AMC International hosted their Excellence in Insurance Claims and Underwriting Conference 2014 on Monday, 24 March, which was an intimate affair with a vast international panel. Representative from local companies Zurich Insurance, SASRIA, and Old Mutual iWyze SA and delegates from Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Swaziland, and Kenya, discussed pertinent issues that affect insurance and underwriting in South Africa and beyond our borders.
Marietjie Botes, attorney at Dyason Inc, opened the discussions. “Change is the spice of life,” she said, and the purpose of the conference was for people to learn from each other how to handle these changes.
Themba Sibiya from Sasria quoted Elvis Presley, “When things go wrong, don’t go wrong with them.” Sibiya said the Sasria he walked into five years ago has undergone dramatic changes. “Through education and training we’ve improved our efficiency, skills and systems.” The claims department is the window to an organisation, and it’s important to have a policy on handling claims and to reduce gray areas.
Sibiya stressed the importance of communication. He said that underwriters and product developers need to speak to claims managers before a product is launched, to analyse the warranties and policies before they go out. He said the risks of not investing in people are high staff turnovers, staff searching for greener pastures, and increased cost of labour. He spoke about the importance of mentors in the business, and how they improve performance.
Marietjie Botes, an attorney at Dyosan Inc, spoke about the practical implementation of SAM, or Solvency Asset Management. She defined SAM as a regime for insurers and reinsurers to ensure capital adequacy, risk governance and risk disclosure. Botes discussed the purpose of SAM, then placed SAM within the current regulatory framework, and spoke about IT governance as risk mitigator.
Directing IT, said Botes, should align with the business strategy, and controlling IT should form part of the company’s overall risk management process. Botes concluded with a look at POPI (Protection of Personal Information Act) and how it affects the insurance landscape.
OneLaw’s Arnoud van den Bout spoke about recoveries against uninsured third parties. There were 900, 000 car accidents in 2012 to the value of R16bn, he said, but only 30% of all people on the road have insurance. A Kenyan member of the audience was surprised that South Africans don’t have compulsory road insurance.
Van den Bout said there are two options to collect debt: soft collection – a friendly call reminding debtors to pay – and legal collection, which warrants an execution. He concluded by advising insurers to make strategic partnerships with legal collectors.
Gordon Stanton from Resolution Life explored opportunities to reduce claims and operation costs. He said that fraud is often only identified many years after it has happened, typically during the claims process. He said it is vital important to make sure that information like date of birth or declaration of death is correct, and this should not only in the claims department, but right at the start when data is collected. “You guys are what makes the business succeed in claims,” he told the audience, whom he advised to stay vigilant with regards to fraudulent information.
Rejoice Madiya from Zurich Insurance ended the first day of the conference with her discussion on improving customer services by enhancing core claims processes and technology. She said the consequences of treating customers unfairly are felt years later after transacting, at the claims stage. She said TCF (Treating Customers Fairly) affects every customer at each contact point. “TCF is no longer about compliance, but about how we do things, our way of doing business, our culture,” said Madiya. The claims stage she dubbed the “moment of truth” where the insurer delivers on his promise to pay. She said most customers are concerned their insurers will not pay.
“We need constant evaluation to ensure we remain relevant to our customers to provide the services they expect,” she said. “Unless an organisation is customer focused it’s easy to lose sight of the personal dimension.”
She agreed with Sibiya about the importance of communication. “Sharing data and claims history between the underwriter, marketer and product developer helps drive the company’s top and bottom line,” she said.
Madiya said technology continues to impact the way customers want to engage and communicate, and shared the findings of a recent survey: customers want technology to enhance administration, interaction, and faster claims processing.
Photograph: AMC International Senior Project Manager, Matshego Njumbuxa (left) with Rejoice Madiya, Property Claims Technical Leader at Zurich Insurance (right). Njumbuxa organised the two-day seminar. For pictures of day one, visit our Facebook page.