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Non-major lender ING DIRECT has announced that brokers will be the first to access its new home insurance and contents insurance offerings.
The home, contents, and home and contents packages — developed by Auto & General — will first be made available to customers who have come through the bank’s broker network, which is responsible for referring 90 per cent of ING DIRECT’s home loan customers.
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The packages will also be available with a variety of optional cover including landlord, flood, accidental damage and personal valuables.
ING DIRECT National Sales Manager Sergio Delvescovo told The Adviser: “Brokers are a critical part of our business, with 90 per cent of our home loans coming through our broker network, so it makes sense for us to launch the initial phase of our home and contents insurance offering through this channel.”
The insurance proposition will be fully digital, with an insurance estimate automatically generated and emailed to the customer upon formal approval of their home loan application. The customer will then be invited to view the details of the estimate and provide additional information for a full quote, with the option to purchase the insurance instantly online.
As the indicative insurance quote is generated automatically on home loan approval (with the borrower then free to choose if they want to purchase the insurance or not), brokers will not receive commission for adding on insurance.
Although the insurance offerings will be initially available to the broker channel, they will be expanded to direct home loan customers and as stand-alone products for existing and new customers in “early 2017”.
‘Making the home loan journey as smooth and simple as possible’
John Arnott, executive director, customers, at ING DIRECT said the launch of insurance was about making the home loan journey as smooth and simple as possible for customers.
He commented: “We’ve been helping Australians into their homes for two decades with our home loans, and now we’re helping them to protect their homes and providing peace of mind.
“Buying a home is both an exciting and incredibly busy time and we want to make the process as simple and efficient as possible for our customers so they can focus on the excitement of settling into their new home. It’s about understanding their broader needs at this time and making sure we can meet them – effectively offering a one stop shop.”
Ram Kangatharan, MD and CEO at Auto & General, said the company was proud to be ING DIRECT’s insurance partner of choice.
“ING DIRECT is a market leader in digital innovation and Auto & General has been developing smart data driven solutions tailored to meet their customers’ needs through their preferred purchase channels,” said Mr Kangatharan.
Mr Arnott added: “We have a shared ‘customer-first’ focus; clear through our digital approach, which is all about making sure we’re providing the right offer to our customers at the right time to make their home buying journey as smooth as possible, and clear through how we manage claims. We’re very happy to be working with Auto & General to bring insurance to our customers.”
ING DIRECT has a mortgage portfolio of more than $40 billion.
[Related: Brokers can ‘triple revenue’ through commercial lending]
