Aviva has cut its use of doctor's reports (GPRs) by a third on protection applications as it attempts to boost efficiency and lower costs.
It now collects GPRs on just 10 per cent of cases compared with 16 per cent a year ago and there has been a six-fold increase in the number of nurse tele-interviews from 300 a month to 2,000.
Aviva protection director Richard Verdin says applications that require a GPR can take an average of 20 days to process compared with only eight days when the applicant is interviewed by a nurse. He added that each GPR costs the company £89.
Mr Verdin said: "We are encouraging our underwriters to make more decisions without the need for the GPR. There was always this feeling a GPR was somehow the gold standard of underwriting, but it isn't. It is about reaching the correct decision for the client in a sensible time and at a sensible cost."




