NIBA / Special Feature
questions on the coverage. It enables us to get answers in 30 seconds rather than what we estimated as being 12-15 minutes.” The platform evolves as you’d expect any large language model to do, and Rafton envisages technology quickly transforming the sector. “We’ll soon start to see more technologies talking to each other – sharing data, sharing business rules and logic – in an integrated and seamless way, to get things done quicker. “In the next five years we’ll see bots and AI working in a way where it's able to navigate its way through the process and the system, referring back to those business rules and processes and only spitting out the exceptions when they need to.
Get that right, says Richards, and it creates the opportunity to provide even greater benefit. “At either end of the process of placing insurance there are elements that can be automated. That bit in the middle – that's the relationship. That’s providing specific advice, reviewing policies, negotiating with insurers. “As a broker, if you can spend a lot of your time doing that, that's ideal – you’re adding more and more value for the client that way.”
“It'll almost become a situation where if the customer chooses to, they'll be able to just interact with us through the systems, and the system itself will be able to prompt them to either ask for the right information or give them the next steps, and really only get the person involved when they need to.” From a broker’s perspective, Richards sees technology as fundamentally important to deliver that business transformation that puts customers firmly at the centre. “A lot of the process in insurance is double handling, and if you can build efficiencies with AI and tech, you can really streamline that process. We’re working on a big IT project with AI capabilities to help deliver an enhanced customer experience.”
After all, you’ve gotta keep the customer satisfied…
THE VALUE OF UNDERSTANDING WHERE TO SPEND TIME
PUTTING YOUR CUSTOMER’S NEEDS FIRST IS KEY. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT THOSE NEEDS ACTUALLY ARE. AND KNOWING WHAT YOUR CUSTOMER WILL ACTUALLY VALUE IS CENTRAL TO THIS. Steve Richards, Executive Manager – Transport & Logistics at RSM Group, says, “An example of the difference this can make is one of our key accounts got sold to an international business. Usually, their program would be rolled into the business that bought it, especially if it has a global program and decision makers. “We were up against a multinational brokerage, which has significantly more capacity and resources than us. Their approach was to request the previous years’ proposal forms so they can approach the market. We spend a great deal of effort with the client in person to understand their business and as such circumvent the need for proposal forms on most of their program. “We saved the client premium, improved their coverage and retained them – something we wouldn’t have done if the service wasn’t tailored.”
46 / INSURANCE ADVISER JUNE/JULY 2025
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