C-Suite - Insurer: Insurers must be all ears

The theme for this year’s British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference is ‘Customer, Customer, Customer’, and it could hardly be better timed as the industry continues to process claims relating to the severe bad weather of 2013 and 2014.

I have visited some of our customers who have been affected by the floods this year and have been impressed by the sense of partnership between the customer, their broker, the loss adjuster and ourselves as the insurer.

We all share the same goal, which is to get the policyholder back to their pre-loss position as quickly as possible. It is my belief the industry is succeeding against this objective in the vast majority of flood claims. We are doing so in large part because of this focused partnership approach.

It has been useful to listen to our customers’ experiences first hand, but I recognise this provides just a snapshot. Customer expectation is increasing all the time and, therefore, it is crucial to carry out regular research into what they consider important when it comes to service.

What we have found in our ongoing research isn’t rocket science. Not surprisingly, what the customer wants is a speedy response and a speedy resolution of their claim. What may be less obvious – and perhaps worth reflecting on – is that customers need to feel they are really being listened to during the claims process. This needs to be obvious in the communication that takes place with all the agencies involved.

Communication is often the most challenging aspect to get right, particularly when the pressure is on. It is no coincidence research has shown organisations that listen and communicate well with all of their stakeholders, and their customers in particular, generally outperform their peers when it comes to commercial performance.

If partnership and communication are crucial to our customers, the Biba conference embodies both of these concepts in spades. I am looking forward to meeting a wide range of business partners at Biba and continuing to explore how we can work together to put the customer at the heart of everything we do.

Our industry has the opportunity to delight customers when they need help and this happens more often than perhaps many external opinion formers would believe is the case.

Jon Dye
UK chief executive, Allianz Insurance

This article was published in the 8 May edition of Post magazine.