The first three things to focus on are that Aviva is the lender of the funds for "equity release" (otherwise known as a Lifetime Mortgage). The other aspect is that Aviva do not 'sell' direct but (at the time of this review) sell through ERS and, thirdly, my review is largely based on my experience of the two 'agents' that I dealt with at ERS.The first one was fantastic in every way. I won't mention her name as, sadly, she passed away after very professionally setting-up my first advance that got utilised to start an upper floor extension to my bungalow.My second advance (& additional drawdown facility) was dealt with through a young Yorkshireman, probably kinder not to mention his name but he & ERS & Aviva will have no difficulty identifying him.There's nothing wrong with equity release if one's personal circumstances match financial best practice etc. So I consider that the agent's recommendation of my suitability was sound but his common sense and customer care & customer rapport-building was limited. He was on occasions rude too & by way of an example he would (from time to time rather sarcastically) state the 'bleeding obvious' with such phrases as Aviva have no obligation to lend you any money. I considered that manner very rude and utterly inappropriate and unnecessary, not to mention, bad for business (& I told him so btw). Frankly if I were the man's sales manager or let's say "boss" I'd get him retrained especially in customer rapport building.When the deal completed (by my primary action, not his, on the very last possible qualifying day) he said nothing and wrote nothing by way of appreciative feedback to me, his client, even though he'd be rightly due commission. I find that rude, discourteous and frankly quite ignorant.At various times he showed a degree of let's call it lack of common sense & initiative and I found myself having to bypass ERS and my agent to raise issues directly with Aviva. On one issue Aviva directly compensated me with £200 btw.So although my only moan about ERS relates to the under-performance of their 'rep' it has resulted in a 3 star rating here whereas if I was referring to the other (first, now deceased) rep it would've hit a 5 star rating.People ... & their interactions do matter & my ERS contact let his company down in this instance.I'm sure ERS will reply & try to defend their rep but they'd do better just to apologise on his behalf as he should've done, personally, along with a simple "thanks for your business."My rep's 'side-kick' too wasn't great and made errors including important things like my correct current address.So, all-in-all ERS & Aviva - not bad - but ERS need not only to train in compliance matters but also in client rapport building and professionalism in customer care because if not there will be failed deals and only meagre reviews.
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
