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A bold new step

07 June 2018 Jonathan Faurie

Innovation has been a key ingredient success of doing business in the past, especially when it comes to risk mitigation. Clients of today are looking to do business with insurers who are innovative in the way that they approach risks and, in the way, that they design their products.

This innovation was the starting point for the development of the Discovery Business Insurance offering. Zuriel Naicker, Executive Head of Business Insurance at Discovery, said that the company will be taking a different approach when it comes to business insurance. He describes this new approach as MultimarkX. 

Holistic view

MultimarkX will take a holistic view when it comes to risk mitigation and will include technology and business tools such as telematics, drones, smart devises, thermal imaging, mobile risk assessment tools and business diagnostic tools. 

MultimarkX cover includes property cover, accident cover, motor insurance and liability insurance. It will also cover cyber risks and social media and includes crisis and reputation management. Additionally, it will cover legal expenses.

 Cybercrime and reputation management over social media has been a key business risk that has surfaced over the past two years. Because of this, Discovery has identified liability insurance as a key pillar to its business insurance offering. 

Liability cover

As with all liability products, Discovery Business Insurance will protect companies against losses due to being legally liable to pay third party compensation because of actions or negligence or the actions of those acting on behalf of the business. 

Crisis and reputation cover are also important risks covered by the product. 

This will provide clients with cover in the event of a crisis that might jeopardise the reputation of their business. Clients will have access to a 24 hour (seven days a week) reputational specialist who will provide the client with a full response strategy following a crisis. Basic cover of R50 000 is automatically provided upon selection at no additional cost. 

Customised risk management

A central part of Discovery’s customised risk management is that assessments are done by engineers who use technology to compile comprehensive reports. 

When carrying out these assessments, engineers will use advanced technology such as drones, smart glasses and thermal imaging. Discovery points out that the advantages of this are that drone technology allows for an aerial view of the building and thermal imaging allows engineers to detect hidden electrical faults. 

In addition, smart glasses technology facilitates the real time collection of risk information and live analysis by engineers. 

Businesses who do not need a risk assessment performed at their premises need to complete an online self-assessment tool. Discovery points out that this tool is easily accessible on a mobile devise, laptop or desktop computer. 

Looking towards the future

Naicker said that business insurance was always on Discovery’s radar and that the company needed to refine their business model before offering it to what he calls a key business sector. 

“Telematics and managing behaviour will be key elements in our business insurance offering. We needed to make sure that it worked well and would be something that would add value to our business insurance offering. It has addressed a number of issues in the personal lines space, so hopefully it will do the same in the commercial space,” said Naicker. 

Diversification is key

As the financial services industry pushed forward into an era where changes are common place, diversification has been a business tactic that has seen insurers grow immensely in the eyes of their clients. 

Several industry commentators have spoken extensively about the advantages of diversification and growing in this way has allowed insurers to cope with challenges such as the growth of direct insurance, regulatory reform and the changes posed by the growth of Fintech. 

Further, adopting some of these challenges into product offerings shows that companies are early adopters of change and puts them in prime position to address clients needs. 

Editor’s Thoughts:
Innovation is key when it comes to risk mitigation. Insurers need to provide products to clients that cover the widest range of risks possible while being flexible enough to cater towards the needs of clients. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts jonathan@fanews.co.za.

 

Comments

Added by kenny, 07 Jun 2018
Definitely the way of the future. I expect them to take up a lot of slack in this space.
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