Aviva 2005 Annual Report Download - page 44

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Aviva plc 2005 Business review
Business review continued
Customers
Successful interaction with customers is vital to the future
development of our business. We comment here on progress
with particular reference to three of our largest business units,
representing our core business activities: our long-term savings,
fund management and general insurance businesses in the UK.
Long-term savings
2005 saw Norwich Union create a three-year vision, which focuses
on building the trust and confidence of our customers. Our aim is
to provide a high level of trust, value and support to customers –
listening to and understanding their needs, meeting our promises
and treating them fairly.
We are committed to delivering excellent service to our customers.
This has been a high priority during 2005, when we put in place a
customer feedback programme. This has given us regular insights
into all aspects of our service and has enabled us to target and
track improvements. Our target for call handling customer
satisfaction in 2006 is 75% “extremely” and “very” satisfied
customers, up from 70% in 2005.
We have taken a leading approach to protecting our policyholders’
interests. We are restructuring our pension strategy by writing all
new pension policies under a single scheme, allowing customers
to move seamlessly between products and tailor their retirement
planning to their own needs. We are also involved in the
ongoing pension debate in the UK. We have engaged with
senior stakeholders in relation to Pensions Commission activity
to address the future of pensions in the UK.
We are committed to the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA)
Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative. A Customer committee,
chaired at executive level, monitors adherence to the principles
of TCF and our approach is to embed these principles across the
company. We will be judged on our success in this area during
regular visits undertaken by the FSA. We openly share data with
the media and consumer groups regarding customer complaints
on request.
In addition, Norwich Union chairs the Association of British Insurers
(ABI) committee that is looking at improving the clarity of annual
statements to customers. We will undertake a systematic review of
our customer communications and we are refreshing our internal
writing guidelines for customer materials.
Fund management
Morley is committed to openness and dialogue with clients
because it is important in enhancing client understanding,
trust and confidence in our services. By way of example, in 2005
we introduced two new client communication tools for sharing
information and developing client investment knowledge: the
Trustee Tutor website which helps to enhance pension trustees’
industry knowledge and the Morley Client Informer, an on-line
newsletter which gives clients up-to-date news about us. We also
run regular training sessions for clients, including trustee training,
aimed at enhancing trustees’ investment knowledge.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy embraces
performance in respect of standards of business conduct,
the environment, human rights and health & safety as well as
the promotion of good and fair relations with our employees,
our customers, our suppliers and the broader community.
We believe that responsibility involves forward thinking in all
aspects of our business and that performance in the eight elements
of our CSR framework is important to our success in the short,
medium and long term. We report fully on our progress
in a separate annual CSR report, which is available online at
www.aviva.com. A printed summary of our CSR report is also
available from the group company secretary.
In deciding upon the CSR elements that should be included in
our business review, we have worked with the FORGE group;
a CSR focused UK industry body for the financial services sector.
Following a rigorous process, we concluded that four CSR elements
should be included, covering our performance in respect of
Standards of Business Conduct, Customers, Environment and
Employees. The latter is dealt with in a separate report on pages
44 and 45.
Standards of Business Conduct
We are committed to conducting all aspects of our business
according to rigorous ethical, professional and legal standards.
We regard ethical practice as critical to responsible business and
have put in place measures to refresh regularly our employees’
understanding of our Standards of Business Conduct policy.
Our general guidance on Standards of Business Conduct has been
reinforced by particular measures to take account of the challenge
of financial crime. Each year this costs industry billions of pounds
and we, like other companies, are not immune to its effects.
To meet this challenge, we have implemented policies that meet
the requirements of applicable legislation, regulatory guidance and
industry best practice regarding fraud management, anti-money
laundering and malpractice reporting.
We have also introduced a single financial crime network across
the group, bringing together expertise on fraud and anti-money
laundering. Significant progress has been made in raising awareness
of, and understanding, financial crime risk around the group.
Proposed regulatory changes, together with the impact of the
3rd EU Directive on anti-money laundering, have reinforced
the need to adopt a risk-based approach to financial crime
prevention, which has historically underpinned our financial
crime management framework.
Other corporate information: Corporate social responsibility