Claims - 29% of risk managers lack confidence in insurers

More than a quarter of risk managers, 29%, lack confidence in their insurers, according to a survey published at the recent London market claims conference. Just 13% said they had a high level of confidence.

The majority of risk managers identified poor communications as the culprit when claims go wrong, according to the report by Gracechurch. Many said that this was due to having a number of separate links in the chain between the insured and the underwriter so that, when the different parties fail to talk to one another, the contact with the customer is lost.

Deputy chairman Patrick Smith and board member Nicola Harvey, two of four Airmic speakers at the event, agreed that communication between underwriter and buyers was a key issue, as was the quality of work pre-placement. “A bit more work up front might make life a lot easier later on,” said Smith. He said it was helpful to see the claims process as a supply chain potentially involving many different stakeholders, all of whom need to work effectively together to produce the right result and insurers’ willingness to pay remains important to the claims outcomes.

He highlighted another finding of the research, that only 26% of those buyers questioned said that an insurer’s claims proposition had a high level of influence on their choice of cover provider. “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten,” he said. “Ultimately, the completeness and certainty of cover at the outset is vital if post-claim issues are to be avoided; whatever the quality of claims protocols that are designed”

Harvey commented: “My main observation is that for the industry to get any proper solutions in place there needs to be engagement between the underwriting community and clients, both of whom were noticeable by their absence from the conference. There were seemingly no underwriters at all, and only about four client representatives.”