The Health Insurance Group based in Southampton and Sheffield, has registered "outstanding" customer service levels under the independent Investor in Customers (IIC) assessment process. In their first assessment they recorded solid and consistent client scores backed up by strong staff scores across the board.  Their overall score of 7.75 out of 10 is a very good score for a first assessment and qualifies them for the IIC two star award.

Comments from two clients were typical:

"Our experience with the company was exceptional. They listened and provided us with a much more competitive quote and always put our interest before just selling the product. They went out of their way to handle all the paperwork efficiently and quickly. We cannot really thank them enough."

"My contacts are always ready to help and come back to me regarding questions, irrespective of the time of day. They have always come back without delay and advised if any delay is likely or being experienced, with updates as necessary.  They are always polite, listen and explain."

IIC is an independent assessment organisation that conducts rigorous benchmarking exercises. These exercises determine the quality of customer service and relationships across a number of dimensions, including how well a company understands its clients, how it meets their needs and how it engenders loyalty. IIC also compares and contrasts the views of staff and senior management to identify how embedded the client is within the company's thinking.

The highest scores from both clients and staff were for "Meet client needs" with high scores from both for "Product Quality".

Neil Craig, Founder and Director of IIC, commented:  "Clients felt that The Health Insurance Group understood their needs, made it easy for them to communicate with them and found that staff were friendly and willing to help.  Their highest score from clients came under the heading "Quality Relationship" and we had the feeling from reviewing all the data that the company work really hard to deliver a positive customer experience." 

Iain McMillan Managing Director of The Health Insurance Group, added: "This was our first time going through the Investor in Customer process, so we had no way of knowing what the outcome would be, but as a business that relies entirely on the strength of our customer relationships, it is vital for us to find new ways of knowing how our clients feel about us. As a business that exists to provide independent advice it has been incredibly rewarding to see that our clients score us so highly on our ability to meet their needs. At the same time it's important to recognize that the survey identified areas where we can do better, and there is commitment throughout The Health Insurance Group to focus on these areas so that we provide an even better customer experience in the future. We have an ambition to be the UK healthcare intermediary of choice, and that ambition can only be realized if we constantly challenge ourselves to make things better for our clients."