Mutual & Federal ensures its broker force is highly efficient and can compete with other distribution channels

Technology and the extensive choice of products that is available to consumers have made the short-term insurance Personal Lines market highly competitive. Consumers can now access channels such as the Internet in order to take out personal insurance cover.

These developments have meant that brokers and insurers who service short-term insurance clients need to dramatically improve service levels in order to compete effectively in a more competitive market.

“The broker remains a key player in the short-term insurance industry. There will always be many customers who wish to have personal advice on their cover needs; use the broker to take out the hassle factor and for expertise on the more complex risks as well as assistance with any claims”, says Caroline da Silva, executive general manager for Sales and Marketing at Mutual & Federal. “However, to compete effectively, the broker must be able to offer a service that is on par with the turnaround times of competing channels.”

To ensure its brokers maintain a competitive advantage in the industry, using state of the art telephony and technology, Mutual & Federal has launched its Broker Service Centre to support its Personal Lines business.

Da Silva describes this as an ‘end-to-end’ or ‘one-call resolution’ service that supports intermediaries across the board. “It can be used for new business sales and risk ratings, administration relating to endorsements and adjustments to existing policies, as well as the registering and tracking of claims. “Through a dedicated support team and highly efficient paperless processes, brokers can be fully assisted in a matter of minutes. This is as close to ‘just-in-time’ as is possible.”

While clients want issues such as quotes, contracts, premium payments and amendments to be dealt with smoothly and quickly, equally important is the service they receive when submitting a claim. Da Silva explains the capabilities of the Broker Service Centre with regard to this important aspect of cover. “Through the Service Centre, the broker can perform a first notification of loss, immediately receiving a claims number on registration of the claim. It is a priority to ensure that the claim is formally registered into the system and can be tracked every step of the way. Clients need to know their claims have not gone into some administrative black hole and aren’t being pushed around from department to department without being accurately monitored at every stage.”

Da Silva also highlights that the claims notification initiation is linked to several other consequential procedures - such as notification of emergency services and the initiation of the assessment stage. “This means the majority of issues relevant to a claim are activated immediately, and all the customer-facing issues are dealt with at once. The technical subject matter experts in our Claims Centres can then kick into operation and get the claim settled. For fast track claims which are within certain limits, and the loss event is clear and simple, these can be settled very quickly using the Service Centre facility.”

Da Silva highlights that in addition to the Broker Service Centre, Mutual & Federal offers intermediaries the mf online facility as a self service solution which allows them to manage client enquiries and monitor their portfolios online. There are also straight-through processing facilities which enable brokers to make policy endorsements themselves, instead of using the service centre.

Over the next 12 months, Mutual & Federal will be reallocating its personal lines business that is not on mf online or outsourced, from its extensive national sales branch network to the Broker Service Centre. “However, certain functionalities will not be transferred” notes Da Silva. “For example, broker portfolio management in which brokers can evaluate and measure the growth of their books, track their loss - and conversion ratios and explore risk management solutions, will remain at sales office level. Claims expertise for more complex issues will stay with our regional claims hubs.”

We are following a clinical approach with our transition plan and our brokers will be informed of their specific movement date by means of on-boarding sessions and/or formal communications.

All calls to the Broker Service Centre are recorded. After each interaction the broker can rate the level of service received. In addition to standard rankings, the broker has the option to leave a personal audio message on the quality of service. Any poor ratings are immediately escalated to receive urgent priority. In excess of 95% of the broker feedback on the Service Centre has been extremely positive and we are proud of this exceptional rating.

“The broker can no longer afford to be perceived as a middle man who does not add value” says Da Silva. “Through effective technology, we are enabling this traditional intermediary channel to provide service levels comparable to those of the other channels including direct. This means brokers, and hence policyholders are effectively getting a form of self-service, with quick turnaround times – and customers further benefit from broker expert advice based on years of experience and specialist training.”

Mutual & Federal is a member of the Old Mutual Group.