Groundhog day after 39 years at the ABI

It was never going to work. Having just retired after 39 years (how did that happen!) at the Association of British Insurers, no way could I  begin to describe all the changes I have seen in the industry within the confines of this article. 

So I’ve opted for the opposite approach, summed up by the expression, first coined by the French 175 years ago: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here’s what I mean.

Insurance is like rain

Insurance remains one of the few products that you buy but hope never to use. Necessary and prudent, of course, but exciting and stimulating? No. 

The fear factor sells cover (and compulsion in the case of motor). It always has, and in my book, it always will. And that’s fine, as long as people make the purchase.

No one I have ever spoken to has approached arranging their insurance without a roll of their eyes, a sharp intake of breath, and in many cases a few expletives. 

It does not set the pulse racing, but sometimes does make the blood boil. Shopping around is good, but it is a chore. No amount of advertising is going to change this reality.

Insurance is like rain – we know we need it, but do not often welcome it

It’s like someone once said to me: “Insurance is like rain – we know we need it, but do not often welcome it.” 

So don’t try to market the product as sexy or alluring, because insurance is about as sexy as a wet weekend in Margate (with apologies to Margate).

Major events remain the industry’s shop window

Over the years, I have been heavily involved in the industry’s collective response to countless floods, storms, tornados, a major tsunami, numerous terrorist attacks, 9/11, various wars, riots in the UK, a global pandemic, several multi-storey car park fires affecting hundreds of vehicles and the Icelandic ash cloud.

The advent of social media and the digital revolution have greatly improved the industry’s response. Of course, every major event throws up challenges but over the years, I always found that insurers understood what big events like this were all about – a shop window for highlighting the importance of insurance, with the industry judged by its response. 

Complexity demands clarity

Insurance can be complex for customers, if the wrong words are used. Not just an issue for insurers of course. Admit it, how many times have you automatically clicked ‘yes’ to the question about having read the terms and conditions, when buying online?

These days there is a much better awareness of the need for simple, clear and timely communications with customers, but there still appears to be a gulf between best intentions and customer perceptions.

According to Fairer Finance, no sentence in financial  literature to customers should exceed 29 words. 

On a cursory flick through my own home insurance policy, I found plenty of sentences of 50-plus word sentences before any hint of punctuation and my policy is one of the slimmer ones.

With so much at stake if the worst happens, clear, simple, straightforward customer communications needs to be the foundation if the industry is to improve customers’ trust and confidence.

No surprise then that an ABI survey last year showed that nearly half – 48% – of people had difficulty understanding insurance terminology. 

For 37% of people in the same survey, clearer, simpler policies would be the one single step towards improving their interaction with insurers. 

It does not stop at words. The ABI’s work with Plain Numbers showed, showed that seven in 10 customers wanted a clearer explanation of numbers used by insurers.

I think part of this comes down to the grudge purchase view. If you buy a product like insurance, which you hope you will  never have to use, then you are not going to be naturally inclined to read how it operates. 

With so much at stake if the worst happens, clear, simple, straightforward customer communications needs to be the foundation if the industry is to improve customers’ trust and confidence.

But my subjective view on all this pales in comparison to my beloved Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. 

During my time at the ABI they have got through 29 managers, yet today are no nearer to winning the Premiership. Some things seem destined never to change.

During his 39 years at the ABI, Malcolm Tarling has for more than the last 15 years been trade body’s chief media relations officer plus a key spokesperson giving countless broadcasts across national media.