Human Resources: Colonial Life Ranked Number One in Customer Service Survey

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct. 7, 2009) –-Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company ranked number one in customer service in a recent LIMRA consortium survey of worksite insurance carriers.

The telephone survey, conducted in July of 2009, asked 300 or more customers of each participating carrier to rank them using the following eight criteria:
· Overall level of satisfaction
· Service expectations
· Ease of doing business with the carrier
· Products and services
· Likelihood of recommending the carrier
· Likelihood of renewing coverage with the carrier
· Likelihood of requesting information about an additional product from the carrier
· Interest level in obtaining group insurance products from their carrier

Colonial Life ranked number one among all participating worksite carriers in seven of these eight measures, exceeding the benchmark in all categories.

“Customer service is an ongoing process that requires a commitment to individual attention and continuous improvement,” says Annaclair Kiger, senior vice president of customer service and information technology at Colonial Life. “We were very pleased to see that our customers feel we’re doing a good job in meeting or exceeding their needs. We will continue to work hard to make it as easy as possible for our customers to do business with us.”

Employers of all sizes were interviewed for the survey, with ratings distributed among three size categories: small (fewer than 10 employees); mid-size (10 to 99 employees) and large (those with 100 or more employees). Key findings of the employer survey include:

· Most plan administrators are satisfied with their carriers, but mid-size employers are somewhat more likely to report a high level of overall satisfaction.
· Overall, plan administrators offer very positive ratings of their carriers in regard to whether they meet or exceed their service expectations.
· Although most employers feel their carriers are easy to do business with, small companies report higher satisfaction levels.
· Employers typically agree that their carriers provide the best products and services in the business. However, as the number of employees increase, the percentage decreases among employers that feel their carriers have the best products.
· Larger employers are somewhat less likely than their counterparts to recommend their carriers.
· Mid-size employers are somewhat more likely than their counterparts to renew their coverage with their present carriers.
· Regardless of the number of employees, roughly half of the surveyed employers are considering getting a proposal or quote for another product from their carriers.
· Roughly one in 10 employers reports being more interested than before in obtaining a proposal or quote for group insurance products from their current carrier. Colonial Life had the third highest level of interest among worksite carriers in this category.

“The purpose of the study was to help companies better understand how their customers perceive the service provided to them as well as develop an industry recognized and accepted benchmarking system,” according to Richard W. Heckeler, Ph.D., assistant vice president and director of custom research at LIMRA. “We believe the findings will provide valuable feedback that will help the organizations who participated better serve their customers.”

LIMRA is a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization that helps more than 850 insurance and financial services companies in 73 countries increase their marketing and distribution effectiveness.
Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group.

For more information about Colonial Life’s products and services or opportunities with the company, call (803) 798-7000 or visit www.ColonialLife.com.