Month: August 2023

In today’s digital world, the long and tedious insurance referral processes advisers were traditionally used to have been long been forgotten about.

If you’re not offering GI, then referring to insurtech businesses will be a seamless, digital solution that enhances your own value proposition, here’s why…

Digital-first for digitally minded clients

Technological advances in this space mean referrals are a seamless extension of our partners’ businesses and they’re proving to be the solution for many who want to keep hold of the customer without doing the leg work.   

Referrals take as little as 30 seconds via a quick online form fill and from there on in, communications are delivered digitally to clients meaning customers are able to buy their cover at their convenience through a simplified journey than can be completed in under a minute – significantly quicker than the price comparison sites they may be used to.

Transparent, accessible and hassle-free

Historically, advisers lost sight of a referral once submitted but there’s now full transparency of what stage referrals are at through real time updates that show events down to the granular level of attempting to reach a customer.

And today’s online platforms provide clients with easy access to comprehensive policy details, coverage options, and pricing information, allowing them to make informed decisions so they get the coverage they need without any hassle.

Your partner is responsible for GI compliance

The new Duty places increased emphasis on good customer outcomes. For GI, this means the customer has the right levels of cover, the right product and that any vulnerabilities have been properly addressed.  

Your referral partner becomes responsible for the compliance given they’re the ones offering the advice.

There’s more than just a monetary benefit  

Referrals to us have increased significantly in the last few months with many highlighting both the impending Duty and time restraints for doing so.  

And it’s not lost on our partners that by keeping a client’s insurance business they’re both retaining a valuable annual touchpoint as well as removing the need for them to take their data to price comparison websites where they will inevitably be then cross-sold parallel products. 

As a result, advisers are using easily tracked, fully personalised and seamlessly integrated referrals to boost today’s revenues and protect future business income by preventing the need for clients to go elsewhere with their data. 

Making sense of the changes can be complex but with The Duty coming into force on 31st July, we caught up with Uinsure’s Chief Governance Officer, Brionie Hemingway, who has helped to shed light on exactly what firms have been asked to do.

What worked well in preparation for Consumer Duty?

The Duty is very broad but breaking it down into manageable chunks and prioritising certain elements of the work was key for us but, in addition to that, it is invaluable to talk to partners about how you can support each other.

If you take the Fair Value Assessment as an example, it’s important to understand how each party in the chain – whether that be insurer, distributor or manufacturer – is supporting value and how they’re supporting customers’ financial objectives. Fair Value as an outcome, is a combination of efforts from all parties to joined up understanding is important. 

How do you demonstrate a customer outcome?

This is a bit of a holy grail within the industry and has typically been evidenced through the likes of NPS scores, as one example, but there can be a lot more to it.

I think it’s really important to use both qualitative and quantitative information, so you have in-depth data together with wide ranging case studies that support the consumer metrics to paint a collective picture. 

How do you continually prove fair value?

GI firms will already have grappled with fair value, but it is still a fundamental part of the new Consumer Duty; fair value isn’t the same thing as offering a rock bottom price though. It’s about reasonable remuneration for work done or service delivery. Price is one aspect of value, but quality of cover and accessibility of services are really relevant too. 

We believe assessing fair value involves a detailed process of weighing up the cost to serve and the utility of products versus the amount of money actually leaving the customer’s pocket.

Continuous holistic assessment is needed because factors like customer circumstances, technology and the wider market are changing all the time. Services like claims processes and access to useful add-ons are features that can add value, or just as easily detract value, so keeping on top of service provision fits right into the value assessment. 

Can you ever be fully compliant or is it an ongoing exercise?

This is a really important point. Every time new regulation or initiatives come into force, firms naturally spend a lot of energy getting ready for the ‘go live’ date and can then have something of drop off while other business priorities come back to the fore. 

With the new Consumer Duty, elements like the delivery of outcome are going to be very much an ongoing exercise and one that is always evolving as the industry itself changes and the technology we use continues to improve. 

The FCA has already made it clear that Consumer Duty will be an ongoing feature and we need to deliver a report to the board on an annual basis to evidence we are continuously meeting the standards. As a result, it should really form part of the fabric of all organisations from here on in – if it isn’t already.