As Ageas comes of age, new broom Steve Casey reveals to Paul Robertson his hopes for providers' future.
“Actually, this is a ‘must do’ if we are to reduce the cost of the operating base.”
Of course, the biggest potential change is through the pensions arena. As recent online interviews with COVER have illustrated, providers are keen to integrate protection into the systems that firms will find necessary to implement as a consequence of offering workplace pensions.
In fact, employee benefits adviser Enrich has recently just made such a system available as a service to its SME clients; a system just requiring providers technical and reporting integration. Would Ageas be interested in this scenario?
“Absolutely. We feel technology is one of our unique selling points. We don’t run with backlogs, we don’t like backlogs and do everything we can to eliminate them. The use of technology thus becomes absolutely key for us.”
Casey may have come to expect good things from technology, his previous two employers being Friends Life and Bupa Protect, both with up-to-date systems themselves, rather than the creaky lash-ups some providers have still installed.
But, as an old protection hand, he is certainly not used to the attitudes and work practices of the general insurance market, which is streets ahead in ease of selling to the public. Casey is nevertheless keen to see crossover.
“Ageas is nimble and willing to try stuff. The introduction of Real Life cover three years ago is an example. The GI approach to insurance is the way forward for protection markets. You should always be looking at other markets, other sectors, to find things you can learn from. We as a life industry can learn a lot from that market.”
Of course, Real Life cover and Low Start are fine products, but have they been a success? Casey is forbidden to discuss sales and performance in detail, but it is no secret these products are not selling well and that the market has failed to follow suit with similar products from other providers.
So why is this? Is it advisers stifling this market with no taste for the new? Casey’s view is that it is all down to the sad fact that people will take the line of least resistance.
“When you have innovative products you also need to think of ways to get them to the market in a way that the intermediaries will understand, and then use them.
“Real life cover is a good example. As it is unique in the market there is nothing to compare it against, but the ease of understanding the product is also a factor. It is not helped by the fact, for example, that it does not appear on the aggregator sites.”
“We have to have a good look at new ways of getting these products to market. I think affinity groups represent a tremendous opportunity, whether they be a union or a social group with a common view on something, they represent a way forward. If you have a product and are selling a product that they actually want, through these groups, they become your ambassadors and your marketing effectively goes viral.”
While sales are always good, it is actually in the claims area that ambitions lie. Ageas believes it can do a lot more, be it, as Casey explains, a critical illness claim or even dealing with bereaved families after a death claim.
“An analogy I like to illustrate this is the AA. When your car breaks down and the AA turns up, they don’t just give you a check and then disappear; they try to fix your car and try to assist you. I would like us to take this approach for Ageas policyholders, especially on the individual side.”
It seems 2013 will be a busy year for Ageas and Casey. Once the “celebrating internally” is over, the hangovers have cleared and the broken furniture repaired, we can expect interesting times in the next year or so.
