Key achievements in 2006

We introduced a discounted policy for customers driving flexi-fuelled Ford Focus cars, the first policy seeking to assist the cost-of-ownership on bio-ethanol cars in the UK.

Norwich Union Life launched a special information website in September 2006 (www.makesenseofit.com) to help customers to better understand savings, investments and pension products and be more confident in the decisions they make about their money for today and in the future.

Through Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) we are embracing the Financial Services Authority’s move towards a more principle-based approach to regulation. TCF encompasses a number of wide-ranging elements, all with the aim of improving the customer's experience.

Norwich Union Healthcare improved its dedicated and comprehensive cancer claims service by creating a highly experienced cancer case team so that the service is now available to all Norwich Union customers who have been diagnosed with cancer. The team words with Macmillan Cancer Support and tells customers about the wide range of services they can get from the charity.

To get a more immediate picture of customer service, we gave RAC breakdown patrols hand-held devices to get customer feedback on the spot. It was worth it. December's 108,000 returns were a record. The overall satisfaction rating of 91% was our best ever and over 70% rated us as outstanding.

We adopted the revised Group Purchasing policy, which includes increasing focus on CSR and the benefits that management throughout the supply chain can deliver. It also incorporates explicit references to professional ethics in the management of purchasing activity.

In line with our standards of business conduct policy, we completed the implementation of IFRS, which includes detailed and complex exercises to understand the implications, both in terms of financial results and the significant rise in disclosure requirements' to support those results. In addition, implementation of IFRS in Norwich Union Insurance’s overall results and across more than 50 active general insurance and RAC subsidiary companies.

We launched a policy enabling our people to undertake community volunteering activities for up to three days a year in line with approved schemes. Recorded volunteering hours for 2006 totaled more than 18,000.

Strides have been taken in embedding CSR policies in the context of RAC, in particular the environmental and health and safety policies whereby new and adapted committees now meet regularly and take action – such as the roll-out of recycling across RAC employment sites and a revised driving at work policy.

Further information on the above achievements and additional examples of our progress across all areas of the CSR program can be found in the attached PDF.