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As experts in insurance recruitment in Ireland, it’s pretty important that we know what’s going on out there in the industry. Phelim Murray in Barden met an experienced leader in insurance recently to try and get their take as to what to expect in the industry over the coming years. Here’s what they said:
Where do you think the insurance industry is going? That’s simple. We’re moving towards a Services Company that happens to provide an insurance product. The service is what will be value-creating; the insurance product, for the most part, will become the commodity. Insurance is a very mature market – it’s going to be close to impossible to take market share in the future. The game is creating customer value through services. Those that do will win.
What will this mean for the industry? Quite simply it means that the industry is evolving towards more customer-centric decision making and stakeholder, rather than shareholder, value creation. This will mean great things for the customer but it will challenge the norms of many of the larger established players. Legacy systems are going to be a big problem. With sunk costs in developing, deploying and maintaining same, it’s going to take huge investment (and write-offs) for companies to be ready for what the customer of tomorrow will expect.
What will becoming a services company really involve? It will involve becoming “stickier” with the customer. With low frequency, low engagement products (like perhaps life insurance) that’s going to be a challenge. With high frequency. high engagement products (like perhaps car insurance) it’s going to be easier. It means companies investing more in the digital experience, more into data for bespoke services/products and more into good people to drive the human to human experience.
Later in the conversation, we asked some trickier questions. Why are premiums rising and claims dropping in some markets? When, if ever, is it better for the insurer to settle a claim quickly? AND Why do some claims take so long to sort out? Keep an eye out for these and other insights as to what exactly is happening out there right now….Off the record; By Barden.
(PS – if you have a qualified opinion you’d like to share let us know as we’ll be looking for more Off the Record interviews over the coming year on the topics that are hot and perhaps a little controversial out there in Insurance)