1 In This Issue Volume 3 | Issue 1 | March 2016 Face‐to‐Face with Financial Literacy Answering your questions about clear communication techniques: Follow‐up from CLHIA's clear communication webinars Looking for a simpler way to say that? Like our glossary? Please copy it! Ombudsman's letter rewritten in clear language Face-to-Face with Financial Literacy Innovative outreach programs deliver on FCNB’s mandate Christopher Williams (APR, BPR), Senior Communications Officer, Financial and Consumer Services Commission (New Brunswick) New Brunswick’s Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) is responsible for regulation of securities, insurance, pensions, credit unions, caisses populaires, trust and loan companies, cooperatives and other consumer protection legislation and educational outreach in these areas. Staff work from offices in Saint John and Fredericton. FCNB communicates with diverse stakeholders including the general public, regulated industry and media. That’s a tall order of business. A single day in FCNB’s Education and Communications division can involve writing a Consumer Alert about investment fraud and scams, editing policy documents to recommend legislative change, and making Capital Markets presentations to budding entrepreneurs. The goal is a more informed and confident financial and consumer marketplace. Money matters made easy “Financial literacy is among the Commission’s most important initiatives, one that requires plain language, accuracy and creative outreach,” explains Rick Hancox, CEO of the Commission. “One in five New Brunswick adults has literacy levels that are below average, putting us behind the national average. Technological innovations are making the financial sector more complex and challenging for people to understand financial products. Without the knowledge and support, they can become more vulnerable to being taken advantage of Send us your questions, comments and ideas about clear communication. We'd love to hear from you.
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In This Issue Volume 3 | Issue 1 | March 2016
Face‐to‐Face with Financial Literacy
Answering your questions about clear communication techniques: Follow‐up from CLHIA's clear communication webinars
Looking for a simpler way to say that?
Like our glossary? Please copy it!
Ombudsman's letter rewritten in clear language
Face-to-Face with Financial Literacy Innovative outreach programs deliver on FCNB’s mandate
Christopher Williams (APR, BPR), Senior Communications Officer, Financial and Consumer Services Commission (New Brunswick)
New Brunswick’s Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) is responsible for regulation of securities, insurance, pensions, credit unions, caisses populaires, trust and loan companies, cooperatives and other consumer protection legislation and educational outreach in these areas. Staff work from offices in Saint John and Fredericton. FCNB communicates with diverse stakeholders including the general public, regulated industry and media. That’s a tall order of business. A single day in FCNB’s Education and Communications division can involve writing a Consumer Alert about investment fraud and scams, editing policy documents to recommend legislative change, and making Capital Markets presentations to budding entrepreneurs. The goal is a more informed and confident financial and consumer marketplace. Money matters made easy “Financial literacy is among the Commission’s most important initiatives, one that requires plain language, accuracy and creative outreach,” explains Rick Hancox, CEO of the Commission. “One in five New Brunswick adults has literacy levels that are below average, putting us behind the national average. Technological innovations are making the financial sector more complex and challenging for people to understand financial products. Without the knowledge and support, they can become more vulnerable to being taken advantage of
financially,” said Hancox. Specifically for Capital Markets education, FCNB publishes Making Headway magazine and holds workshops on trending topics such as crowdfunding and attracting angel investors. “It’s important for businesses to know the rules and feel assured about raising capital,” says FCNB’s Capital Markets Specialist Jeff Harriman. In addition to topical publications, robust website content, blogs, brochures, infographics, social media and television advertising, FCNB achieves notable success by “meeting people where they are". Harriman held three workshops for entrepreneurs in March helping inform them on how to raise capital for their businesses. Also in March, Harriman met in person with members of the Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI), a not‐for‐profit organization based in Fredericton which fosters Aboriginal economic development in NB. Youth Outreach Samantha Richard, FCNB Education Coordinator, frequently communicates one‐on‐one with myriad community groups and schools. Last year, Richard gave 118 presentations to 2,721 people. Thirteen of her financial literacy presentations were made to grades K‐8 students in low income neighbourhoods. Themes covered smart spending decisions, knowing the difference between wants and needs, and setting financial goals. “This April, we are participating in the AMAZE‐atorium, a hands‐on event for children and their parents which introduces topics from science and math to financial literacy,” says Richard. “FCNB will be hosting a ‘Price is Right’ themed game to help children understand the real price of consumer purchases, from things they see in their everyday lives, such as a box of cereal, to items they may often be asking for like toys, video games or clothes.” FCNB’s most successful engagement program has been working with radio stations’ summer cruiser programs in four New Brunswick communities. They asked what tips New Brunswickers would share with children about money and received hundreds of tips, many of which were collected in an eBook, Smart Tips: Helping the next generation ‘spend smart’ available for download at FCNB.ca.
Jeff Harriman, Capital Markets Specialist, gives Learning the Ropes presentations to entrepreneurs.
Diffusing pyramid power When a pyramid network described as a ‘pay it forward cloud’ targeted women mainly in northern New Brunswick last February, FCNB’s enforcement team traveled to the community to meet with citizens confused by the scheme. Brian Maude, Senior Legal Counsel and
Investigator Joleen Dable presented the perils of pyramid schemes through simplified graphics and answered questions from those affected. Maude spoke with regional French and English media about the ‘red flags of fraud’ in plain language everyone could understand. With the help of FCNB’s in‐house graphic designer, Kasie Wilcox, crisp ads were placed with similar messages in the community’s daily newspaper. Social media posts were also integrated raising awareness of pyramid schemes and other scams plaguing New Brunswick through the winter. Soon other media outlets were calling FCNB for TV interviews on the subject.
Wake up and smell the coffee! Strong media coverage of pyramid schemes and phishing scams conveniently segued into Fraud Prevention Month in March. FCNB piloted a new outreach project entitled Spend Smart Cafés in Saint John and Rothesay. Partnering with local ‘Java Moose’ coffee houses to offer free coffee, treats and tips, the event was a unique way to get fraud prevention messages out individually during the national campaign. “Our goal was to use the relaxed atmosphere of a popular local coffee shop to answer questions and create awareness about fraud prevention,” said Marissa Sollows, Senior Education Co‐ordinator with the Commission. “We chatted with hundreds of folks about their personal financial health and informed them how to recognize signs of fraud.” The Spend Smart Cafés included custom signage and a creative coffee menu based on the ‘flavours of fraud’: Lost Dream Lattes, Uncertain‐tea, Moneyless Muffins and Con Artist Cookies! Brochures were handed out along with other promotional items. During the month‐long Fraud Prevention campaign, the Commission posted free information and blogs on its FCNB.ca website, with links on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.
A pyramid scheme was getting out of hand in Northern New Brunswick, so legal counsel organized informal information sessions in the community.
FCNB staff turned local coffee houses into Spend Smart Cafés offering fraud prevention advice and free coffee in a relaxed environment.
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Last January, FCNB extended cautionary messages to the community of Sussex, NB, where the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan had to close its mine eliminating up to 430 well‐paying jobs. The move sent shock waves through the region as potash mining had been a way of life and a major source of income for years. Recognizing the potential vulnerability of the workers, the Commission posted social media messages and inserted colour ads in the county’s weekly newspaper. The messages advised those receiving severance packages to slow down, take the emotion out, and allow time to consult experts about safe ways to protect and invest their earnings. Sollows was also interviewed on the subject by a renowned investment columnist. Protecting Seniors New Brunswick’s skyrocketing senior population—many of them baby boomers with significant savings—are also susceptible to financial abuse. Older victims are especially at risk to investment fraud; if seniors lose all or part of their life savings they have less time to recover their financial stability. The effects of senior financial abuse and exploitation go well beyond the pocketbook and can lead to social isolation, depression, anxiety and other negative health effects. To address this priority audience, our check lists and infographics help defy myths and start conversations among families about financial well‐being and what to do if abuse is suspected. FCNB partnered with a local lawyer to deliver a presentation on recognizing frauds and scams and the importance of proactive estate planning, and created a new brochure: Understanding the Power of Attorney. In the spring of 2015, FCNB embarked on a series of roundtable dialogues with seniors throughout the province to help better understand the issues they face when using financial services. A report based on these engagement sessions led to a Forum on Senior Financial Abuse last fall in Fredericton bringing together over 60 participants from key stakeholder groups. The final report, due out in 2016, will allow FCNB and participants at the Forum to identify priorities for program and policy development to develop a more proactive approach to protecting seniors in New Brunswick. Newcomers are another special group FCNB is assisting through the YMCA and other newcomer groups by providing tips translated into their respective languages. New Brunswick is welcoming as many as 1,500 Syrians to the province. At least one Syrian family has been the victim of a direct selling scam that claimed to offer language training products. FCNB’s free handout highlights frauds and scams that specifically target newcomers and provides them with the tools to recognize when they are being targeted. FCNB will also deliver an in‐person presentation to the newcomers on how to recognize and protect their families from financial fraud.
When a potash mine closed, throwing hundreds out of work, FCNB ads reminded former workers to consult registered financial advisers about their severance options.
Clear information and support Clear communication is fundamental to FCNB’s mandate to reach so many diverse audiences. “Financial concepts can be intimidating when you don’t have clear information and support,” adds Andrew Nicholson, Director of Education and Communications. “People are getting wiser to the ways of con artists and are learning to protect their savings. But there is still more work to do. These concepts need to be taught, learned and practiced in a variety of settings and situations. We have a wide range of resources in plain language and our team continues to communicate head‐on.” FCNB avoids jargon phrases like “redundancy elimination” (layoff) or “period of economic adjustment” (recession). “Communicating effectively to your audience is essential if you want to get your information out and clearly understood,” notes Nicholson. “We use the Canadian Press style book as a guide in order to provide a simplified and consistent message to our reading audience. We always consider the objective of the release, the context and who will be reading our material before we post our news releases.”
Answering your questions about clear communication techniques: Follow-up from CLHIA's clear communication webinars
Rae Sands, Assistant Vice‐President and Senior Counsel, Products and Distribution, Sun Life Financial, Jean Lamy, Ombudsman, Manulife Financial, and Erica Hiemstra, Director, Distribution and Consumer Affairs, CLHIA
On November 24, CLHIA hosted two clear communication webinars; one in each official language. We invited participants to submit their questions during the webinars. Here are the questions and comments we received along with our answers. Question: Can you provide alternatives to the "phrases to avoid in letters" that were included with the "tip sheet"?
Answer: Here's the list of phrases to avoid from the tip sheet. For the most part, you may be able to eliminate these phrases entirely. If you can't, we've suggested alternatives.
Phrase to avoid Alternative
As per your request Sometimes the writer wants to explain why they are responding to the reader. This isn't always necessary, especially when the reader has asked for something. But if you think you need to, why not say: ‐ "You asked us to send you..."; ‐ "You asked for a copy of..."; or ‐ whatever the request was. Then say, "Here are... (the copies you asked for)".
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Write as if the reader is in front of you and you are responding to them. What would you say? Not, "As per your request, I have enclosed copies of the forms you signed." You'd say something like, "Here are the copies of the forms you signed." If you think that is too informal then write something like, "I've enclosed copies of the forms you signed."
We are in receipt of We received
Trusting this is agreeable to you We don't have one. We can't think of a reason why you would need to use a phrase like this. It presumes a response from the reader, which is never a polite thing to do. They may not agree.
In accordance with Under
We shall advise you We'll let you know or we'll tell you
The purpose of this letter is Similar to our response to the first phrase, if you think you need to explain why you are writing, then say, "We are writing because...." or "We are writing to let you know...."
On a going forward basis Going forward
Furthermore, you understand that
Again, we can't think of a reason why you would need to use a phrase like this. This kind of structure presumes a feeling or understanding by the reader that they may not have. It likely will offend them more than help. Try to avoid using this sort of sentiment.
Question: What are your thoughts on using footnotes for supporting information?
Answer: Used in the right context, footnotes are fine. We don't recommend them for client letters or other communications. An alternative to footnotes is to provide substantial supporting information in appendices. Question: We received a number of questions about dealing with legalese. Here they are:
Much of this letter content is a result of legal review. What's your advice for managing the legal department?
I recently saw a 106 word sentence in a contract and was told "it's a legal agreement". What tips can you share about how to convince lawyers that plain, simple language is "OK" in contracts?
What approach do you take to re‐writing contract phrases in plain language when they've been interpreted by a court in favour of the insurance company?
Answer: When working with your legal department, sometimes it helps if you come up with your own plain version and then ask them if it's clear. If we can't explain the legal construct we shouldn't be using it. If the lawyer insists, then have them explain why. Ask them to explain the phrases they insist on until you understand what is being said. Then use their explanation to
Want more help with "phrases to avoid"?
A list of plain language word substitutions may be just what you need.
write the provision more clearly. In the case of an existing favourable court interpretation, the language may have been interpreted one time by one judge. That doesn't mean that it is set in stone ‐‐ and why is it that you had to go to court to begin with? Words cost money: Clear language will not change the meaning of your words, but it will help you to write documents that your clients can understand.
A good resource for ideas on how to work with lawyers on plain language, is another lawyer. You can find excellent essays on‐line by law professor Joe Kimble. He compiled his essays in a book, Lifting the fog of legalese, where he presents arguments and evidence to address what he calls the myths about legal writing.
And about the language lawyers use because it's been interpreted in court, Joe Kimble says it can be useful when lawyers write to one another, but to the lay audience it imposes a barrier. If we cannot avoid them, then we must try to explain them. He goes on to say that "legalese persists for the same reasons as always ‐ habit, inertia, form books, fear of change and notions of prestige." Clients don't pay for legalese, they pay for a contract they can understand. Question: What's your opinion on citing contract language in letters versus paraphrasing? We often see a "safe default" is to quote the contract and this can seem heavy‐handed.
Answer: That's a difficult question to answer without more context, but here goes. Write to and adapt your content to your intended reader(s). If it's not necessary to include contract language, don't. But if an interpretation of your contract wording is a key part of your message, you may need to cite the contract. Of course, this question wouldn't come up if contracts were written clearly in the first place. Question: Under eliminating jargon it was mentioned to never use the phrase "in order..." Why? I have seen it used in this senario, "In order for the recurrence provision to apply..." Is this OK?
Answer: "In order to" and "in order for" are multi‐word prepositions that can always be replaced with one or at most two words. Why say in three or four words what you can say in one? Shorter sentences are easier to understand. You are less likely to confuse and lose your reader's interest with shorter sentences. So start with, "For the recurrence provision to apply..." Question: On the tip sheet, the first resource listed is "FCAC Clear language and presentation principles..." Is this a book or a specific document on the FCAC site?
Answer: This is Commissioner's Guidance issued by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada in 2009. Here's a link: http://www.fcac‐acfc.gc.ca/Eng/forIndustry/publications/commissionerGuidance/Documents/CG‐3‐eng.pdf .
Answer: This question was submitted during the French webinar when we discussed re‐write #3. It's a great example of why we shouldn't use abbreviations in letters to clients. The letters RPC (or CPP in English) are used throughout example #3 to refer to Régime de pensions du Canada (or Canada Pension Plan), without first providing the full name. You'll see below in the excerpts from our suggested re‐writes that we spell the name out in whole the first time we use it so the client knows what the abbreviation means.
(excerpt from suggested re‐write in French) Vous devez faire une demande de prestations d'invalidité du RPC Votre contrat exige que vous soumettiez une demande de prestations d'invalidité auprès du Régime de pensions du Canada (RPC). Nous avons joint le formulaire de demande à la présente lettre.
(excerpt from suggested re‐write in English) You must apply for CPP disability benefits Your contract provides that you must apply for Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits. We’ve included an application in this letter. Comment: Here's an alternate suggestion for one of our re‐write examples.
Response: Thanks for the suggestion! We've reprinted the original, our suggested re‐write and the alternate suggestion below.
Original
If on the last day on which the assurance under this provision may be converted, it has not been converted in accordance with the Conversion clause in this provision and the total disability benefit is then being granted under any Total Disability Benefit Provision in the policy, the assurance under this provision will be automatically converted in accordance with the Conversion clause in this provision into a participating Whole Life policy without any requirement for evidence of insurability. The new policy will include the same type of total disability benefit which is contained in this policy. The new policy will be in lieu of this benefit provision.
Our suggested re‐write
Your policy may automatically convert to a participating whole life policy
We will automatically convert your insurance to a participating whole life policy if on the last day on which your insurance may be converted:
it has not been converted, and
we have approved the total disability benefit.
The new policy will include the same type of total disability benefit as exists in this policy. You do not have to provide any evidence to us of insurability.
This provision ends on the date the participating whole life policy takes effect.
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Alternate suggested re‐write
Payment of your total disability benefit is not interrupted when the policy’s conversion period ends. Suppose you are receiving payment on the last day you could convert this term policy to a permanent policy. We will automatically convert this policy to a permanent, participating whole life policy. You do not have to provide medical evidence. The new policy gives you the same type of total disability benefit you get with this policy.
Here are some other webinar outcomes:
We believe this is the largest ever educational event held by the CLHIA, with a total of 890 participants from our member companies (164 in French and 726 in English).
The webinar recordings, re‐write examples and a clear communication "tip sheet" are available on our website.
Our thanks to everyone who participated in the Clear Communication webinars. We appreciated your questions and comments during the webinars and hope you'll find our follow up comments useful.
Looking for a simpler way to say that?
Erica Hiemstra, Director, Distribution and Consumer Affairs, CLHIA
A key element to clear writing is to use simple words and phrases in place of long or complex ones. Having a word substitution list on hand can help. There are lots of lists out there. Here's one from The Plain Language Action and Information Network: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/wordsuggestions/simplewords.cfm I keep a copy of this list on my desk as a handy reference.
Like our glossary? Please copy it!
Erica Hiemstra, Director, Distribution and Consumer Affairs
Since we first published our plain language glossary of insurance terms in 2014 and then updated it in 2015, our readers have asked if they can copy it. The answer is yes! We encourage you to make use of the glossary in whole or in part. If you reproduce the entire glossary, please give credit CLHIA.
You can access the glossary here: https://www.clhia.ca/domino/html/clhia/CLHIA_LP4W_LND_Webstation.nsf/page/FF801CA8A20C46568525780E00665851?OpenDocument
For background on the glossary, take a look at these articles:
Case study: CLHIA's new clear language glossary of insurance terms
Updated clear language glossary on CLHIA's site
Ombudsman's letter rewritten in clear language
Erica Hiemstra, Director, Distribution and Consumer Affairs, with rewritten letter by Simplified Communications Group Inc.
The 2015 Consumer Complaints Officers Section Fall Seminar included a clear language writing workshop focused on final position letters from insurers' ombudsmen to customers. These letters share the ombudsman's findings on a complaint with the customer and provide the insurer's final position on the complaint. Whether the ombudsman's investigation leads to a different decision from the insurer, results in a settlement offer, upholds the insurer's original decision, or provides some other finding, the message to the customer needs to be clear. In the same letter, it's also mandatory to inform the customer of their right to take their complaint to the OmbudService for Life and Health Insurance (and, for Quebec customers, to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers as well). So it can be a challenge to capture the insurer's position, the right amount of background information, and the customer's options and rights in an easy to understand letter. Some of the techniques presented during the workshop included:
addressing your audience;
organizing your key messages;
using plain language;
using short sentences; and
avoiding jargon. As a part of the workshop, participants had a chance to try their hand at rewriting some final position letters. See the attached before and after example letter that demonstrates the writing techniques listed above. The letter was prepared by Simplified Communications Group, who also lead the workshop.
