Transparent, consistent, reliable data
‘To benchmark and constantly improve’
Dutchman Robert de Waard lives in France and he considers himself a European. With currently more than 30 years of experience in cross border claims, of which 12,5 years with CED CBC, he has seen many things change. The most recent developments are about ‘data’ and ‘efficiency’. ‘It is the ambition of CBC to be a fully transparent, consistent and reliable partner in that,’ thus says Operational Director De Waard.
Since 1995, free movement of persons, goods and services apply within the European Union. Thanks to the Fourth European WAM Guideline, duped people can handle their damage claim in their own ‘homeland’. And by merging banks and insurers as well as a growing leasing market, there are new players on the market (bank insurers and fleet owners). ‘The amount of cross border claims has multiplied because of this,’ De Waard states. ‘But the new parties on the market do not have all the knowhow in-house and prefer to outsource their claims handling processes. For that, CBC is the ideal partner: it is itself present in 12 countries with close ties in tens of other countries of the Green Card System. For the traditional insurers and for newcomers we provide a full entry point-platform, where all their claims can be handled, regardless of the country in which it occurred.’
Being ‘in control’
The ambition of CBC goes a step further than merely being a supplier. ‘We strive for full partnership,’ thus says De Waard. ‘With the central question: how can we help our client with their aims. Of course, it is about the quality of the claim handling, both for the insurer and for the insured. But, value-added services are becoming more crucial, such as reports and data that provide useful insights. Clients ask for this because they need this for their daily operations. Our innovative platform Claims Insight can generate standard reports, and allow an insight-view in the claim-file itself,’ De Waard states. ‘As partners, we want to unburden our clients and guarantee that they are fully compliant with the national and European regulations. Our message is clear: ‘we are in control’.’
Generating management information
The second category of often requested data is management information. Clients ask for this because they need this for their own risk & control processes. An overview of the new and closed claims on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, with information about made compensation payments, external costs, reserves split in property damage and bodily injuries, as well as control of the KPIs, the lead time of (Green Card) files, and information of the countries the insured travel to, et cetera. ‘Insurers can use these trends and can, for example, modify their policy,’ De Waard explains. During regular meetings, our clients receive this data. Custom-made new categories can be made as well, with added specific data; the number of cases that appear in court, for example. Even the financial information – which average compensation payments or external costs does CBC pay in the claims process to different parties – is visible. With that, our clients can benchmark and verify whether CBC works competitively. All this fully fits in the definition of CBC of transparent partnership: clients should be able to judge themselves whether our service provided is meeting their expectations.’
The human factor is key
Digitalization is also an important aspect in the renewing of the CBC organization itself. Even before the Covid pandemic, CBC worked paperless, among other things thanks to an innovative Indexing Portal. In this, the traffic of documents and e-mails of all parties involved are digitalized, indexed, and categorized within 24 to 36 hours. Because of this, all (back office) activities could directly continue from home, since the Covid outbreak. ‘Technology is there to support people,’ De Waard states. ‘Automatization and robotization can do a lot and will gain ground, step by step. But with CBC, the human factor will remain key. Our people define the quality of our work: they speak different languages, are schooled in law, and have knowledge of several judicial systems. By advancing IT developments, our claim handlers have their hands free to pay attention to the person, the duped one, especially in cases of physical injury. It is a nice challenge to continuously find the optimal balance in that field. Transparent, consistent, and reliable processes (‘better, faster, cheaper’): digital where possible, and most of all, personal where necessary.’