The changes have been made following extensive research among brokers to find out more about what they and their customers want from home insurance.
Home Plus, which can cater for most customers and homes, is a flexible sum insured rated policy for customers who know the level of cover they need. Improvements to the product include:
* Cover for second homes extended from homes in the UK to those in France, Portugal, mainland Spain and the Republic of Ireland
* New 24-hour GP helpline — access to a qualified GP providing emergency or general medical advice as well as advice on travel jabs, preventative health measures and self-medication
* Improved cover, including higher limits for personal belongings
* Full cycle EDI product now available through Misys, CDL and Sirius software houses
Your House is a comprehensive bedroom-rated policy for customers who want home insurance without having to know lots of detail about the value of the contents in their home. Changes to Your House include:
* Improved cover, including higher limits for personal belongings
* Full cycle EDI product now available on Sirius (in addition to Misys and CDL) software houses
* Option to add Home and Garden, Sports and Personal Accident packages
Both products also benefit from clearer customer and broker documentation as well as policy booklets accredited by the Plain English Campaign.
Commenting on these changes, Claire Gooderham, product development manager at Norwich Union, said: "These improvements follow research among brokers and have been designed to meet the changing needs of our customers, as well as offer more choice and accessibility to brokers.
"By improving the e-trading options, we hope to make it easier for brokers to access these products electronically. To help brokers recommend the right policy, we’ve also outlined which products are suitable for which customers."
Norwich Union, which insures one in five homes in the UK, offers a range of home insurance products, including Tapestry — for homes with larger contents sums insured (over £75,000) — and Homework, which gives combined home and business insurance to those working from home.
Brokers will be able to start quoting on the new products from 13 October 2003 for policies that start from 1 November 2003 onwards. Existing customers will be automatically converted to the new policies from 1 November 2003 at their renewal.
Information packs on the new products will be sent to brokers at the end of September. For any further information, brokers should speak to their usual Norwich Union contact.
