Zurich’s head of claims wants the firm to work more closely with its reinsurers

Insurers would benefit from forming deeper relationships with their reinsurers, working increasingly collaboratively as opposed to having a largely transactional arrangement, according to Ian Thompson, the group chief claims officer of Zurich Insurance Group.

Speaking a year on from taking reins as head of claims in October 2018, Thompson said one of his goals was to move the company’s relationship with its reinsurers beyond being focused on risk transfer.

“Since I started last year, I have been working with some of our biggest reinsurers to explore how we can work more closely together.

“It is very clear that claims will be made and that needs to work but I also want to look at sharing insights and non-personal data and helping each other towards a greater understanding of emerging risks,” Thompson said.

“Reinsurers face exactly the same challenges as we do; they also have access to excellent expertise and technical capabilities, so it makes sense to develop a more collaborative approach.”

He makes the point that reinsurers and insurers are collaborating well in other areas, such as the B3i blockchain initiative, which is designed to lower the administrative costs around doing business for insurers and reinsurers alike. He would like to see similar initiatives emerge on the claims side.

Zurich’s global claims function has around 9,000 staff—some 20 percent of the insurer’s entire workforce. Thompson stresses that the claims landscape for insurers is in a period of transition driven by new technology creating cost efficiencies and a more streamlined process.

The insurer has invested heavily in such technology, Thompson said. For instance, it is collaborating with US insurtech company Snapsheet, which has developed a virtual claims technology for the personal and commercial insurance marketplace.

In the UK, it has developed a chatbot that offers customers an alternative way to liaise with the company.

“It is about giving our customers what they want. That involves being agile, innovative and flexible while offering excellent customer service. We firmly believe that having a top-quality claims service can become a differentiator for us as a business.

“We are investing heavily to make sure customers get the best possible experience when they deal with us on a claim,” he said.

A significant proportion of the seven million claims Zurich receives globally are commercial claims. Some of the technology it is investing in may seem more suited to the retail side of its business, but Thompson stresses that the company does not differentiate.

“Whether you are talking to the end customer on the retail side, or the owner of an SME, or a risk manager—you are still dealing with a person and they just want good customer service and a speedy response,” he said.

He added that the company has been working hard to dispel some of the myths around what the introduction of technology would do on the claims side. The idea that it would purely mean job losses has been incorrect—rather, it is complementing and enhancing the roles of staff.

“Instead of only bringing a reduction in claims roles, technology such as automation and digitisation is augmenting individuals’ roles and helping them do their jobs better,” he said.

“It means we are acquiring a more highly skilled workforce. We are recruiting people with data science skills, engineers, lawyers. We need more highly skilled problem-solvers who can help with our customers’ problems.”

Linked to this, the insurer has a strong commitment to innovation. It has numerous initiatives to promote and champion innovation within the company and to ensure that different parts of the business share ideas.

“From working with startups to driving innovation internally, we understand that innovation needs to be central to our approach as we look to build the Zurich of the future,” he said.