Generali: ‘As partners, we focus on technical quality and service’
Generali is a big player in the insurance market. The company has a strong geographical presence in Europe and has an internal network of 19 subsidiaries providing cross-border motor claims handling services. Petra Werlikova has worked for Generali for 13 years. Since 2014, she has been a Senior Program Leader, responsible for the coordination of the international motor claims network. She begins the interview with: ‘International claims are perhaps not the most impactful part of our business, but we still aim to have them settled with high quality, and we care about our partnerships. It is important to choose the right partners to represent you.’
Petra Werlikova: ‘CED is one of our major partners that handle these claims. The claims handler is active for us in The Netherlands and the UK. CED took over our Dutch portfolio after our office in the Netherlands closed. In search of a new partner, we asked around at our panel of providers and our business units and went through the selection process. The CED CBC-team had taken upon a real challenge taking over the open cases since these were the most difficult cases with a history. On top of NL and UK, CED is representing the company which Generali acquired recently (ex Seguradoras Unidas).’
Importance of NPS
‘So, to know who is a good and reliable partner, Generali trusts on the signals from our business units and the Net Promotor Score our customers give us each year,’ Petra Werlikova continues. ‘Since we became partners, the CED CBC-team demonstrated a high level of service, good cooperation, speed of interaction, and willingness to share information. All of which are crucial for us. They also keep us up to date of changes in the field we need to be aware of’, says Petra Werlikova. She gives some examples: ‘Such as new legal arrangements, for example with Brexit. The team is also available to provide consultancy and give us a second opinion whenever needed. They provide very good reporting and are very flexible to share the numbers. Issues never become structural. And in the latest NPS, only one point of attention came forward for the Dutch branch: to manage the large loss claims more pro-actively.’
'Generali strives to make it easy for customers, distributors, and its employees to resolve every claim with best-in-class technical quality and efficiency.'
A true partnership
A partner distinguishes itself from the others when they contribute to the goals of the client. Generali strives to make it easy for customers, distributors, and its employees to resolve every claim with best-in-class technical quality and efficiency. It is the insurers’ mission to resolve cross-border claims with the same quality as domestic ones, despite the difficulty. ‘CED does that’, states Petra Werlikova. ‘They have the technical skills to handle our claims with the highest quality. They cope easily with obstacles such as the language difference and the different legal frameworks in the two countries that are handling the claim.’
About Generali
Generali Group is one of the largest global insurance and asset management providers. Established in Trieste in 1831, it is present in 50 countries in the world, with a total premium income of € 70.7 billion in 2020. With more than 72 thousand employees serving 65.9 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Europe and a growing presence in Asia and Latin America. Generali’s ambition is to be the Lifetime Partner to its customers, offering innovative and personalized solutions thanks to an unmatched distribution network. The Group CEO is Philippe Donnet.
Sharing information
Petra Werlikova: ‘To truly rely on a partner, for me, there must be proactivity and transparency when it comes to sharing information. All information, documents, and opinions need to be shared between the insurer and the correspondent. And CED is on the same page. We also look at future trends together. For example, cross-border claims have had the same rules, and fees, for years, depicted by the Council of Bureaux. Perhaps it is time for us to suggest some reforms. Of course, now due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have experienced a decrease in new cross-border claims. We and our partners focus on the backlog and observe willingness to close the file amicably. For the near future, we foresee more traveling by car, as the ‘safest' way of traveling. Furthermore, we see the need to focus on fighting fraud in the upcoming years.’