Modern Insurance Magazine Issue 62

EDITORIAL BOARD
BASF UK x STEM:
Curiosity and Creativity
Earlier this year, young learners at St Matthew’s
Primary School, Stockport enjoyed a week of
science-based experiences and experiments,
supported by a team of volunteers from BASF,
the world’s largest chemical company.
Throughout the week, 27 BASF STEM Ambassadors hosted 11
interactive sessions, bringing the breadth of science to life, and asking
the children to consider what it is to be a scientist. The activities on
offer aimed to stimulate an interest in science, fostering curiosity and
creativity.
Highlights included worm-charming to investigate soil health,
designing innovative car colours through BASF Colour Lab, learning
how drones work, creating an indoor planetarium, and exploring food
technology by making chocolate mousse!
It was great to see all the pupils at St Matthew’s Primary School get
involved in STEM week. Year on year, we see just how vital it is for
us to do our part within the community in order to inspire the next
generation of painters. The activities we ran this year have STEM
learning at their heart, ultimately designed to encourage pupils to
be inquisitive about the world around them. It was amazing to see
so many pupils join in, asking questions about different colour mixes
and quizzing the volunteers to see what inspired them to work in our
industry in the first place.
We also took the opportunity to select the most inimitable of the
custom colours mixed by the pupils, and brought their designs to life
using our all new Glasurit 100 Line basecoat line. Sustainable initiatives
add value to our brand, so when brands like Glasurit showcase its
innovations - and in a way that can be adapted to suit a young
audience - it signals to future painters and prospects that we care.
Clearly, for us, sustainability is far more than just ‘going green’. When
even the next generation of painters are on board, that’s what success
looks like for us.
“A week like this has a massive impact on our pupils,” commented
Faye Garner, Science Lead at St Matthew’s Primary School. “They get
to experience things they normally wouldn’t, and the BASF STEM
ambassadors have been inspirational.”
The relationship with St Matthew’s Primary School will continue, as the
BASF STEM Ambassadors are keen to support science learning and
help the school to redevelop their outdoor garden space.
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future.
Dr. Natalie Wong,
Marketing & Portfolio Management Lead,
BASF Automotive Refinish UK & Ireland
Has the ‘as-a-Service’ trend
arrived in the claims industry?
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) hit the big time
in the early 2000s, and since then, the ‘as-a-
Service’ model has made its way into many other
industries. ‘As-a-Service’ is a tried and tested
way of providing a flexible service offering. It’s
a scalable solution that reduces initial outlay,
allowing businesses and individuals to draw on a
service as and when they need it.
It’s extremely common in the software space. You’ve probably
heard of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), which aims to bring multiple
transport options together on a single platform.
In the insurance industry, there’s a growing interest in ‘Claims-as-a-
Service’ - on demand access to services like FNOL and third-party
intervention. This allows insurers and MGAs to effectively handle
peaks in demand, or bolster in-house capacity without investing
in additional, permanent resources. Advances in technology and
system connectivity mean that more businesses can take advantage
of flexible, outsourced services as part of their claims strategy. The
benefit is the ability to scale services quickly, and deliver great
outcomes at the point of claim.
Could ‘as-a-Service’ solutions be used in other areas of the claims
supply chain?
In motor claims, long-term challenges - including a shortage of
repair capacity and parts delays - are placing traditional vehicle
repair strategies under pressure. According to Trend Tracker’s Market
Snapshot Report, available repair capacity has fallen, while demand
for vehicle repairs increased by 23% over the last 12 months.
To counter these challenges, insurers need a more dynamic repair
solution, one that complements their existing capabilities. Repair-as-a-
Service could very well be the answer - a solution that offers insurers
direct access to vehicle repair slots, with no minimum deployment
required. The flexibility to deploy as many or as few vehicles as needed
to a repairer at any time, in any location, and at varying levels as
demand fluctuates.
It’s an offering with the potential to support insurers in relieving repair
backlogs that are affecting certain location or vehicle types, or as
overflow to support day-to-day operations. Like other ‘as-a-Service’
offerings, Repair-as-a-Service includes value-added options like
engineering, triage, and repair management, which can also be utilised
on demand. This allows insurers to pick and choose the services they
need most, creating a repair partnership that works for them and
adapts to their changing requirements.
Repair-as-a-Service could address anything, from straightforward
overflow capacity to a fully-fledged accident management partnership
that encompasses the whole repair management process. When we
look at the challenges facing the motor claims industry, it seems clear
that increased flexibility could offer significant benefits.
‘As-a-Service’ models can be a fantastic tool when developing a claims
strategy, and a real benefit in building a robust repair solution to
reduce repair times and hire costs.
Head to activate-group.com/repair-as-a-service if you want to find out
more.
Lorna Turner,
Director of Business Development, Activate Group
MODERN INSURANCE | 23