New insurance app 'built by advisors, for advisors'

SimpleProtect is designed to sign up customers quicker and more efficiently, with industry professionals involved since development

New insurance app 'built by advisors, for advisors'

Advisors have had direct input into a new app that helps peers provide Canadians with term life insurance coverage.

Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life have launched SimpleProtect, which is designed to simplify the process and provide customers with insurance protection faster.

Its features fewer underwriting questions – reduced from 50 to 16-20 – and applications can be completed in as little as 10 minutes, with an average completion time of 20.

Supporting applications for the firm’s term 10 and 20 products, Katrina Lee-Kwen senior vice-president, product and customer experience, said it was an app built “by advisors, for advisors”. Advisors have been engaged from the beginning of its development and will continue to play a role in its evolution and improvements.

Lee-Kwen said there was three main goals when developing the app: simplifying the application process; reducing the time it takes to put the coverage into force for the client and advisor; and a focus on making the process a lighter experience for both.

She told LHP: “We did engage with advisors throughout the process. Firstly, to understand what the process means to them and what their pain points are in the process and how can we meet their needs.

“It was really about enabling the conversations that they have with their clients and how we can make it better and simplify the process along the way so that there is less back and forth, and so there is more awareness of where they are in the process and if it is going to take a bit longer.”

The app took 4-5 months to build and has been gradually rolled out to advisors, with feedback positive. Lee-Kwen said they were relying on advisors to enhance it further.

She said: “Don’t be sceptical, try it and be part of the process to make it better. We are relying on advisors to inform us about that.”

Features are continuing to be added so there are currently some limitations. It’s available for up to 60-year-olds and $1 million only but Lee-Kwen said more improvements will be made going forward.

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