My Opinion

One of the core tenets of insurance is that of trust.

Our customers must believe that monies will be available to meet their costs and settlement will be on a fair and equitable basis in the event of a valid claim. Without that trust, the whole ecosystem of insurance comes under threat. Customers will feel short-changed, deceived, and even mutinous – perhaps to the point where fraudulent behaviours are seen as somehow acceptable.

Every vendor will tell you that they are the best at what they do, whilst the claims department will demand a range of competitive propositions from their suppliers which are intended to convey some sort of advantage over other insurers.

Responding to a tender on behalf of one of my supplier clients (not an insubstantial company), I was struck by the gulf between insurer expectations and supplier reality. A veritable tsunami of questions flooded the inboxes of the supplier bid team across a vast array of subject matter, but all of the questions had a single thread of connection between them.

Let me tell you 3 true stories. Firstly, I recently received an email from a colleague where the bottom of the few lines of text read ‘KR’. I knew for certain that my workmate did not have the initials ‘KR’….

The good news is that every single institution that I meet in this mysterious world of claims that I move within is “customer centric”. I know this because they all tell me that this is so. Without exception every insurer,…

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A couple of years ago I was asked to be the co-leader of a major project to design a claims “brand proposition”. Flattery (and money!) will always attract my attention so, of course, I accepted the offer. The only problem…

Sustainability policies usually cost money. Which means that the claims department is instinctively opposed to any such moves. Where the initiatives can demonstrably save money – such as the use of ‘green’ parts in the motor repair sector – then…