ING DIRECT launches home and contents insurance

The home, contents, and combined home and contents packages — developed by Auto & General — will first be made available to customers who have come through the bank’s broker network, which is responsible for referring 90 per cent of ING DIRECT’s home loan customers.

The packages will also be available with a variety of optional cover including landlord, flood, accidental damage and personal valuables.

According to the bank, the insurance will be expanded to direct home loan customers and as a stand-alone product for existing and new customers in “early 2017”.

The insurance proposition will be fully digital, with an insurance estimate automatically generated and emailed to the customer upon formal approval of their home loan application.

The customer will then be invited to view the details of the estimate and provide additional information for a full quote, with the option to purchase the insurance instantly online.

‘A one-stop shop’ for home loan customers

John Arnott, executive director, customers, at ING DIRECT said the launch of insurance was about “making the home loan journey as smooth and simple as possible for customers”.

“We’ve been helping Australians into their homes for two decades with our home loans, and now we’re helping them to protect their homes and providing peace of mind,” he said.

“Buying a home is both an exciting and incredibly busy time, and we want to make the process as simple and efficient as possible for our customers so they can focus on the excitement of settling into their new home. It’s about understanding their broader needs at this time and making sure we can meet them – effectively offering a one-stop shop.”

Mr Arnott said the bank was “very happy” to be working with Auto & General to bring insurance to its customers as the two organisations had a “shared ‘customer-first’ focus”.

He said that this was made clear “through [its] digital approach” and how they manage claims, which is “all about… providing the right offer to our customers at the right time to make their home buying journey as smooth as possible”.

Ram Kangatharan, MD & CEO at Auto & General, added: “ING DIRECT is a market leader in digital innovation and Auto & General has been developing smart data driven solutions tailored to meet their customers’ needs through their preferred purchase channels.”

ING DIRECT has a mortgage portfolio of more than $40 billion.

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