9 minute read
Steve White, BIBA
Steve White
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Ahead of BIBA’s manifesto launch, Modern Insurance spoke with their Chief Executive, Steve White, about this year’s theme: ‘A Year to Pioneer’, the challenges ahead in 2020, and the fundamental importance of collaboration.
QThinking back to early2019; did anyofyourviews change throughout the course of the year? Were there anyunexpected turns?
ABrexit has kept us on our toes throughout 2019; we moved from having an exit date at the end of March, to an exit date at the end of October, to now an exit date of January. During that time we have been working very closely with the Treasury and the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), and they have prepared us for a No-Deal which we have informed our members of. In response, we ran a series of events, we have a micro-site on our website, and we have contacted all of our members. Brexit has certainly been one of the issues that has swerved in all directions throughout the course of the year.
Another thing to mention here is our push surrounding mental health awareness. We ran a keynote session at our conference last May, focused on opening up about mental health, with a panel including; Professor Tanya Byron as host, Andrew Flintoff, Katie Piper, and Professor Green. We gather feedback from every session each year, but we have never received the volume of high quality praise for anything we’ve done before. It was truly remarkable feedback, and it set us off on a course to explore this subject more. It was on our agenda already, but we got such a response that we had to accelerate it up our agenda as a significant issue – to the extent that in the first quarter of this year we are heavily subsidising a series of regional mental health first aid training sessions for our members. These are proving popular already, so we are thinking about what more we can do in that space, in addition to what help we can give our members on the broader subject. It is clearly going to be a bigger focus for us this year than we perhaps thought 12 months ago. Another change we faced last year, was the introduction of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. We’d been talking about it for such a long time that we acted like it had already been done, although this was a massive change for our members.
QCould you elaborate on this year’s BIBA theme, ‘A Year to Pioneer’, and how this reflects BIBA’s areas of focus for the year ahead?
AThis theme was set because we are facing what could be seen as a new era. We are approaching many changes; a new relationship with Europe and the World, new technologies, new markets, customers’ ever increasing demands, and regulators’ ever increasing demands. It is going to make markets and businesses think differently, so finding solutions is what brokers do best.
A Pioneer is someone who operates differently, and that is exactly what BIBA intends to do to help brokers be what they need to be in 2020. It is the year for us all to think slightly differently. In our manifesto, we talk about how the market has evolved, and how it is now evolving at a much higher speed than ever before. We want to help our members be at the forefront and to lead the way – to be pioneers. We want to focus on how we can help them meet the needs of today and tomorrow’s customers.
QHow can brokers improve relationships with insurers through their digital strategy? And for those brokers still hesitant or more delayed in their approach to embrace a digital transformation, what advice would you give?
ABrokers and insurers need to have a good relationship, however they transact business. We are currently working with a firm called Insurecore, who are building an online platform to link brokers to insurers and insurtechs. There are two prongs to this platform: it is allowing insurers to identify their market appetites, and it’s a place where the insurtechs can go and say, ‘we have a solution to this!’. It’s a little bit like a dating agency for businesses, which is what we’ve been calling it. Are you a broker looking for a solution to a problem? This platform will be a place you can go to get some help. The world is changing; a few years ago we focused on innovation and rolled out digital skills workshops. It is widely accepted now that digital skills are going to be equally as important for tomorrow’s workforce as numeracy and literacy skills are today. These courses are proving to be very popular and we will be continuing them in 2020.
QA start of a new decade and the start of a new era for brokers, what should be at the very top of the agenda for brokers?
AIt’s the same as always: customers. Without customers we don’t have businesses, it’s that simple. Making sure we identify their needs is vital. Obviously the external environment will mean that there will be other priorities a little further down the list – Brexit, the hard market, changes in technology, changes in customer expectations and regulatory expectations. There will be other everyday business issues, but the number one focus is absolutely still the customer.
QCan traditional business models meet customer expectations in 2020, or will the gap between expectation and reality widen?
AFirst and foremost, we need to ensure that trust remains high. Bodies like BIBA are trying to educate consumers and businesses on matters that effect their insurance. We are planning some customer facing guides: a cyber facing guide, a guide on secure markets, etc. We issued a SME guide on underinsurance a little while ago, which was the most popular guide that we’d ever launched. We also have customer guides on our website on matters such as: travel insurance, motor insurance, household insurance, what to do in the event of a flood claim, etc. These are all free and readily available so that consumers and small businesses can take them away and help them with their insurance issues. We’ve also just released a guide to modified vehicles, titled ‘What is a Vehicle Modification’? You may think that vehicle modification within insurance is simple, but it’s not. There is a variation in responses by insurers on how to deal with any modification; what classes as a modification; and what you need to tell your insurer about. These kind of guides help clear up confusion and give helpful information to customers and businesses.
QHow important is collaboration, can it be achieved and how, and if so, can you predict the timeframe to fruition?
AOur manifesto is not just what we say is important: it’s what our members tell us is important. We will have over thirty endorsements from broader stakeholders around the industry: CII, ABI, Lloyd’s, FSA, FOS, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and several insurers. So in terms of collaboration, this shows us that it can work very well from a lobbying perspective. Now, you can’t really put timeframes on this kind of thing: some
issues can be brought to a head very quickly, others take a bit longer. The insurance industry – despite all of the digitalisation, automation, and everything else that is happening – is still very much about people. People, when they’re working with other people, can generally get a lot more done than when there are joint voices, rather than one standing out on its own. That is fundamentally important when you talk about lobbying; the politicians want to hear one voice, not a cacophony. Hence the collaboration behind the scenes to make sure all have agreed the message and deliver it with one voice. There are many issues which affect everyone in the same way, so why not speak together instead of standing alone?
QWhat do you believe is key to attracting new and diverse talent? And what can brokers do to ensure they not only retain that talent but also allow it to thrive?
AWe believe it is about education. We have engaged a good number of young brokers from around the country to help position messaging to attract bright young people of the industry. Youngsters would much rather have it presented and written by youngsters, than older brokers who may not relate to their situation. Broking is an exciting, enjoyable, rewarding career, and the people who come into it don’t tend to leave - but we need to get that message out there.
It’s a very good question to ask about not only the retention of talent, but how it thrives. The digital upskilling courses will help to ensure that staff have the skills they need for tomorrow. We have a dedicated day at our conference for young brokers, which is a highlighted programme of learning for them. This highlights that their needs may well be different from those further up the career ladder. So yes, it’s not just about attracting, but retaining them once they are in and allowing them to thrive.
We also need more awareness around creating a diverse culture. Not just in relation to ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender, but is it a nice place to work? Can you go there and not be intimidated? Can you talk openly about what your issues are? 1 in 4 adults suffer from a mental health issue each year, so this is going on around us as we speak. It’s incumbent upon employers now to not only spot but to help their employees. We are putting a lot of effort into raising diversity and inclusion up the flagpole for our members. We are hoping to create toolkits for our members to help them navigate the aspect of work culture. We often hear from our smaller members (who make up the bulk of our member base) questions such as: ‘how do we go about creating a more open culture?’ So there will be something on the conference programme which will allow us to address that. Details regarding the BIBA conference will soon be announced.
Steve White is the Chief Executive of BIBA.
