PRODUCED BY:
SPONSORED BY:
INTERVIEW WITH
David Fineberg
Head of Claims UK
Innovating Insurance: Understanding Emerging Risks in an Uncertain World
What changes have you seen in customer expectations since the pandemic, and what do you think is driving them?
Every customer wants speed and accuracy, but this is really the bare minimum. Once those fundamental needs are met, organisations are looking for a combination of innovation and technical excellence that will deliver differentiated services through better data, insights and information flow.
Our priority must be raising awareness of the organisation by communicating a compelling vision of what we do, and what the future looks like for the customer’s organisation and our own.
To achieve this, we have consulted with internal and external stakeholders and used those insights to build a series of strategic pillars. They include: having a motivated team, providing a market-leading service and differentiating our business. We also created a tool that asks people to consider the activity they are engaged in, and how they might improve the outcome of that activity to differentiate the business. That might mean implementing a process enhancement or attending a conference, or sharing some knowledge. It is essential that people are focused on driving the strategy of innovation.
Our priority must be to make people aware of the organisation we have, by being visible, and providing them with a compelling vision about what we do, and what the future looks like for their organisation, not just ours.
Having a team that blends diverse education backgrounds, levels of talent, levels of education means you have different ideas, different ways of communicating, and that drives more innovation.
When it comes to the insurance sector, what helps organisations to differentiate themselves through their people?
I’ve worked in insurance for many years and many of the people working in our industry have similar qualifications, experiences and perspectives. When everyone in a team has spent the same time at university gaining the same insurance qualifications, it’s more challenging to drive innovation and differentiation.
As a sector, it’s essential that we overcome our preconceived ideas of what a successful team looks like. I have realised that we benefit enormously from having people on the team who might not have attended university or have formal qualifications, but who have experience and skills that help our team to make a difference.
Organisations can’t differentiate themselves effectively if everyone is talking the same language and there is no diversity in voices and perspectives. Having a team that blends diverse educational backgrounds and levels of talent results in a broader range of ideas and communication styles that, in turn, drives innovation.
What else can insurance leaders do to increase the rate of innovation?
There is a widely held view that the insurance industry isn’t innovative, but it is more accurate to say there is a lack of funding. We can’t afford to emulate the innovation, speed and service offered by the biggest retail brands, whether that’s a high street bank or Amazon.
The insurance industry operates in a very different environment to retailers. Consumers might visit a retailer once a week or every month, buying similar items of a similar value on each visit. Insurers have customers making thousands of claims a year, which are rarely homogeneous. As a result, we often provide one-to-one service and my observation is that customers still expect this to be provided.
If you want to be a serious player in this business, you need to be available for in-person communication. In insurance, customer perception is critical, and that demands in-person contact and people with effective communication skills. To succeed, we must remain visible and in contact, to build positive perceptions.
However, innovation is being driven in the data, the information, and the knowledge sharing. There is enormous potential in shared data models, and improved processes that allow us to surface knowledge from legacy IT systems, and drive differentiation. That is where innovation can make a difference and drive real value to our organisation.
I see a lot of potential in shared data models, and improved processes that allow us to surface knowledge from legacy IT systems, and drive differentiation.
David Fineberg
Chief Underwriting Officer
Generali