Southern Cross Medical Care Society (Society) has set up a Fair Conduct Programme (FCP). This programme helps our people understand their roles and responsibilities in treating customers fairly. The FCP also sets out the policies, processes, and systems that help us deliver fair outcomes to our customers.
Our FCP is approved by our Board. The Board gets regular updates from supporting committees on how effective our FCP is. These committees supervise the delivery of fair customer outcomes by:
The fair conduct principle gives guidance on delivering fair outcomes
The fair conduct principle gives financial institutions (e.g. banks, insurers) guidance on how to deliver fair customer outcomes. You can find the fair conduct principle in the Financial Markets Conduct Act. There are five key parts that make up the fair conduct principle. Here's our approach to each one:
| Key parts | Our approach |
|---|---|
| Paying due regard to the interests of consumers. | We consider the interests of our members when we design our products and services, and we regularly monitor whether we are meeting member expectations. |
| Acting ethically, transparently and in good faith. |
As a member-focussed friendly society, we act in service of our members and support members accessing their benefits on our policies. We do the right thing, act on what we promise, and communicate openly and transparently. |
| Helping consumers to make informed decisions. | We’re committed to communicating in plain language. We aim to give information that is simple and easy to follow to help customers to make informed decisions. We regularly review our communications to check they are accurate and relevant. Our people are equipped to support customers at our various points of contact. We strive to understand customers’ needs and tailor our approach to give the right level of support. |
| Making sure that the products and services we provide are likely to meet the requirements of our likely consumers. | We aim to design and provide our products in a way that meets the needs of the different groups of customers that make up our membership base. |
| Not subjecting consumers to unfair pressure or tactics or undue influence. | We work hard to retain our current members and focus on sustainable long-term growth. We give our brokers, advisers, and contractors clear guidelines around our values and expectations. |
Here are a few other things that we do to support our delivery of fair customer outcomes:
We support customers experiencing vulnerability
We have a customer vulnerability plan that guides our people on how to provide extra care and support to customers who experience vulnerability. Our people have been trained to identify and support customers experiencing vulnerability , and we aim to consistently meet the standards set out in our plan. You can visit our webpage for further information.
If things go wrong, we make it right
We carry out regular monitoring and analysis to identify areas where customers are at risk of not receiving a fair outcome. When things go wrong that have a member impact, we will:
We proactively manage complaints
We address complaints fairly, consistently, and in a timely manner. We regularly review our complaints to pick up on themes or patterns to identify root causes and, where applicable, fix the issue.
To find out more about how we manage complaints, please visit our website by clicking here: Complaints and disputes resolution scheme.
Southern Cross Medical Care Society (trading as Southern Cross Health Society) is a licensed insurer and a licensed financial advice provider. For more information about the financial advice service we provide and a copy of our public disclosure statement please visit southerncross.co.nz/disclosure-statement.
Southern Cross Medical Care Society (trading as Southern Cross Health Society) has an A+ (Strong) financial strength rating given by Standard & Poor’s (Australia) Pty Limited. The rating scale is: AAA (Extremely Strong), AA (Very Strong), A (Strong), BBB (Good), BB (Marginal), B (Weak), CCC (Very Weak), CC (Extremely Weak), SD or D (Selective Default or Default). Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories. Full details of the rating scale are available at www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/about/intro-to-credit-ratings. Standard & Poor’s is an approved rating agency under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010.
