Modern Insurance Magazine Issue 60

More documents

Recommendations

Info

FEATURES A Final Word with Steve White Just hours after announcing his forthcoming retirement at this year’s BIBA Conference, Modern Insurance Magazine sat down with BIBA Chief Executive, Steve White, to discuss Next Gen talent, industry collaboration, and overcoming present-day challenges in the broker market. QHi Steve, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us today! The theme of this year’s Annual Conference is ‘Rising to the Challenge,’ in which speakers and insurance company representatives analyse how the industry has continued to positively respond to evolving political, economic and environmental headwinds. In light of this, how would you define the biggest challenges facing brokers and the wider broker market at the moment? AThanks Amelia, it’s great to be speaking with you today. We publish an annual manifesto which covers feedback from our members; they’re telling us what’s important and where their biggest challenges lie. Talent attraction certainly seems to be a key issue at present – everywhere we go, we’re being told that attracting talent is proving to be really difficult. Fifteen or twenty years ago, most towns had an independent insurance company on the high street, and brokers would often recruit through outreach. Since this changed, the broker market is really having to really focus on ‘growing our own’ – from the attraction of talent right through to the development and retention of staff, it’s absolutely a priority for us as a core sector of the insurance industry. heard from our members that customer service across the insurance arena had deteriorated somewhat post-pandemic; the hard market, staff shortages, and issues with trading platforms all seem to have been contributing factors. We went to Gracechurch in response to this, experts in surveying the quality of insurance service, and asked for help in both measuring and creating an industry service delivery standard. The measurement exercise is underway at the moment - we’ve had over 500 brokers respond to that – and the survey is an ongoing, living and breathing project. With this, we can measure how service is changing. What does ‘good’ look like? We’re reverting back to our members to ask this question, and their responses will form part of our output. QFantastic! Reverting back to your earlier point around talent acquisition challenges for a moment; what about Next Gen talent? How are BIBA helping to drive Next Gen recruitment in the sector? AI’ve always been a huge advocate for getting younger brokers involved. As we went out and about on our regional tour recently, we spoke to many young brokers about the length and breadth of what we do, and there’s always something that seems to spark an interest. from their peers as to why this is a great career path to take. Our Young Broker Ambassadors are such a diverse bunch, not just in the way they look but in the way they feel, the way they speak. We’re also looking at outreach in schools and colleges, looking beyond graduate programmes to gather more diversity of thought in our recruitment processes and leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to improve our wider diversity in this space. QAnd finally - in your opening speech this morning, you announced that you will be retiring from your role in the latter half of 2023. How do think BIBA will evolve moving forward, and how do you hope to see your legacy live on? ASteering the BIBA ship is a 24/7 job, and 10 years is certainly a long time to have been doing it! If you ask our members, I think they’d say we’re doing most things right. That being said, there’s always room for incremental improvement, and my successor will certainly need to take a helicopter view in order to look at BIBA’s present strengths and weaknesses. Social media has really flourished in the last decade; I identified that we had a great story to tell, and doubled the size of our Comms Team to guarantee that we told that story well. Your members need to understand and value what you do, and I’m delighted to see more people renewing their memberships year after year. We have firms queuing up to be associate members, and I’m just so proud of the team and the effort that they all continue to put in. Everything we do has to make our boat go quicker, and I have every faith that this mindset will continue at BIBA in the months and years to come. Steve White, Chief Executive, British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) Regulation is also a perennial and topical issue for members, especially this year where regulators seem to have been working an awful lot on our space. There comes a point where it becomes overwhelming; our members want to be compliant, but it’s so difficult for them to keep track of so many rule changes, especially principle-based rules where firms are expected to work things out for themselves. We need prescriptive rules – tell us what to do, and we will do it! QDo you have an example of how BIBA is collaborating with the wider industry in the face of these challenges? AThere’s such a lot of collaboration going on, which is great to see! Service is a great example. We Our regional broker engagement has become much younger, and we’ve now got several young regional Chairs. We’re also looking at how we can promote a career in insurance brokerage as a ‘destination’ career. Too many young people stumble into this, but we want them to actively choose it. We’re utilising our Young Broker Ambassadors as the focal point of a social media campaign, so prospective brokers can hear directly 30 | MODERN INSURANCE
EDITORIAL BOARD Rising to the Challenge Looking across the insurance industry and scanning the wider geopolitical horizon at the moment, it’s clear to see that our marketplace has never faced a greater array of challenges. Growing frequency and severity of events, rising loss complexity, expanding risk horizons, deepening supply-chain issues, acrossthe-board price hikes and an escalating energy crisis are just some of the developments fusing together to create one of the most turbulent claims environments in recent history. Our ability to face these issues is heavily reliant on the strength of the talent foundation underpinning the insurance sector. Much has been said about the war on talent that rages within the industry – particularly in the context of the community adjusting to a combination of ‘the Great Resignation’ and ‘the Grey Tsunami,’ both of which have created a skills shortfall. Our industry must commit to a process of talent futureproofing if we are to maintain and enhance our relevance in an ever more risk-exposed environment. At Crawford, we are adding breadth and depth to our talent pool by adopting a holistic approach to talent management, extending from new joiners right through to business leaders. Our approach is based around three key areas – creating a pipeline of talent, closing the skills gaps, and diversifying our workforce – all of which we believe make Crawford a great place to work. Over the last 18 months, we have integrated a multifaceted talent strategy based upon a comprehensive portfolio of development programmes. At ground level, our apprenticeship programme spans a series of training, networking and support capabilities designed to immerse new joiners in the Crawford experience from day one. We also operate a values-led engagement and retention programme of training and resources to support every employee, both with regards to integration in their respective teams as well as the organisation at large. We want every member of the team to see themselves as part of Crawford’s long-term vision. Our talent programme is also a core component of our people, diversity and wellbeing strategies. We are committed to investing in the next generation of adjusters, focusing on increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and social mobility across new hires. This is no small challenge, especially with such a diverse spread of needs and motivations, but rest assured - it is certainly one that we are rising to. Lisa Bartlett, President, UK & Ireland, Crawford & Co. Resilience at RGI Solutions In response to challenging market conditions and dynamic customer demands, RGI Solutions has taken proactive steps to change and adapt the business model. Building resilience and staying ahead of the curve has been our key focus, and we have successfully accomplished this by making some necessary changes. Embracing technology and investing heavily in digitalisation is one strong example. In the height of the pandemic, we invested in online video and telephone interviewing platforms where statements were taken and signed digitally. We have also experienced greater efficiency when it comes to the claims cycle, and continue to use this technology wherever it is suitable. By leveraging technology and developing innovative solutions, we were also able to improve efficiency, streamline processes and enhance customer experience. With remote working and contactless service becoming the norm, we offered our clients the flexibility to access our services via our portal and ‘File View’ access, in order to demonstrate their claims journey in real time. We also realised the importance of partnerships and collaborations in creating a robust and sustainable business model. Hence, we established strong partnerships with various industry players, which has enabled us to tap into new markets, gaining access to resources and knowledge whilst strengthening our capabilities. In addition, we have emphasised the need for a flexible and agile approach to business, constantly adapting to the changing needs of the market. By adopting this approach, we have been able to diversify our product and service offerings, catering to different market segments and remaining relevant in an ever-changing business landscape. Finally, we have continued to invest in our people, empowering them with the skills and knowledge to thrive in an ever-changing business environment. By nurturing a culture of innovation and creativity, we have built a highly resilient workforce that can easily adapt and thrive in challenging times. The above measures have enabled us to create a business model that is agile and adaptable. As we continue to navigate through these challenging times, we are confident that our business model will stand the test of time, as it has done for over three decades. We will continue to serve our clients with the highest levels of professionalism and excellence that leans into our core values, to ‘provide integrity, reliability, insight, value and quality in everything we do’. Sarah Glenn, Commercial Director, RGI Solutions MODERN INSURANCE | 31
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 60 ISSN 2515-3803 Risky Busin
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME Hello readers, Welcome to I
Page 5 and 6: 8 12 14 17 33 30 32 43 45 47 48 Ins
Page 7 and 8: EUROPCAR NEW BRAND BLOCK Color grad
Page 9 and 10: INSIGHT These events openly challen
Page 11 and 12: INSIGHT THE NECESSARY ROLE OF INSUR
Page 13 and 14: INTERVIEWS Kirsten Mitchell-Wallace
Page 15 and 16: INTERVIEWS solutions, particularly
Page 17 and 18: EDITORIAL BOARD Supporting Vulnerab
Page 19: EDITORIAL BOARD Preparing for Clima
Page 22 and 23: Helping businesses make better deci
Page 25 and 26: EDITORIAL BOARD Steering our global
Page 27 and 28: EDITORIAL BOARD Paving the Way for
Page 29: EDITORIAL BOARD Our Response to Cat
Page 33 and 34: ASSOCIATIONS ASSEMBLE ASSOCIATIONS
Page 35 and 36: ASSOCIATIONS ASSEMBLE Sue Brown Tit
Page 37: ASSOCIATIONS ASSEMBLE Jonathan Scar
Page 41 and 42: ASSOCIATIONS ASSEMBLE Dr Matthew Co
Page 43 and 44: FEATURES Building Trust through Res
Page 45 and 46: FEATURES Making Efficiency Gains in
Page 47 and 48: FEATURES Chemistry for a Sustainabl
Page 49 and 50: FEATURES participants in the GTA mu
Page 51 and 52: ARTICLE 3 Mind the Protection Gap M
Page 53 and 54: FEATURES In Conversation with… So
Page 55: FEATURES A New Climate For Claims T
Page 58 and 59: The colourful way to be green. The
Page 60 and 61: MCA2023 Results INSURER OF THE YEAR
Page 62 and 63: MCA2023 “My highlight of the nigh
Page 65 and 66: INSURTECH INSUR. TECH. TALK MODERN
Page 67 and 68: INSURTECH CLARA Analytics CLARA Ana
Page 69 and 70: INSURTECH innovation, but given the
Page 71 and 72: Verisk insured. Hi Bill, great to s
Page 73: INSURTECH EDITORIAL BOARD WELCOME t
Page 77: INSURTECH Catastrophe and Climate:
Page 81 and 82:
INSURTECH André Symes, Group CEO,
show all

Modern Insurance Magazine Issue 60

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?