COVID-19: firm rushes to rollout remote distribution for advisors

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred Canada Protection Plan (CPP) to move up the remote distribution service for all products, including policy issuance.

Canada Protection Plan is launching its e-distribution project on Friday, March 27. The rollout had been slated for later this spring, Michael Aziz, Co-President, Sales at Canada Protection Plan, told the Insurance Portal.

The Toronto-based MGA that designs individual simplified issue life insurance products, distributes them through independent advisors, and processes claims, wants to support advisors who cannot meet their customers in person due to the coronavirus.

To successfully deliver this service, Canada Protection Plan had to delay the launch of a critical illness insurance product to later in April, Aziz explains.

Delivering policies remotely 

Digital policy delivery already existed on T20 and T30 Express Elite line for insured in good health. Yet up until now it was unavailable on other products intended for a healthy clientele, and for hard to insure customers. In fact, Canada Protection Plan began to carve out this niche at its inception in 1992. It then sold a single product aimed at people who could not get insurance elsewhere.

“We offered electronic applications with all our products but we are now extending policy delivery electronically to all products because representatives cannot deliver policies in person. Starting this Friday, all our customers can receive their life insurance policies without having direct contact with their advisor, and be covered,” Aziz explains.

He estimates that slightly more than 60% of advisors have been using its electronic application service. He added that the simplified issue niche is rife with opportunities. “Our sales growth was in the double digits in 2019,” he says.

Exceptional measures

For now, 95% of Canada Protection Plan employees are working from home. “I started my day in the office, and I ended it at home,” Aziz told Insurance Journal on March 24.  “More and more people are wondering whether they really need to go to the office. With software and tools like Slack, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, telework is serving us well.”

The company has also authorized remote overtime in some sectors, including contracting and new business processing. “New business can be issued in one day without having to meet anyone in person, from the electronic application to policy delivery, and even medical checks in the MIB database,” he explains.

Combatting advisor isolation

Canada Protection Plan representatives who meet advisors “on the road” (known as wholesalers in the industry) are currently in lockdown. Yet they can still work over the phone, Aziz says.

“Suddenly, across the board, representatives can’t go see advisors anymore. During this time, customers are troubled by watching their investment portfolios plummeting by 20% to 40%. People are afraid. They still need insurance. The industry has to pull together. When Canada Protection Plan representatives can call advisors, they become a bit like their psychologist, and many have already become friends. For their part, advisors are calling their customers to ask them how they’re doing, and they feel reassured.”

Contacting existing customers is one thing, but how can advisors prospect given the Do Not Call list and anti-spam laws? Aziz thinks that nowadays, lead generating activities (customer referrals from a third party on the phone or digitally) are gaining momentum.