BIA 2022: Winners Q&A with Park Home Assist Insurance Services

Broadly, what were you looking to demonstrate to the BIA Judges for your award-winning entries in terms of Park Home Assist’s offerings as a whole?

My wife and I set up the company 17 years ago. Rather than just being an insurance business, we really wanted to have engagement with our customers to effectively provide them a value-added service. That was our [award] submission, and it was clear from the outcome of the awards that we had hit the nail on the head and achieved exactly what we had originally set out to do.

What does the recognition of the BIA Judges mean for Park Home Assist?

We see it as a huge endorsement from what is a professional and highly regulated industry. We are a small company in comparison to the many we were in competition with, and it felt like a huge pat on the back to have such massive endorsement given to us. It enabled us to feel that – as a small organisation – we have set the bar for others to try and attain.

What do you think are the biggest lessons Park Home Assist has learnt over the past 12 to 18 months, and what do you see as the biggest challenges over the horizon?

For a small organisation, we’ve had Covid lockdowns – something which none of us ever imagined could happen – technology challenges, as well as diversification in working practices thrown at us. Through planning and organisation at the forefront of our strategies, we were able to achieve exactly what we needed to. Massive team efforts meant we, alongside our customers, were unaffected by the lockdowns. We achieved this not only from a business perspective, but I believe the industry managed to navigate the turbulent times fantastically as a whole as it really stood up to the challenges. Going forward, we need to show the industry that we can’t be complacent. Whilst we don’t know what future challenges will bring, we really need to think of business interruption challenges, our customers are going to engage in tough times and how we can build on the success of the business by differentiating ourselves from our competitors.

How are you looking to build on your BIA successes this year?

We are currently trying to identify other ways in which we can provide value-added services to our customers. Its not just a case of answering their insurance needs, but its about what else we can do for them. For example, during the Covid lockdowns, we engaged with our customers – many of which are vulnerable – that we knew would not be able to speak with others for days on end. We’re looking to build on that and engage with our customers by trying to help them with their mental health issues and find different ways for customers to occupy their day rather than staring at the world going by through their window.

What qualities do you think Park Home Assist has that makes it stand out as a valued insurance provider?

I believe it is the total engagement that we have with out customers. The fact that we got it right during lockdown is a huge endorsement of how we understand the marketplace and our customers. Since the awards, we have received countless emails from policyholders congratulating us on the awards. These personal messages from our customers shows us that we are not just an insurance company for them, but also a valued partner in their life. The judges really seemed to understand what Park Home Assist is all about, and when they said that we put our customer care ahead of profitability, that’s what we have tried to do from the outset.

Sponsored