Our corporate responsibility aim for customers is to provide you with a helpful, transparent and fair service, offering a secure home for your investment. Our programme is designed to support your physical, mental and financial wellbeing.
Examples of wellbeing activities that we are engaged with for the benefit of our customers are highlighted below:
Hearing loss is a major public health issue which Action on Hearing Loss estimate affects more than 11 million people across the UK. The vast majority of people with hearing loss are over 50 years old and the prevalence increases with age.
41.7% of over 50 year olds are affected by hearing loss and 71.1% of over 70 year olds are affected.
Action on Hearing Loss offer a free online hearing test, which only takes 5 minutes to complete. Visit Royal National Institute for Deaf People or contact 0844 800 3838 for more information.
Phoenix Group is working closely with Alzheimer’s Society to educate staff at its Group offices through participation in Dementia Friends training.
Through its volunteering programme, relevant staff can sign up for this 1 hour training onsite.
It is estimated that 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 have dementia. This training is considered invaluable to our business as a significant proportion of our customers are approaching old age. 850,000 individuals in the UK are living with dementia, which is set to rise to over 1 million by 2025.
A Dementia Friend learns what it is like to live with dementia and then turns that understanding into action. Find out more about Dementia Friends on their website.
Dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales, with 850,000 people now living with dementia in the UK.
Symptoms may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse.
A lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people to help make decisions on your behalf, specifically around health, welfare, property and financial affairs.
It is estimated that there are around 9.1 million legal orders in place, with half a million created only last year, perhaps reflecting our aging population. Why not start planning for your future and set one up today? You can arrange for a specialist solicitor to assist, or you can produce one yourself.
Is now the right time to consider setting one up for yourself or a family member? Alzheimer’s Society has a helpline you can call. To discuss further, please call 0300 222 1122.
Alternatively, you can visit the government’s website to register online or to download the forms.
For further information, including how to register a lasting power of attorney with Phoenix Life please visit our FAQ.
Phoenix has partnered with The Money Charity. A series of guides are available to our customers to help aid you and your family’s money management.
The Money Manual – This guide offers tips and advice on managing your money from shopping sprees to pension plans, ISAs to investments, and how money plays a crucial role in your wellbeing. No matter what your situation, everyone could benefit from understanding more about good money management. Key areas within the guide include planning for the future, the best savings options for you and your needs, and how to recognise and tackle debt.
The Student Money Manual – This guide offers students and parents key information about managing their money whilst at university, including details on the student finance packages, repaying loans and living on a student budget.
These guides are brought to you by The Money Charity who is the UK’s financial capability charity. Their vision is for everyone to be on top of their money as part of their everyday life, so they empower people across the UK to build the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to make the most of their money throughout their lives.
Further information on The Money Charity can be found on their website.
Phoenix continues to pay out claims in the majority of cases (over 91% of Critical Illness claims, over 82% for Total Permanent Disability, and over 85% of Income Protection in 2018), providing an empathetic service that recognises that behind every case is an individual with their own circumstances. Nikki Davies and Martin Darby from our Product Technical Team, within Product Management, head up our claims oversight, ensuring a fair and consistent approach across our books of business.
Here are some examples of cases that show the approach we take to the management of claims:
Case A: An Income Protection case where the claimant was diagnosed with stress and depression due to a hostile working environment. We provided light touch and employment support initially to empower the claimant in engaging with Occupational Health and Human Resource to enable to a return to work, with the offer of a mediator in these discussions. The claimant managed a full return to work, with Phoenix continuing to support the claimant through work-focused coaching and career coaching support once there. This return to work did not work out, but we were happy to support a move to another site. The claimant commented “I can’t believe my luck that my insurance company provides this type of support”.
Case B: We continue to attempt to trace beneficiaries following the death of a policyholder long after the event, even where this means that it is the next generation down from the original beneficiaries. This is the response we received when we did just that for a recent case: “I am so grateful that you managed to trace me – you cannot imagine what a difference this money will make to my life”.