BCWA has switched its company paid dental scheme from Norwich Union, following a row over service standards.
The Bristol-based health insurer moved the underwriting of its confident dental scheme to National Dental Plan last Monday. NDL has agreed to develop further products for BCWA, some of which are likely to be launched before Christmas.
Norwich Union acquired the BCWA account when it took over London & Edinburgh last year.
Philip Fowles, BCWA sales and marketing manager, said the insurer was uncomfortable with the standard of Norwich Union's service and the fact that it was a rival health insurer.
He said its concerns grew when two significant changes occurred in the Norwich Union staff managing BCWA's account within a 12-month period.
Fowles said BCWA raised its concerns at umpteen meetings with Norwich Union, but felt its rapport with the insurer had dissipated.
He added that the parting was amicable and the Norwich Union account is now in run-off.
A spokeswoman for Norwich Union rejected suggestions that service levels had declined after it acquired London & Edinburgh.
She said: “It is true to say that for a period of time we were making decisions on the future of our dental business. It took time to decide how we would go forward. But we now have a very strong team in place.”
The spokeswoman stressed that concerns regarding service levels had not been voiced by other clients.
“We have several large accounts with household name companies who have no complaints regarding our service levels,” she said.
