Insurance Post Podcast

​During the Insurance Post podcast, Nicola Dryden, chief client officer for global loss adjusters Sedgwick, Seb Chakraborty, chief technology officer at Domestic & General, Tim Hardcastle, chief executive of Instanda, and André Symes, chief executive of Genasys, explain how technology can be used to improve insurance policyholder’s experience of engaging with the industry.Dryden said personalisation is important when it comes to the digital journey but also the industry should give consumers choice if they want to engage with a human being when they have water pouring in through their ceiling.Symes agreed: “Technology can allow providers to offer customers omni-channel engagement points. It should be technology when you want it and human when you need it.”Hardcastle said the challenge for the industry today is providers and brokers personalise today in a way that would be seen as “antiquated” by other e-commerce operators.He said: “We capture risk data once a year and it is very difficult to personalise offerings on that basis alone.”During the podcast, the guests explain how the industry can integrate with external data sources and ensure rapid modification of associated underwriting rules and processing.Ways to build flexibility into deployment models is explored too, with tech giants such as Tesla planning to dip their toeinto the UK insurance market and Amazon already launching their Insurance Store, the guests also share what the industry can learn from these e-commerce giants.​ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

​During the latest Insurance Post Podcast, Ben Howarth, chief sustainability officer of the Association of British Insurers, said: “You can’t make the right decisions for a really diverse society without having a diverse make up of views."If you have a small, narrow group of people, they might think they have got the answer right, and they are having interesting conversations in their board discussions and executive teams, but if they are not diverse they are going to miss stuff that is obvious [to others].“It [diversity and inclusion] is not just about the make up of your business. It is about the way you make decisions and get the right voices into the room. I am convinced that [D&I] will lead to better products for people.”RelatedHowarth also shared information about the ABI’s blueprint for the industry to become more diverse and inclusive, and pointed out that, currently, only 3% of boards are from ethnic minority backgrounds despite individuals meeting this definition making up 18% of society.Becoming more inclusiveWhen asked how the industry can become more inclusive, Laura Patterson, head of diversity and inclusion at Allianz Holdings, said the provider engages with colleagues to recognise barriers and introduce policies, as well as processes, to become more diverse.Patterson pointed to Allianz’s career returners scheme as an initiative that is working to recruit a wider breadth of individuals who may have taken a break from the industry.Lauren Stables, head of operations at Aurora, also shared her own personal experience of how start-ups in the insurance space are showing how swiftly progress can be achieved when you don’t have legacy hiring issues.Stables said: “My background is coming from a large commercial insurer, and I definitely saw more males in higher roles."Moving to a start-up six months ago; it is really refreshing to see that more than 50% of our team are females, and in higher roles as well. It shows [how by] not having some of the inherent issues some of the larger insurers have, we can actually become more diverse.”Reputation, targets and profitabilityDuring the podcast, the trio also explore what progress has been made to date on ditching the industry's 'stale, pale and male' reputation, the importance of targets and how important it is for insurers to understand steps to become more diverse and inclusive are vital if businesses are to be profitable.As well as being able to listen to the podcast by clicking on the player above, you can also download and keep this episode of the Insurance Post Podcast to listen to anytime, anywhere you want to. To download the episode, go to your podcast provider of choice (Apple, Google, Samsung, Spotify, Audible, etc) and search for Insurance Post.​ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

​In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, titled Lessons the insurance industry learnt from Covid-19, Mervyn Skeet, interim director of general insurance policy at the Association of British Insurers, said the industry was focused on the clarity of policies moving forward from the Covid-19 pandemic.Skeet said: “That is what the industry is about. Learning from things that happen and moving forward.”Lee Watts, director of technical claims at Allianz Commercial, said the number of claims received by the industry when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and the number accepted, painted “quite a damning picture” of the industry, but the steps taken today to communicate more clearly during the cost-of-living crisis showed that lessons had been learnt.Watts said: “Throughout the pandemic – and since – we have tried to be as proactive as possible [at communicating] when there are challenges affecting the market.“An obvious example, at the moment, would be the challenge around underinsurance and the length of indemnity periods. It is making sure policyholders are clear they need to check those elements of cover rigorously to make sure they don’t get short-changed when they make a claim.”Reflecting on the fact that the rules for the first lockdown forced insurers to work from home, Bart Patrick, chief revenue officer at Genasys, said the Covid-19 pandemic had also shown insurers that some roles did not require individuals to be in the office five days per week.During the podcast, the trio also discuss what the industry got right in helping policyholders during those unprecedented times, and what insurers got wrong when the government told everyone to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.​ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, titled How to achieve a successful merger, Graham Smart, chief commercial officer of global claims services provider McLarens, and Howard Lickens, executive chairman of the Clear Group, share tips on how to find a buyer and achieve a smooth acquisition.Sharing their experience of mergers and acquisition activity in the broker market, Lickens said he once had an adviser look at him askance when he pulled out of a deal because, while the balance sheet looked brilliant, there wasn’t a cultural fit.Fit for purposeLickens said: “You can’t just buy on the basis that the money looks OK, so let’s buy it. There has to be a fit.”He explained that the best way to establish whether two businesses were a good fit is swiftly building a relationship with key managers early on during the M&A process rather than simply looking at balance sheets.Smart said it was vital to identify the important issues in the business at the earliest opportunity rather than during the due-diligence process if the deal was to complete.Lickens said: “It is about preparing a business and making sure you have the key people won over internally – hearts and minds – and locked in emotionally as well as culturally, so that when the transaction completes the business looked exactly like it did before closure.“Our industry is people-led. It is the people here that are the key factor.”M&A activity driversThe pair also explain what will drive M&A activity in 2023, how to achieve a meeting of minds on price expectations, and the circumstances under which buyers will step away from a deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is according to Stefan Elks, head of retail claims operations at Axa, who, during the latest Insurance Post Podcast, shared the motor insurance policy purchase and claims trends the insurer is already seeing as a result of double-digit inflation.During the podcast, which is titled How the cost-of-living crisis is impacting motor insurance, Elks said Axa's telematics proposition was showing that some customers are now driving around in damaged vehicles they don’t want to report at the time of an accident, and the provider is receiving more third-party reports before claims from their own policyholders.When asked what was causing the delays, Elks said: “It is very anecdotal at the moment, but it could be to avoid paying an excess cost. It is very hard to pinpoint just yet, but obviously as time moves on we will receive more data and be able to do more analytics.”Kajal Vakas, senior manager of claims at Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions, Insurance UK and Ireland, was asked whether sales of breakdown cover could increase as motorists realise they need to maintain their current vehicle as they can’t afford to buy a replacement in the current economic climate.Vakas said 2000 UK motorists have vehicles that are more than 10 years old, and for those drivers breakdown cover could prove essential.However, she added that breakdown cover may prove a luxury for some who have had to dip into savings to carry on driving and working as inflation soars.During the podcast Elks, Vakas and Nick Kelsall, head of motor claims at Allianz Commercial, also discuss whether the current state of people's finances could result in a shift to pay-per-mile products and reveal how insurers are already seeing more fraudulent claims. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, titled Are insurers ready for the FCA’s Consumer Duty?, David Sparkes, head of compliance of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, Sarah Ouarbya, partner at Mazars, and Mathew Rutter, DAC Beachcroft’s insurance advisory partner, explore whether the industry is prepared for the new rules coming into force.The Consumer Duty requires insurers to issue communications policyholders can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and provide customers with the support they need, when they need it.Firms have until 31 July to implement the new rules for all new and existing products and services that are currently on sale.Sparkes said some firms are far more advanced with fair value assessments than others.Fair value assessments take account of the price paid by the end customer, the distribution channel through which the product is sold and a review of the product performance and service.Sparkes said one of the challenges the industry had with the Consumer Duty was with the lack of prescription in the rules.He said: “Each insurer has made up their own mind about what they need in terms of fair value for products and that has created a whole cottage industry around this.”Rutter agreed that it is a mixed bag when it comes to how prepared the industry is for the Consumer Duty.He said usually size was an indicator of how well a firm is prepared but not infallibly.Rutter said: “The FCA has said if the firms have done what they said they should have done in terms of vulnerable customers, for example, then they have probably done what they needed to do for the Consumer Duty.“I suspect there are a number of insurers who perhaps probably haven’t done everything that they could have done and even if you think you have it is one of these ongoing processes where you can always look to improve, finesse and learn from experience.“I don’t think any insurer should be resting on their laurels and think ‘We’ve done what we needed to do.’”Ouarbya agreed that work to embed the Consumer Duty into business processes and products and pointed out this needs to be led “from the top” on an ongoing basis.She said: “The focus is really on the live products (deadline) at the momentm but they need to continually review what they do.”The trio also explore what the options are for insurers struggling to meet the Consumer Duty implementation deadline plus the regulatory ramifications of failing to meet the FCA’s requirements and the ongoing work that is required to satisfy the watchdog. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, titled Super-charging take-up of cyber insurance, Ridley, head of cyber at Aviva, said the market is already doing the right things to increase the amount of people taking this cover but “we need to double down on that.”He said: “The amount of training material and literature we have put out to customers is really good but how can we make more of that? How can we make things as easy as possible for customers to engage with?“We are on the right track – it is just doing it even more.”Chris Lennon, director of sales and development for Specialist Risk Group, said education was key to more companies understanding the level of risk they face from criminals and purchasing cyber cover.Lennon said: “This isn’t something we should just be leaving to the Millennials or Gen Zs in our business to try and articulate. We’ve all got a duty to understand this and best advise our clients.”Hans Allnutt, who leads DAC Beachcroft’s cyber risk and breach response team, said to increase take-up of this cover providers and brokers need to put the customer first as that will see businesses that have been through the claims process gradually become more public about their positive interaction with insurers.He said: “It is a crisis response product and as a lawyer, 10 to 20 years ago as a commercial litigator, under liability insurance programmes you didn’t often get thanked because ultimately someone is getting sued and you are there to reduce the exposure.“As a breach response lawyer for the last 10 to 15 years the number of positive recommendations, feedback and thanks that we, in our team, have had is off the scale because you are parachuted in that day, of an incident, and you are helping someone who has not gone through that process before.“It [cyber insurance] is a customer-focused product. We need to emphasise the service element of the insurance product and that it is there to support those policyholders who experience those incidents.”During the podcast the trio also consider the role of cyber risk scenario analysis in helping companies understand their exposure, how this type of insurance is evolving plus the protective measures businesses can take to avoid an attack. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, How the great resignation made insurance an employee’s market, Neil Lumb, group sales and marketing director at broker Verlingue UK, said each manager at his business has to spend time on social media, every month, creating a long-term talent pipeline.He said: “Follow up with those connections, build relationships, even though there might not be a role available at that particular time. That [approach] works really well for us.”Jonathan Moyse, people director for Allianz Commercial, said the insurer tries to encourage managers “to be better at using Linked In” when it comes to posting roles and giving those considering joining the company an idea of what it is like to work for the business.Moyse said: “We are trying to create that followership so that we have that pipeline of people wanting to come and join Allianz.”Rob Chilcott, learning and development manager of the Claims Consortium Group, said: “Social media is a snapshot window where you can essentially choose what people will see but you can’t lie about it.“It tells people quite a lot about your company’s culture because over days, weeks, months and years if you are consistently posting things about events you are holding, your values and beliefs then they will get more from that than face-to-face in an interview.”The trio also share what insurers who are sick and tired of their current role can do to improve their position, give advice on how to make sure your next job move helps you develop your career and reveal the kind of benefits employees can expect from providers and brokers keen to retain their talent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of the Insurance Post Podcast, titled What the cost-of-living crisis means for insurers, Claire Lashbrook, director of property claims at Claims Consortium Group, revealed her organisation is seeing interesting changes in consumer behaviour as a result of double digit inflation.More than ever before, she said the speed of settlement is coming out as something that is vitally important to customers making a claim.Karl Parr, claims technical and central services director of Axa, also shared during the podcast the impact the pinch in policyholder’s pockets is having for the insurer and how the provider is making sure people keep cover in place.During the podcast, Lashbrook and Parr also explore the regulator’s requirements for insurers to support policyholders in financial difficulty, whether there will be a shift to basic products for customers feeling the pinch and how to prevent an uptick in cancellation of cover. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining Scott McGee, Insurance Post news editor, and David Scott, Crif Decision Solutions’ sales consultancy manager, were Zelda Bentham, head of sustainability at Aviva, and Oleh Melnyk, head of procurement and property at Allianz, to explore some of the key challenges for the industry in meeting its responsibilities and ask what more can be done to ensure ESG is better understood, measured, and embedded across tomorrow’s insurance landscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Stephanie Denton, editor of Insurance Post, discusses data advancements and the customer experience with Martyn Mathews, director of telematics and motor for the UK & Ireland, Insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions.Among the topics the pair discuss are how insurers stay connected with vehicle owners and the effect on the customer experience; the need to be advanced driver assistance systems aware and what can be done to keep up with accelerated connected car data.Don’t forget to sign up to Post’s Motor and Mobility on the 15th June at Mercedes Benz World and to watch out for future episodes of the Motor Mouth.To get more information about Motor and Mobility and to sign up to attend today please click here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast Jonathan Swift, content director at Insurance Post, discusses the future of telematics and connected vehicles with Paul Stacy, the global sales director at IMS.Among the topics they discuss are whether 20 years after Norwich Union first begun black box trials in the UK, if telematics is finally at a tipping point in terms of mainstream acceptance?And if it has made a break through where will connected vehicle insurance go next?To get more information about Motor and Mobility and to sign up to attend today please click here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Insurance Post content director Jonathan Swift discusses the growth of electric vehicles and the news risks and claims scenarios they pose to insurance companies.Joining him for the conversation are:Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer, Thatcham ResearchChris Moore, head of Ibott, Apollo SyndicateTo get more information about Motor and Mobility and to sign up to attend today please click here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second episode, Post content director Jonathan Swift is joined by Sara Costantini, managing director of Crif Decision Solutions and Jonathan Valentine, the founder and chief technology office of Thingco and Insurtech UK board member.Among the topics under discussion are the benefits and competitive advantages insurance companies could derive from using Open Banking, and the dangers of being left behind. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode, Post content director Jonathan Swift is joined by Sara Costantini, managing director of Crif Decision Solutions ,to discuss the findings of a recent survey, as well as obstacles to its greater use by insurers, managing general agents, and brokers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Post content director Jonathan Swift is joined by LV claims director Martin Milliner and Carpenters Group director Donna Scully, pictured, to discuss what needs to be done to raise awareness in the OIC Portal and the insurance sector’s role in doing this.The trio also chat about what advice they would give those that run the OIC portal to help it meet its aims - and how optimistic they are that these will be achieved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Post content director Jonathan Swift is joined by LV claims director Martin Milliner, pictured, and Carpenters Group director Donna Scully to discuss whether the number of unrepresented claimants [4331] is line with what was expected, and what the data tells us about the future direction in terms of claims including an uplift for exceptional injury and circumstances.The trio also chat about why so few claims [436] had been settled by the end of September, whether it has been a success and the panel’s views on what has surprised them the most during the first three months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Focusing on the over-riding question: ‘How would the insurance industry respond to a repeat of the 1987 Great Storm?’ in this episode we will reflect on response planning in light of the proposed requirements to strengthen operational resilience in the financial services sector, which are due to come into force on 31 March 2022.Joining Insurance Post content director Jonathan Swift to discuss this we have:Karl Parr, claims technical services director, AxaMatt Brady, group managing director, Claims Consortium Group Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Focusing on the over-riding question: ‘How would the insurance industry respond to a repeat of the 1987 Great Storm?’ in this episode we look at the advantages the insurance sector would have today; and on flipside the areas where it might be tested more than it was almost 25 years ago.Joining Insurance Post content director Jonathan Swift to discuss this we have:Karl Parr, claims technical services director, AxaMatt Brady, group managing director, Claims Consortium GroupWatch out for Part Two tomorrow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Insurance Post recently conducted a survey to get an overview on motor pricing trends and the impact the current economic climate has had on consumer behaviour.The results of this have just been published but to get a deeper understanding of the findings and trends Post content director Jonathan Swift sat down with Consumer Intelligence founder and CEO Ian Hughes and LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ senior director of personal lines (motor, household, telematics and connected car) Martyn Mathews to discuss some of the themes the research teased out.In this, the second of two podcasts the trio focus on data enrichment; how aggregators might evolve; and what insurers need to do with their pricing strategies to remain competitive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.