Legal & General has launched its 2011 Business Quality Awards.

It says they are designed to recognise those firms and individuals who have demonstrated a proven commitment to the retention of their protection business. By doing so, they ensure that customers retain the valuable cover that they need to protect themselves and their families.

Legal & General says that over the last five years has invested in a number of initiatives to help around 15,000 advisers highlight over £1 billion of protection business at risk, helping reduce lapses and increase persistency as a result.

These include the following an electronic Early Warning System (EWS) which gives advisers the tools to recognise very early on when a policy may lapse as well as retention tools.

Legal & General says that in 2010, the use of the EWS alone helped over 1000 firms and saved more than 70,000 policies being terminated.

£7.3 million worth of customer claims were paid out last year as a direct result of these retention tools which proves the real difference these business practices have made.

There are four awards categories that advisers can enter: Best Business Practice, Special Recognition, Most Improved Performance and Best Reinstatement Performance.

Peter Graham, managing director, Legal & General, Individual Protection, said: “These awards are the first of their kind and I am proud that Legal & General are leading the way in rewarding retention. As an industry we tend to focus on the ‘front end’ processes for acquiring new business but it is critical that we also focus to manage the persistency of that business.