Technology
Greater investment in technology and online policy applications are crucial to the future of the protection market, according to Debbie Akers, head of technical services for Friends Provident.
Addressing delegates at the COVER Protection Forum, Akers stressed the benefits for providers in promoting online application procedures. "Underwriting is a fact of life but the process can be made even lengthier when a client fails to answer all the required questions on an application form.
"Online applications lead you through the process in stages. If questions are overlooked, you cannot complete the application unless all the necessary information has been entered," she said. Akers added that she believes electronic applications have more practical advantages for insurers by removing obstacles such as illegible handwriting and offer interactive menus that make clients provide more information about their health than they would on a traditional paper application.
Electronic general practitioners reports are another powerful tool now at the disposal of providers, said Akers, as medical histories can be supplied in a matter of hours rather than days. However, Akers did acknowledge that the new technology has its limitations. "Electronic underwriting falls down when the insurer visits a client at home," she said.
Speaking at a seminar session, Peter Hamilton, head of protection marketing at Friends Provident, also outlined the growing trend towards e-business. He identified an increasingly impatient and technology-literate society as the main driver for pushing online applications to account for more than 50% of all business written. "Customers today expect a reply in hours rather than days and for many of tomorrow's customers, the only mail they'll ever know is email," he said.
Hamilton added: "Customers are becoming far more discerning with greater demands being put on their time. With the ability to do business faster at any time of day, and fully completed forms that get clients on risk in a matter of minutes, electronic applications are the way forward for the protection industry."
