ATLANTA, GA – October 29, 2009 – To gauge the current impact and implementation of several key process improvement measures championed by its membership, the Life Insurance Direct Marketing Association (LIDMA) has conducted a survey of insurance carriers and direct marketers.  The results were revealed recently at LIDMA’s Fall Meeting & Showcase held in Chicago.

Carriers
The survey was completed by 14 major insurance carriers and was aimed at learning current capabilities for key process improvement and/or the plans to implement these measures in the future.  The key findings of survey include:

eSignature
• 50% of carriers currently have eSignature available for use by direct marketers
• Of the carriers not currently offering eSignature, 42.9% plan to bring it online within 6 months and 57.1% within 6-12 months
• The most accepted eSignature methods used by carriers are:
o Clickwrap (84.6%):  Allows user to click “I Agree” box to displayed document
o Voice Signature (46.2%): Recording the voice agreement to be bound to the agreement

ePolicy Delivery
• 40% of carriers are supporting ePolicy Delivery
• Of those carriers not currently supporting ePolicy Delivery, 33.3% plan to bring it online within 6-12 months and 66.7% within 1 to 2 years

Credit Cards
• 80% of carriers are currently accepting credit card payment of premiums
• Of those carriers that accept credit card payment of premiums, 100% accept payment for the initial premium and nearly 40% accept payment for ongoing premiums

Direct Marketers
The survey was completed by 18 major direct marketing companies.  The key findings of survey include:

eSignature
• 94.4% of direct marketers are interested in using eSignature for their Part Is
• The most accepted eSignature methods used by carriers are:
o Clickwrap (77.8%):  Allows user to click “I Agree” box to displayed document
o Voice Signature (27.8%): Recording the voice agreement to be bound to the agreement

ePolicy Delivery
• 100% of direct marketers want ePolicy delivery

According to Todd Ewing, VP of Term Life Sales for Transamerica and Treasurer and Chair of LIDMA’s Process Improvement Team, the survey reveals that key process improvement elements are being adopted by the industry.

“We are seeing implementation or planned execution of key process improvement initiatives at all levels of production and processing in the industry.  At LIDMA we’ve worked to be a catalyst for the development and implementation of these process measures and we are excited to see their industry-wide adoption and the impact they are already starting to have on policy processing and customer service.”

For more information on membership and upcoming events visit www.lidma.org.

About LIDMA
LIDMA is the primary association dedicated to supporting businesses and professionals active in direct sales of life insurance products to consumers – the fastest growing sales segment in the life insurance industry.  The not-for-profit organization is committed to helping members boost their revenues derived through direct response sales as well as assisting new entrants adapt and succeed in their direct response efforts.

Media Contact:

Michael Biagiotti
(800) 652-7157
mikeb@madisonenvoy.com