Altus Insurance whitepaper spreads - Flipbook - Page 34
Reaching our destination –
de昀椀ning the model (cont.)
Make the customer the focal point
Whatever this new model looks like and regardless of
what changes are necessary for its delivery, it is vital
that the customer experience plays a starring role. The
loss and accompanying claim is a customer problem,
not an insurer one, and the onus is upon the insurer
to provide the solution in a way that best meets the
customer’s needs.
It is not controversial to say that insurers have largely,
to date, seen claims as a problem to be managed,
speci昀椀cally in terms of the loss ratios and pro昀椀tability
of their businesses. But for any insurer that wishes
to continue to compete in the modern insurance
market, the mindset has to shi昀琀 towards seeing the
management and payment of claims as the most
important aspect of the relationship under the policy.
To design such a model e昀昀ectively, insurers have
to look at the claims process from the customer’s
perspective and understand how the customer really
wants to interact with their insurer at all points
throughout the claim, for di昀昀erent types of claims and
when the process, for whatever reason, doesn’t follow
the predicted path.
By giving more control to the customer through
self-serve claims management, insurers can 昀椀nally
deliver real transparency at each stage of the claim
and proactively manage expectations throughout.
While technology plays the key role in delivering this
outcome, it cannot operate e昀昀ectively in isolation.
Technology must be the enabler, supporting and
supported by well-designed, human-driven and led
processes.
Ultimately, the insurer needs to introduce measures
that have the dual bene昀椀ts of improving the customer
experience and improving the overall operational
e昀케ciency of the claims function. Taking this a step
further, in a truly customer-centric claims model,
insurers should be giving their customers (and thirdparty claimants) reasons to continue to do business
with them, whilst also generating savings which can
be used to invest further in the service, making their
approach to claims a genuinely attractive proposition
for new customers. It is 昀椀rst and last about service
and customer experience.
Destination for Claims
This may feel like a very di昀昀erent approach to the
claims process, one that may seem like a utopia rather
than a reality, but insurers are starting to make these
changes, moving in the direction of a more optimised
model, some at a greater pace than others.
“It is those that move now,
with the right customer focus,
that will be able to satisfy the
expectations of increasingly techsavvy customers, whilst growing
and maintaining a customer base
that ensures the sustainability of
the business.”
Patrick Hayward,
Altus Consulting
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