One of the UK’s largest insurance brokers, Atlanta, has become the first organisation in the UK to have key customer high volume communications certified by social enterprise, Plain Numbers. This demonstrates that Atlanta, parent company of Swinton, Carole Nash and Autonet brands, has communicated numbers in a way that meets a high standard of clarity in the certified documents.
One of the big complaints that consumers have is that insurance T&Cs are too hard to understand, often written in an archaic way, with various percentage, fees or charges calculations necessary on things like MTAs, cancellation or interest payments on pay monthly policies.
Established in 2021, Plain Numbers works with regulated businesses across various industries to ensure numbers are communicated clearly and fairly, enabling customers to make informed choices and achieve better outcomes. Its latest partnership with Atlanta involved an overhaul of the broker’s customer communications, working alongside strategic marketing consultancy, Project50, who were selected for their deep financial services pedigree and commitment to developing a structured approach to customer-centric communications.
More than 300,000 customers were surveyed from across the Atlanta brands to gain insight which was used to redesign and rewrite Atlanta’s core communications, in line with the Plain Numbers principles.
CONSUMER TESTED
The broker then tested three prototypes to ensure that the new communications improved the customer experience and demonstrated that they were straightforward, easy to understand, showed empathy and were visually easy to navigate. The improved communications were extremely well received by customers who were able to demonstrate their level of understanding via focus groups and comprehension tests.
Now, communication guides and Plain Numbers Practitioners are being embedded into the Atlanta business, with the new communication style and Plain Numbers Approach set to be rolled out across Swinton, Carole Nash, and Autonet customers over the months ahead. This approach will then be implemented across other Atlanta brands including Marmalade, Be Wiser and Healthy Pets.
INCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS
‘Around half the working-age population have numeracy levels below the expectations of primary school leavers. This makes it impossible to ignore the needs of customers who struggle with numbers.’, said Mike Ellicock, Chief Exec at Plain Numbers. ‘Whilst working with Atlanta we have seen that they take the responsibility they have in making sure their communications are accessible to all their customers extremely seriously. This has been evident in their commitment to driving forward with Plain Numbers accreditation.’
‘We are always committed to providing the best possible service for all our customers. One of the ways we do this is to ensure everyone can understand our communications by providing documents in a range of accessible formats – whether this be in large print, braille, audio, or in a format suitable for dyslexia or colour blindness.
‘We’re very proud to be the first organisation to have communications certified by Plain Numbers and it has been a great experience working with their team over the course of this year. Using the Plain Numbers approach has helped us to further improve our communications and it is wonderful to see how a few simple changes can make such a positive impact towards improving customer understanding. Of course there is still more we can do, but by always putting the customer at the heart of our actions, we will continue to build and evolve.’, said Emma Rawlinson, CEO of Atlanta.
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