News Archive

UK Research: Internet and direct mail remain key to financial services

Posted by | Dec 1, 2007 | |

UK Research: Internet and direct mail remain key to financial services
Internet and direct mail are the most popular source of information to UK consumers to find out about financial products. Over 50% claim to use the internet while a quarter say that they respond to personally addressed direct mail

Mortgages are the only financial product where an IFA is the dominant source of information. The top reason for purchasing a product directly, as opposed to using an IFA or buying through a bank or building society, was due to price – a perception that it was cheaper to go direct – across a number of products.

The findings are all part of a new research project undertaken by the DMA UK Financial Services Council in conjunction with NMG, to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of associated offers in the financial services sector.

The research also demonstrated that unsurprisingly price and the way information was made available prior to the application were key purchase decision influencers when buying life protection and income protection insurance whereas the brand of the provider is a significant influencer when buying private health insurance and personal accident insurance.

The tendency to switch products is very low with the majority of respondents not having taken out or switched providers for any financial products in the last 12 months. Of those that had switched, the most common product to be changed is motor insurance followed by home contents. With the exception of mortgages, the majority tend to purchase or switch providers by telephone or by applying online or in the case of home contents, direct mail appears to be very effective. However, nearly three quarters of respondents claim that they were not considering taking out or switching providers for any financial services in the next 12 months.

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Royal Mail's Compensation Schemes for Delay and Loss and Damage

Posted by | Dec 1, 2007 | |

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, is consulting on Royal Mail’s current compensation schemes for loss, damage and delay which many customers are finding difficult to understand and use.

Royal Mail’s currently has four compensation schemes for loss and damage. Postcomm is proposing that Royal Mail introduces a single loss and damage scheme governed by a clear and simple framework of principles.

In December 2007, Postcomm outlined proposed changes to Royal Mail’s compensation schemes to make them fairer and more suited to customer needs. The regulator has conducted a public consultation and worked closely with Royal Mail and Postwatch to address concerns about the complexity of Royal Mail’s current compensation schemes for retail customers and some inconsistency in how they are applied.

Following this review, Postcomm is proposing to remove bulk mail from a regulated compensation scheme for delay. Competition for bulk mail customers has developed to a point where the regulator is proposing that it is more appropriate to move towards a market driven option allowing the growth of schemes which reflect the differing needs of large mailers.

Royal Mail’s retail customers should face less difficulty in pursuing their claims because, for retail mail that has been lost, damaged or delayed, the proposals aim to simplify and align the processes for making a claim, the evidence required to support a claim, and the compensation payments themselves.

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Lebanese can now pay phone bills at post office

Posted by | Nov 30, 2007 | |

Land-line subscribers who are frustrated with the long queue at OGERO’s cashiers can now pay their phone bills through LibanPost, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said on Thursday. Hamadeh made the announcement after signing an agreement with LibanPost at the Telecommunications Ministry.

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TNT to ask for delay of Dutch postal liberalisation

Posted by | Nov 30, 2007 | |

TNT said it will ask the Dutch parliament to delay liberalisation of the country’s postal market, set for Jan. 1, as a proposed deal on minimum postal wages in Germany would rule out a level playing field in Europe.

“We want to make clear to parliament that there is no level playing field. It is an implicit call to pull the emergency break,” a TNT spokesman said on Friday, referring to a condition in the Dutch postal liberalisation law that allows for possible implementation later.

The Dutch postal law would end TNT’s monopoly on delivering letters of up to 50 grams and is part of a European Union effort to liberalise mail services.

But a wage agreement proposed in Germany would result in higher costs for TNT, making it difficult for TNT’s nascent operations in Germany to become profitable.

TNT competes in the Netherlands with privately held Sandd and Deutsche Post’s Selekt Mail.

Shares in Deutsche Post were up 2.5 percent at 23.29 euros as traders said a German minimum wage would limit market share losses for Deutsche Post in Germany.

German services union Verdi and the postal employers’ association have agreed on a new formula for their wage contract which could open the way to a deal on a minimum wage in the sector, the union said on last Thursday 29th November.

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TNT and trade unions agree to extend present TNT collective labour agreement

Posted by | Nov 30, 2007 | |

TNT and the trade unions ABVAKABO FNV, BVPP, CNV Publieke Zaak and VPP have reached an agreement on extending the present TNT Collective Labour Agreement to 1 April 2008. Employees will receive a one-off gross payment in December 2007 and March 2008 of 400 Euros and 125 Euros respectively. The parties have agreed to this extension to allow them more time to develop proposals that can achieve the previously announced structural savings for TNT Post. The results of these proposals will subsequently be included in the TNT Collective Labour Agreement from 1 April 2008.

The need for these structural savings was verified in June this year by the Boston Consulting Group in its study commissioned by the unions and the works council Productie of TNT Post. For TNT this agreement is an important step forwards towards conditions of employment for its employees which are more in line with the market.

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