Always on the other end of the line

Claire Barber has been with Aviva for 16 years and is one of our Protection Telephone Account Managers. In this article, Claire discusses her role and how she helps financial advisers.

My job as a Protection Telephone Account Manager means, unsurprisingly, that I spend much of my day on the phone! I build and develop relationships with advisers, becoming an extension of their business. By learning about the company and its client base I can help advisers find the right protection products for their clients, supporting each adviser as much as they need it.

My contact with advisers is remote-based, but this can be anything from a one-to-one call to a team-wide video meeting. I’m there to help advisers with any queries or questions they may have, whilst keeping Aviva at the forefront of their minds as a go-to provider.

Going the extra mile

I will get as personally involved as my advisers need me to be….

One of my advisers called me to tell me a colleague’s child was seriously ill and had been in hospital for several days. The colleague (who I knew quite well) wanted to know if they could make a claim on their personal Aviva protection plan, as they also had children’s critical illness benefit. Both parents were taking unpaid leave from their jobs so they urgently needed money to cover the lost salaries.

I had recently spent time with the senior manager of the claims team which specialised in children’s critical illness claims, so I contacted them and explained the situation. The claims team made an immediate payment of £500, to cover the nights the child had already been in hospital. The child’s condition deteriorated so I worked with the claims team to ensure we paid out on the full critical illness claim.

This story doesn’t have a happy ending. The child’s illness was confirmed as terminal. We were able to make an advanced illness payment to the family, which allowed both parents to take time off work to be with their child at the end. They were also able to spend time with their other two children, so they could all support each other in their grief. We sent gifts to both children – a small gesture at an indescribably terrible time.

It takes Aviva

Dealing with this case will stay with me for a very long time; I often wonder how the family is managing as life continues without their child. I am proud of the role I was able to play in making things a little bit easier. We handled all the family’s claims for them – they didn’t have to speak to the claims team at all, which spared them the trauma of giving details of the worst time of their lives.

It was a privilege to be involved in doing what Aviva does best – supporting our customers in any way we can, when they need it most.

For more information about how Aviva can help you and your protection clients, contact us.