At Starpeak we have always been devoted to placing customers at the core of our business. We firmly believe that customer centricity is the key to driving satisfaction, trust and loyalty, which ultimately leads to business success. It’s a win-win approach to insurance, and one that we remain committed to.

Insurance providers have long recognised the importance of customer centricity and protection as key priorities in their business strategies. But since the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consumer Duty rules came into effect in July 2023, prioritising the needs of customers has shifted from a solicitous strategy to a regulatory requirement. Insurance companies, Brokers and Intermediaries along with other financial services firms have had a year to monitor the effectiveness of their Consumer Duty implementation.

By the 31st July this year, all firms were required to have produced their Consumer Duty Board Report, outlining how the duty has been implemented, what steps have been taken to monitor success and what more the firm can do to continue with ensuring positive outcomes to customers. This may have felt like somewhat of a time-consuming burden to busy board members, but we believe that completing the report presented us with a huge opportunity for growth and reflection.

Transforming obligations into opportunities

Firstly, the oversight gained has enabled us to implement better strategic decision-making for the future, aligned with Consumer Duty principles. For instance, one strategic initiative we’re now committing to is looking at electronic claims reporting. By doing this we hope to identify ways that technology can speed up our claims process and keep customers informed throughout the claim journey.

Additionally, it has enabled us to proactively address issues before they escalate into larger challenges. For example, we will be improving our approach to vulnerable customers by reviewing our written policy, identifying training needs for frontline staff, recognising ways to log vulnerable customers without causing distress and agreeing ways to support those that we identify as vulnerable.

The deep dive also placed focus on cultural reinforcement. We will be continuing to look at ways we can engage with our staff, support their understanding of Consumer Duty and cement a culture where the customer comes first.

High-quality data leads to high-quality outcomes

Ahead of the board report deadline, The FCA reported some concerns around providers’ initial approaches to monitoring Consumer Duty compliance. The regulator advised that insurance companies need efficient data and monitoring processes if they are to generate better outcomes for customers – and we’d have to agree.

For us, our ability to surface data to inform and lead board discussions has grown in the past year. Starpeak is highly tech enabled and data driven, and we have leveraged that expertise to create our complete company Management Information (MI) dashboard.

Our metrics bring website analytics, customer service quality assurance scores, cancellation rates and reviews to the board’s attention. This helps us determine customer understanding and satisfaction and identify where products, services and CX may need enhancing. We expect that over the next 12 months this MI will give our board deep insight and the confidence that we are meeting high standards in all areas.

Ahead of the next annual Consumer Duty Board Report, we encourage other providers to invest in optimising their own data and analytics platforms. By demonstrating a commitment to consumer duty through high-quality reporting, insurance companies can boost confidence among stakeholders, including investors, partners, and customers.

Future impact on the insurance industry

There have been reports that most general insurance customers haven’t seen any improvement in service from their providers since the implementation of Consumer Duty last year. It’s important to note, however, that the past 12 months for insurers and intermediaries have been less about actioning change, and more about assessing their current performance.

As outlined by the FCA, The Consumer Duty is not a once and done exercise. As we look to the year ahead, insurers and intermediaries need to make sure they are continuously improving and learning good practices for their customers. There’s a long road ahead, but it’s one that we believe will lead to a positive change across the insurance sector.

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