Sustainability Report 2012 - Generali Versicherung AG

Change in number of claims2009-20122010/20093.3%2011/2010 2012/2011-1.9% -1.4%In 2012, Group companies received over 9.4 million claims, witha decrease of 1.4% compared to 2011. A marked decrease inclaims reported was recorded in Italy (-13.2%).The distribution of claims reported in different countries showsa concentration in Germany (39.8%), Spain (19.5%) and Italy(16.6%).In 2012, the Group settled more than 8.8 million claims (-1.7%compared to 2011), paying out a total in excess of 10.7 billioneuros (-4.1% compared to 2011). Only a portion of claims paidwere reported during the year under review, while the remainderrefers to claims filed in previous years.37.5% of claims were reported via call centres with a decrease inthe overall share of 1.4% compared to 2011. This communicationmethod is particularly strong in Spain, where 99.1% of all claimsare reported by telephone.Speed of settling motor claims2011 2012Italy 70.3% 71.2%Austria 73.4% 73.8%Czech Republic 79.6% 82.1%France 58.3% 63.4%Germany 81.8% 82.1%Spain 71.5% 71.3%Switzerland 80.9% 81.5%One of the main factors affecting client/injured-partysatisfaction at the time of claim settlement is the timetaken to receive compensation. The table shows thepercentage of claims reported and not cancelledduring the year, which were settled in the same year.The percentage recorded in the year under reviewis an indicator of the time taken to handle claimsthrough to settlement with the associated payout to thepolicyholder/injured-party. For the first time, the indicatorhas been calculated consistently for both years and for allcountries, i.e. using claims data from all motor insurancetypes: third-party insurance and other guaranteessuch as fire, theft, collision, fully comprehensive, etc..The direct companies (Genertel and CosmosDirekt) havenot been included in the calculation and only ČeskáPojišt'ovna is included for the Czech Republic.The overall settlement rate has improved, particularly inFrance (+5.1 percentage points) and the Czech Republic(+2.5 percentage points). All countries recorded animprovement with the exception of Spain, due to greatercaution in claims management given the increase inspeculation and fraud as a result of the current crisis.The settlement rate has improved for the followingreasons:• more efficient IT procedures and/or the strengtheningof centralized management (Italy, France, the CzechRepublic);• more stringent use of cash settlements, i.e. thepayment of claims based on the estimate provided bya company or third-party assessor, or a company orauthorised third-party body shop (Austria, Germany,the Czech Republic);• stronger active claims management strategies,such as the Garantie 7 service in Switzerland whichguarantees that claims will be paid within 7 days fromthe date on which the company has received all ofthe necessary information and documents, and theGo for 100 initiative in Germany, aimed at reducingrepair costs and improving service to clients throughpartnership agreements with authorized body shopsand companies specializing in windscreen repair andreplacement;• increased number of fully comprehensive policyholdersin Italy and related claims, the management of which isgenerally is more efficient, which mitigates the increasedtime taken to settle injury claims, the instrumental proofof which has recently been made compulsory by law;• the reorganization of claims in France in the lastquarter of 2012, which has allowed the identification ofpractices ready for settlement.For a proper evaluation of the settlement efficiency ofthe various companies in the different countries, moreprecise data on the nature of the risks insured across thevarious business lines (not currently available) would benecessary along with the types of claims to be settled,which would require a potentially lengthy technicalassessment of the injury suffered.100 | Assicurazioni Generali - Sustainability Report 2012