ClearView is set to expand its claims management capability with the appointment of Alicia Edwards to the newly created position of rehabilitation manager.
In the role, Ms Edwards will design the company’s rehabilitation proposition which ClearView said will ensure best practice customer outcomes.
Ms Edwards will make the move from OnePath/Zurich where she worked as a senior rehabilitation consultant and head up ClearView’s technical advice, support and mentoring of claim assessors.
Prior to her time at OnePath/Zurich, Ms Edwards worked in a number of roles at workplace injury management and workplace health solutions provider, Konekt.
“There is a growing recognition of the positive impact that occupational rehabilitation can have on assisting customers to return to wellness and return to work, if they are able and ready to do so,” Ms Edwards said.
“ClearView is a dynamic organisation and I’m excited about the possibility of doing something a little bit different here to help customers manage a range of medical conditions, including musculoskeletal, neurological and psychological, and get on with their lives.”
ClearView chief claims officer, Joanne Faglioni, said the appointment reflects the group’s mission to add value to both financial advisers and customers through increasing its claims capability.
“Alicia will be responsible for building a strong, holistic vocational rehab service, which spans exercise, career counselling and business coaching including executive business coaching,” Ms Faglioni said.
“Our goal is to provide a highly valued service that can be tailored to meet the individual needs of our customers.”
Earlier this year, ClearView threw its support behind financial advisers, saying that the upcoming Quality of Advice Review (QAR) could determine the fate of almost 90 per cent of Australian planners.
A survey conducted by the company between 20 April and 23 May 2022 found that 67 per cent of respondents would stop providing standalone risk advice and 20 per cent are unsure if they would continue if further changes were made to life insurance commissions.
Participants also said that the contentious Life Insurance Framework (LIF), introduced in 2018, had “no material impact” on advice quality and actually hindered advisers’ ability to serve clients.
Just 5 per cent said LIF did have a material impact on advice quality.
Appearing on a recent episode of the ifa Show podcast, ClearView managing director, Simon Swanson, said that the view by the survey respondents was “a fair call”.
“My view is that’s quite understandable too, because I don’t actually think the LIF framework actually does have much impact on the quality of advice per se,” he said.
Listen to the full podcast with Mr Swanson here.
