On 1 February 2006, the Bank Zachodni WBK introduced an insurance package for customers taking advantage of cash credit.
On 1 February 2006, Bank Zachodni WBK (BZ WBK), a Polish subsidiary of Allied Irish Bank, rolled out an insurance package for customers taking out cash credit. The programme has been put together jointly with Commercial Union Poland group and is a further step in the expanding cooperation between the two institutions in the bancassurance sphere.
The insurance package, which is a voluntary option to the BZ WBK cash credit, covers four elements:
- death of policy-holder
- long-term and complete loss of capacity to work of policy-holder
- temporary loss of capacity to work of policy-holder
- redundancy of policy-holder.
The first two risks are covered by an agreement with CU Poland Life Insurance Company, and the other by CU Poland General Insurance Company. The benefits paid out in case of death and long-term and total incapacity to work are equal to the current debt of the policy holder. In the event of temporary incapacity to work or redundancy, CU pays out benefits to a maximum of twelve instalments equal to the credit instalment amounts due.
"The aim of the insurance is to help people taking credit to pay off the credit in case of events that have a serious negative impact on the customer’s financial situation and that of his family," explains Jacek Marcinowski, board member of BZ WBK.
BZ WBK bancassurance bureau director, Paweł Zawisza, emphasises: "Our insurance is voluntary and transparent. We don’t hide any additional costs of credit in it, but we present a valuable offer to the customer, which means he can feel confident when taking out credit."
Each customer applying for a new cash credit may also apply for this insurance. The one-off premium is defined as a percentage of the debt sum for which application is being made, and increases the credit amount. This solution enables customers to pay for the insurance in what is effectively the most advantageous and low-cost way – along with the credit instalments. Insurance claims are received by the CU group call-centre. The insurance package is available to customers who take out credit for a sum not exceeding 60,000 Polish zloty (Ł10,900) and who are 18 or over (at the time of signing the contract) and not over 65 (at the time when it ends).
"We anticipate that about 15-20% of people who take out cash credit with BZ WBK this year will take the insurance. We hope that by the end of 2006 about 12,000 customers will have decided in favour of insurance, and the total premiums may be in excess of 8 million Polish zloty (Ł1.45m)," said Zygmunt Kostkiewicz, deputy general manager, CU Life.
Jacek Marcinowski adds: "Our forecasts show that this is realistic since we are offering the cash credit insurance package at our branches, as well as to customers using direct banking (call-centre), and we are also intending to include it in offers made by external distributors with whom we work."
Marek Piętka, bancassurance director, CU Poland, emphasises: "We have succeeded in putting together a competitive insurance programme, so we believe it will be met with interest on the part of Bank Zachodni WBK customers. What we are offering has an extra plus, we think, in that we are acting as a single organisation as far as customers are concerned – the Commercial Union Poland group, by taking on responsibility for harmonising procedures in the two CU insurance companies involved."
The introduction of the cash credit insurance package is an element in the broader cooperation between the CU Poland group and the bank, which is a minority shareholder in three CU companies: CU Life, CU GI, and CU Pension Fund (it holds 10% of the shares in each of these companies).
Since 1993, BZ WBK and the CU group have also been cooperating in the sphere of financial services distribution, as shareholders in the company Brytyjsko-Polskie Towarzystwo Finansowe WBK-CU, with its head office in Poznań, a major city in the west of Poland.
Customers taking out a mortgage credit with BZ WBK may take up borrower’s life insurance, which is on offer in cooperation with CU Life. This is a life policy with a diminishing insurance sum which provides assurance that home-purchase credit payments are covered in the event of death.
Bank customers may insure a house or flat by taking up Locum BZ WBK insurance. Home-purchase credit customers are the keenest to take up this insurance, but it is aimed at other interested parties too. Cover may be for real estate along with fixed components, moveables used for residential purposes and civil liability in private life for damage caused to third parties. "There are many benefits for customers who take up the package, including the simple way in which the insurance is arranged (no property inspection) and automatic renewal of it for succeeding years, and also the cover for events that are rarely covered by policies of this type (eg losses caused by burglary, robbery and devastation of fixed elements of the property – 20 risks in total)," stresses Paweł Zawisza.
CU GI also offers bank customers insurance for payment of credit using a BZ WBK credit card. This insurance, which is marketed under the name Your security, covers redundancy or incapacity to work, and also death of the policy holder in an accident.
At BZ WBK offices, customers can also sign a contract and join the largest pension fund on the market, the Commercial Union BPH CU WBK Open Pension Fund.
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Information:
Bank Zachodni WBK
Piotr Gajdzinski
Telephone: + 48 61 8564017
E-mail piotr.gajdzinski@bzwbk.pl
Website: www.bzwbk.pl
Commercial Union Poland
Bohdan Bialorucki
Telephone: + 48 22 557 43 41
E-mail: bohdan_bialorucki@cu.com.pl
Website: www.cu.pl
Notes to editors:
Bank Zachodni WBK SA is one of the five largest banks in Poland, with 400 branches and 560 of its own ATMs. It is the leader in the electronic banking market – over 400,000 people now use the services of BZWBK24. The Bank Zachodni WBK strategy lies in the development of mortgage credit, cash credit, credit cards, unit trusts, leasing and services to businesses. Business customers are looked after by five corporate banking centres situated in Poland’s major cities. The bank can also offer business consultancy, professional asset management, and assistance in the investment banking field. Through its dependent companies, Bank Zachodni WBK provides leasing and brokerage services.
Commercial Union Poland Group is part of the international Aviva group, the world’s sixth largest insurance, savings and investments group, and the largest in the United Kingdom by revenues. Aviva group operates in over 25 countries. It occupies a strong position in the European Union, including United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland. Worldwide, Aviva group services over 30 million customers and manages assets valued at over Ł290 billion. For additional information, see the website http://www.aviva.com.