiety are offered a Remedy Healthcare MindStep program, which is a complimentary phone-based support program tailored to the individual.

OnePath continues to build on its strong track record in claims, winning the Claims Award at the Association of Financial Advisers Life Company of the year awards

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Gerard Kerr

OnePath has announced it had recently implemented new enhancements and tools for its online adviser portal to make the management of OneCare life insurance policies easier and more efficient.

Advisers can now use the OneView Life portal to generate a quote to reduce or remove individual covers on existing policies, with features soon to be extended to enable increases in cover.

This enhancement makes OneCare insurance policies more flexible to the changing needs of clients, ensuring they are ‘living’ documents which can be actively discussed and updated using OneView Life.

According to OnePath’s Head of Life Insurance, Gerard Kerr, the new features provide greater flexibility for advisers to manage their clients’ insurance needs now and into the future.

“We know advisers needs require that we evolve and improve our online services. Our latest enhancements reflect OnePath’s continued desire to listen, innovate and deliver solutions for advisers and their clients that improve their insurance experience.”

Other enhancements to OneView Life include the ability to:

• edit a quote already saved and created,
• keep track of clients paying their OneCare Super Premiums via external rollover with the addition of rollover information to an adviser’s dashboard and via a weekly email,
• view and track the progress of client-initiated requests,
• view upcoming events including policy renewals, policies at risk of lapsing and adviser applications, and
• the introduction of a new client-friendly layout showing client’s policy changes including stamp duty and premiums before and after rollover rebate.

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Alexis George

ANZ has launched Pathways to Better, a campaign to showcase the sustained activity across its insurance, superannuation and advice business and the enduring strength of service and culture behind the OnePath brand.

The campaign will focus on OnePath’s 140-history of helping Australians on their journey to achieving their financial goals, including recent initiatives such as ANZ’s ongoing investment in its life insurance Essentials products and utilising AI innovation to deliver predictive underwriting.

According to ANZ Wealth Group Executive Alexis George, Pathways to Better is a brand promise that represents the shared pathway ANZ has with advisers to deliver better products, better support, better tools and better relationships.

“Our business is based on strong and enduring partnerships with advisers and their customers. We want to celebrate this as well as recognising our rich shared history and sustainable future,” Ms George said.

“Pathways to Better will also highlight the significant contribution our staff make to the ‘DNA’ or underlying culture of ANZ’s wealth business. A number of them are featured throughout the campaign.

“It’s easy to focus on brand names or product features and enhancements. But while they are important, at the heart of this campaign is celebrating the enduring focus and expertise of our people and the work they do each day to create an even better experience for advisers, members and customers. I believe this is what makes our service proposition unique,” Ms George said.

Other activities to be highlighted in the campaign include:

• OneView Life, now the market-leading client management platform
• The Beddoes Institute’s recognition of ANZ Wealth’s fastest claim turnaround time
• ANZ’s 15-year support of the Association of Financial Adviser’s Rising Star Award
• OneAnswer’s enhanced client reporting
• APEX’s delivery of education, insights and support to advisers

Pathways to Better will run from March until September and will include activity and product updates, staff stories and data on the significant contribution OnePath has made in its 140-year history.

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