Beyond insurance: Service Administration

Traditionally, insurance providers have operated a binary service: approve or deny a claim. But today’s customers expect far more personalised services and support. A renewed focus on the importance of the customer experience is driving a new era in insurance, and early adopters are already offering preventative and after-care services in combination with classic insurance covers, as we discussed in our previous blog on concierge services.

Enabling the next generation of insurance products and services

Imagine you buy a new bike and take out an insurance policy to cover theft. Some months later, your bike is stolen, and your insurance pays out on the policy. Of course, you’re happy that your insurance paid out, but this alone does not rectify your loss. You must now go through the process of buying a bike again, hoping it is still available at the price you originally purchased it.

But what if it isn’t available anymore? Or what if that bike is now more expensive?

These are problems that, until recently, fell outside the remit of insurance providers. But that is changing quickly, and providers looking to maintain a competitive edge over the next decade would do well to embrace service administration with open arms.

Service Administration

What is it and why is it so important to the future of insurance providers?

To understand the importance of service administration, let’s look to a real world example of a young and fast growing company selling e-bikes. The company is Dutch based VanMoof, often referred to as the Tesla of bicycles, who sell their cutting edge and hugely popular e-bikes globally.

VanMoof offers an insurance policy that guarantees to replace your stolen bike up to a total of three times over three years – a great cover, but they don’t stop there. Where VanMoof proves to be a guiding example to insurance providers, is in their theft-prevention and after-care service – or what is often referred to in the insurance industry as ‘concierge services’.

If your bike is stolen, VanMoof will send a dedicated team onto the streets to track it down and return it to you, only replacing it if they fail to find it. And to make the process as customer friendly as possible, this service can be initiated with the single button press of the rider’s smartphone.

Customer Experience 2.0

Customers are growing expectant of these preventative and after-care services, and will soon expect them as a standard offering when investing their time, money and loyalty in a company’s products or services. It is safe to say these expectations will increase, and those providers who resist may struggle to remain competitive over the coming years.

Interested to read more? Simply fill out the contact form and add a note that you would like to receive the Keylane Service Administration brochure.