The need to overhaul Underwriting and Claim processes was driven by mounting losses
Opportunities faced were:
Mounting losses could not longer be sustained
Claims management was rated as the worst seen by the Reinsurer
High levels of new business in suspense were not converting into sales
Poor feedback from customers driven by delays in completing new business
High staff turnover and difficulty in recruiting talented new staff
The legacy of failure of previous attempts
The immediate imperative was to rally the group around the opportunities faced, securing the public support from the Executive driving the imperative to change
A portfolio of initiatives was soon launched with the following outcomes
Improving the relationship between underwriting and claims
Improved availability and accuracy of operational and profitability metrics in order to focus staff on challenges and sell improvements made
Opened up a dialogue with Sales and Marketing in order to promote understanding and build relationships
Secured the support of the Reinsurer
Ensured that one on one meetings were regularly held between with staff and supervisors
Insisted on regular, structured team meetings and one on ones taking place
Quick wins were reducing suspense levels and establishing a NSW standalone branch
Significant improved in new business turnaround times
Restructure of the Claims and Underwriting areas
Key roles were filled with fresh talent
Productivity was benchmarked and case loads were readjusted to best practice levels
External assistance was recruited in order to perform file reviews leading to increased mentoring of staff
Expanded the use of specialist’s resources (CMO’s)
Boosted training times
Quality monitored through low key Claim and Underwriting audits
Focused claims assessment on early intervention claims assessment in order to reduce claims duration
Outcomes
Claims duration was reduced by 29% bringing it inline with acceptable industry benchmarks
Claims reserves reduced by 10% within 9 months without affecting inflows
New business suspense levels reduced by 15% in 6 months
New business turnaround was slashed by 50%
Reduction in reserves was sustained. Two years after the initiative, reserves were reduced by an additional AUD40M
