Honouring commitments to clients is key

Insurance claims against a business not only hits its balance sheets, but its brand and reputation. Therefore it’s vital they are managed by experts only.

Claims management is a critical part of doing corporate insurance business worldwide, according to Stefan Feldmann, regional head Australasia and ASEAN and managing director of HDI Global SE Australia.

HDI Global SE was born as a mutual insurer of the German iron and steel industries and the liability association of German industry. It has continued to morph into one of the most respected and leading insurers offering a broad and needs-based range of insurance solutions.

HDI is the majority shareholder of its parent company, the $8.7 billion capped Talanx which is also the parent company of the global reinsurance giant Hannover Re, Germany’s third largest insurance group and among the top 10 in Europe.

In its German homeland and throughout the rest of Europe, HDI is a leading insurer and insures most of the DAX (German stock exchange) 30 companies.

‘‘As a big European-based insurer we were quite under-represented in Australasia when we restarted the HDI brand in 2011,’’ says Feldmann.

Fast forward to today and staff numbers have multiplied from eight to over 55 and premium volume has expanded more than 10 times, complemented by solid underwriting returns. HDI Global SE Australia is one of the fastest growing Corporate Insurers in Australia.

Part of this momentum has been due to its foundations: ‘‘We were created by industry for industry,’’ says Stefan Feldmann.

‘‘We have developed a global network of local claims experts who have a deep understanding of the market and its conditions,’’ says Feldmann.

‘‘We are therefore able to support clients across national borders, giving them expert advice on their foreign target markets and creating a claims handling strategy to suit their individual needs.

‘‘This requirement is increasingly becoming a priority for companies of all sizes engaged in cross-border business, but only a few international industrial insurers have the necessary capabilities.

‘‘It gives us confidence that we are in a position to offer some very interesting insurance concepts for companies and groups in Australia. Corporate clients’ demands of their insurers are continually evolving and we need to be flexible and respond accordingly. HDI has a good reputation of being solution-focused.’’

‘‘Litigation is increasing, therefore legal costs remain a challenge for insurers, especially when faced with an increase in litigation funders, and a broader spread of law firms commencing class actions, particularly against directors and officers,’’ warns David Lloyd, regional claims manager Australasia and ASEAN.

‘‘Until the insurance market successfully defends a class action, I fear the growth of class actions will continue unabated.’’

The claims manager explains that in the current environment the key priority for businesses and insurers, and the challenge for claims managers, must be to see that insurance contract commitments are honoured.

‘‘Clients buy insurance to protect themselves, their balance sheet, their brand and their reputation,’’ he says.

‘‘A contract, by way of an insurance policy, is signed and it’s the claims manager’s job to honour that contract and the commitment made in the relationship between HDI Global and our client.’’

‘‘Our role is to utilise our expert knowledge to navigate, in conjunction with the client, the best and most reasonable resolution of any claim. In many instances such claims are in the form of litigation against our client for which we need to be cognisant we are defending litigation in their name.’’

HDI Global responded to the changing market dynamics with a claims restructure designed to assist its diverse client portfolio defend claims made against them. By promoting technical excellence, HDI’s aim is to be recognised as market leader in the claims environment supporting its underwriters and risk engineers. Lloyd comments ‘‘Our claims managers have substantial industry experience, not just with the entire claims process but also with industryspecific claims, as claims commonly made in some industries will be vastly different to others’’.

‘‘Clients are sophisticated buyers of insurance, requiring a wide range of products to cover their business. Therefore, it is important for the insurer to have an intrinsic knowledge of the insured’s business, which is often crystallised when a claim occurs,’’ he says.

A further important quality is ownership and accountability, ‘‘clients want to deal with the decision makers,’’ says Lloyd.

Claims has a vital role in fostering long-term relationships with its existing clients.

‘‘Our clients typically have a strong risk management culture and framework in place and are looking for a reliable long-term partner for their risk- engineering and risk transfer solutions,’’ he says.

HDI Global currently underwrites more than 3800 global insurance programs for corporate clients, so it fully appreciates the criticality of decisiveness.

‘‘Businesses really can’t afford for their claims management providers to be vacillating when the stakes are so high and time is of the essence. They need to know they will have a reliable and trustworthy partner throughout the whole claims process,’’ says Lloyd.

Our clients ... are looking for a reliable longterm partner.

David Lloyd