VIC UPDATE

From Don Glendinning

Welcome to the Spring edition of NEOS Connect, the quarterly newsletter about all things NEOS.

I hope you’re looking forward to the warmer weather ahead. Personally, I’m feeling refreshed and re-energised after an amazing four-week family trip back to my homeland, Canada. The Canadian summer was just what we needed, escaping what I heard was the coldest winter in Melbourne in three decades! As always, the time spent with family in Canada was full of happiness and good times though it went by way too quickly.

From a NEOS perspective, I’m happy to report that NEOS is having another great year, with sales up by over 30% year on year nationally in a market that has only grown 9%. This proves that if NEOS can provide advisers with the product and underwriting solutions that meet their clients’ needs, they’ll choose NEOS to provide the service they deserve.

This year we’re continuing to win industry awards, improve the competitiveness of our products, upgrade our technology, and invest in our people – all of which you can read about in the articles below.

As an Australian owned, Australian based service provider to the industry, our success is completely dependent upon the support of Australian financial advisers. That’s why we continue to invest in the NEOS Experience and the NEOS Platform – both of which will assist advisers in helping their clients efficiently and profitably.

If there’s anything you feel we could do better, or if you have suggestions on how we can improve the NEOS Experience, please let us know, including by participating in our adviser survey.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

We’ve made more enhancements to the NEOS Platform

Following the launch of the Policy Servicing Portal on the NEOS Platform earlier this year, we’ve made the following enhancements to improve the user experience:

Menu and navigation changes: Updates to the menu structure and navigation to centre around the client, aligning the user experience with the way you and your back-office staff work.
Tab structure: Each client profile now contains a Client Summary and In-force Quoting tab. Previously, in-force quoting could only be accessed through its own menu item.
Client Summary tab: This is where you’ll find policy and life insured details, with the option to generate an up-to-date Certificate of Currency for all your client’s policies. You can also submit changes to life insured contact details and monitor the progress of the request in the user interface, keeping you informed every step of the way.

We’ll also be introducing new features to the platform in the coming months, including:

Payment details and beneficiary details: We’ll be providing the ability to update your clients’ payment details and beneficiary details on the Policy Servicing Portal later this month.
Increases: You’ll also soon be able to quote for increases on in-force policies.

We’re committed to making the Policy Servicing Portal a rich source of information and functionality that you can use to manage your in-force portfolio with NEOS efficiently and profitability.

We want to hear from you. Participate in our adviser survey

We’re always looking for ways to further enhance the NEOS Platform and your overall NEOS Experience.

So, to ensure we’re delivering on our vision to make life insurance easy, and that you have everything you need to write business with us, we want to hear from you.

Please complete this quick survey for a chance to win one of two pairs of Beats headphones.

Take the survey

Keep your CPD hours up with our accredited webinars

We understand the importance of continuing professional development (CPD) and expanding your knowledge so you can better service your clients. That’s why we continue to add accredited webinars to our growing library. Join us for one of our webinars this month and learn something new!

Register now

Upcoming product and pricing enhancements

We’re working on some exciting enhancements to NEOS Protection and Encompass Protection in the coming months – watch this space.

In the meantime, NEOS Protection new business premium rates are being updated effective 11 September. This will result in a premium reduction for most customers. New business premium rates apply only to quotes created on or after 11 September, and don’t apply to existing quotes, or plans in suspense or in force.

NEOS welcomes a new Senior Underwriter

Lisa Colliver joined NEOS last month as a Senior Underwriter. As an accomplished insurance professional with over 20 years’ experience (15 years as an underwriter), many of you will already know and have had the pleasure of working with Lisa, most recently at MLC.

Member Benefit Statements for Protect Super Plan

We’ll be sending your clients their annual Member Benefit Statements in the coming weeks for their NEOS Protection plans and Encompass Protection policies held inside the Protect Super Plan, a division of OneSuper, for the financial year ended 30 June 2024.

NEOS wins 2024 Adviser Ratings' Most Consistent Retail Insurance Provider

Thank you to all those who voted for NEOS in the 2024 Adviser Ratings Advice Landscape Report.

We’re proud to have been named Most Consistent Retail Insurance Provider and voted number one in Ease of Underwriting (for the fifth year in a row) and BDM Support – a testament to our commitment to the NEOS Experience.

We were also voted number one in Competitiveness of Product, and ranked in the top three for NPS, Service Quality and Adviser Support, Claims Handling and Understanding Clients’ Needs.

If you missed it, you can read more about these awards here.

Are your clients' BDBNs up to date?

A binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) enables clients to nominate who will receive their insurance benefit in the event of their death. Importantly, these instructions are binding on the trustee regardless of whether the client’s family situation has changed in the meantime.

Given recent case laws around BDBNs, where an ex-spouse has succeeded in obtaining death benefits from superannuation against the wishes of the testator, ensuring these BDBNs are up to date is incredibly important.

Which is why all Protect Super Plan death benefit nominations are lapsing – they must be renewed every three years to remain binding on the trustee. We strongly believe this is in clients’ best interests, so we encourage you to ensure your clients are reviewing and updating their binding nominations regularly.

Updating your clients’ BDBNs is easy

Like all things at NEOS, updating a BDBN is easy. Simply:

Download a BDBN form for NEOS Protection or Encompass Protection
Complete the form, outlining who the client wants to receive the death benefit from super
Sign and witness the form, making sure the two witnesses are aged over 18 and not a beneficiary nominated on the form, or it will be defective and the trustee won’t be bound by their wishes
Email the completed form to customerservice@neoslife.com.au

The BDBN will apply to the super fund and trustees immediately.

As always, if you have any questions speak to your dedicated NEOS service consultant or BDM.