Venkat Raman
One of the finest insurance advisors of the country has received an award of distinction for his exemplary service to businesses and communities.
Anand Srinivasan, Director of Brisk Insurance, received the ‘New Insurance Adviser of the Year’ Award at the Professional Advisers Association (PAA) Excellence Awards in Auckland on August 3, 2017.
The Awards Ceremony was held at a Gala Dinner that marked the conclusion of the Annual National Advisers Conference.
The PAA Excellence Awards recognise PAA members who demonstrate the founding values of the Association: client advocacy, diligence in their work, compliance with relevant regulations and professional development.
Nominated by PAA members and industry partners, nominees were scored across a range of criteria by an independent panel of judges.
Outstanding Service
PAA Chief Executive Rod Severn said that Award winners had shown true professionalism, outstanding customer service to their clients and are making a notable contribution to the financial services industry.
“Our winners deserve the acknowledgement and we congratulate them on their achievement,” he said.
Award Judges said that Mr Srinivasan has developed a unique approach to insurance planning for clients to help them understand better their insurance choices.
‘Repair Specialist’
“He demonstrates how he supports clients through difficult claims even for people who did not buy their insurance through him. He is a credit to the industry.
“Also known as the ‘review and repair specialist’ due to his robust processes, he specialises in negotiating hard-working life insurance solutions for families, professionals and businesses. He leaves no stone unturned to get his clients the best cover. Anand is a credit to the industry,” they said.
Avoidable Questions
Speaking to Susan Edmunds, Editor, Tarawera Publishing on an earlier occasion, Mr Srinivasan said that his previous experience of working for insurers – he was with AIA for nine years – had shown him that many declined claims could have been avoided if medical questions were answered properly at the time of application.
Writing in ‘Good Returns,’ she quoted Mr Srinivasan as saying that application forms of insurance companies were often worded in a way that did not get to the basic information required.
“The first question on most application forms, for example, is, ‘Do you suffer from high cholesterol?’ Most people on an online application, with no one to guide them or caution them, will answer ‘No’ if they are not on medication. Theoretically right, but technically wrong. I typically rephrase the question for people. It really should be: ‘Did the doctor ever ask you to exercise and diet to bring down your cholesterol?’ Many would respond ‘Yes,’ even if they think that they are ‘Ok,’ because the doctor said cholesterol was under a certain limit and did not prescribe any meds.”
Mr Srinivasan said that posing the questions to clients in different ways could help eliminate accidental non-disclosure.
“Think ‘Why am I selling this policy?’ I always ask questions from the point of view of looking at a claim – what will I need to ask for this client to be able to claim?”
“He said insurers would take different approaches to how far back they wanted to delve in an applicant’s medical history. But when a claim comes, every insurer goes right back to childhood.”
Reliable Policies
Ms Edmunds said that Mr Srinivasan had rewritten some insurance policies that had been clean skins but now had disclosures and exclusions.
“He said, despite that, they were now more solid policies that could be relied upon.
“He said that the potential for accidental non-disclosure highlighted the value of good advice from an experienced adviser.
“The trouble is that many people buying insurance online or through a bank, do not have the support that they need to get this right. Many of these sales channels seem to encourage what we call ‘inadvertent non-disclosures’, probably to get the numbers in. People need someone to make sure that, if they suffer heart attack 10 years down the line, they would not have inadvertently not disclosed their cholesterol situation and miss out on their trauma cover.”
Photo :
PAA Chief Executive Rod Severn greets Anand Srinivasan, watched by PAA Chairman Bruce Cortesi
Anand Srinivasan with Bruce Cortesi
