Back in October 2007, new Aviva employee Mike Matwiejczyk had his training put to the test when he took a call from a customer whose husband was seriously ill. Heather Jewitt, from Dewsbury, called to register a claim on behalf of her husband who had a payment protection policy.
Mike explains: “Mrs Jewitt was very distressed as her husband David was on life support after suffering a brain haemorrhage. When she called she was in a state of shock, not to mention worried about the financial impact of his illness and how they were going to manage, compounded by the fact that her husband normally handled all their financial matters. Although she was very upset I was able to reassure Mrs Jewitt not to worry about the financial side of things, and that I would look after the claim for her and her husband. To do this I took ownership of the case and, after obtaining consent to speak to Mrs Jewitt on all occasions during the claim, I gave her my personal identification number which she could use to get in contact with me any time she called. It meant that she was able to speak to me direct whenever she had a question or simply needed to talk about her and David’s situation.”
Mike then talked her through how to fill in her husband’s claim forms step by step. Because Mr Jewitt had a payment protection policy on his credit card, Aviva made monthly payments on his behalf throughout the duration of the claim.
Mr Jewitt said: “Mike made an instant impact to our lives from the moment Heather spoke to him. What struck her was that when she made that first call he wasn’t interested in the claim – he was more interested in how she was coping, and how I was. He really listened and took care of us in a difficult situation and treated us like people rather than customers.”
During the claim, to keep Mr and Mrs Jewitt up to date and give them peace of mind, Mike would make regular telephone calls to Mr Jewitt to confirm payments were being made, see how his recovery was going and to ask if there was any further help he could provide, which was reassuring to them in time of crisis. After more than seven months Mr Jewitt had fully recovered and was able to start work again. It was at this point that he wrote a letter to Mike’s team manager, commenting on his compassion and understanding dealing with the claim.
Here is some footage of Mike and the Jewitts talking about their experience:
