Reinsurance firm, Swiss Re, has flagged the importance of delivering more customer-focused solutions in order to address the underinsurance dilemma in Australia.
Swiss Re’s Head of Life and Health, Australia and NZ, Helen Troup, says she believes the best way to close the underinsurance gap is to place more emphasis on partnering with insurers to develop solutions for the end user of the products for which they assume the risk – the consumer.
Historically, reinsurance firms have not been perceived by the industry as embracing the consumer point of view; instead focusing on pricing structures, claims experience and key technical information provided to them by their life company clients. But Ms Troup suggests that, in order to address the underinsurance dilemma, reinsurers need to have a deeper understanding of what motivates the individual consumer. She told riskinfo that a closer, three-way, relationship between consumers, insurers and reinsurers can have a positive impact on the underinsurance gap, which would manifest itself, amongst other initiatives, in two key areas:
- More innovative, customer-focused product design
- New and/or enhanced delivery methods of life insurance products to policy owners and lives insured
this changing environment “… presents opportunities for the industry to deliver better ‘generational’ solutions…”
Ms Troup emphasised that the broader life insurance industry is undergoing fundamental change – impacted by new regulations, new technology and changing community attitudes. She says this changing environment “… presents opportunities for the industry to deliver better ‘generational’ solutions for different community sectors; from the younger, tech-savvy client through to the mature age consumer, who is seeking life insurance solutions that will more closely reflect their changing circumstances as they transition to retirement.”
Ms Troup will be speaking on the main platform at the 2013 FSC Life Insurance Conference, being held in Sydney on 21 March. She will be joined by Marc Lieberman – CEO of Metlife, and Duncan West – Executive General Manger of Insurance, MLC, in discussing the topic: ‘Transforming the industry to meet the needs of a new generation‘.
riskinfo will report key initiatives from Swiss Re and other reinsurance firms that reflect what may be the beginning of a new ‘conversation’ between reinsurers and consumers.
Reinsurers have a choice in dealing with the recent news about Australia: become harder to learn about, or become more accessible and service oriented than ever. While the former is less scary and time consuming, it will cost customer trust in the long run. I agree with Helen – training underwriters well, having a customer oriented focus, and communicating the value of reinsurance is how reinsurers will persevere and succeed in a market that may be unsure about them.
Comments are closed.