Jeremy Trott, SoCP non-executive director, said that claims professionals must ensure they are up to date with all of the technical aspects of coverage and how various scenarios could play out from a claims perspective.
“Let’s be honest – outside of a few industry experts, there were few that truly understood business interruption cover and all that it entailed; and this is only from one very specific perspective – pandemics,” Trott said. “We now need to review what other key aspects of cover we need to consider going forward, and work with underwriters and other areas of the business to drive forward both policy and technical developments across our businesses, with simplicity and transparency at their core, for both customers and employees.”
Trott said that claims professionals must also consider more leadership and behavioural support, because the various restrictions and the need to work from home more frequently have changed the way the sector operates.
“We’ve gone from everyone in an office to everyone from home and will probably morph into a hybrid of the two during the coming years, with a variety of different models being set up,” he said. “How do we ensure that we are thinking about all of the regulatory, welfare, customer, technological, training and induction concerns moving forward, and provide support to our membership?”
SoCP will assist its members regarding the changing skillset required by the new normal by producing good practice guidance and by providing a forum for the advancement of new ideas, career development and professional qualifications.
According to Trott, the pandemic has accelerated development in areas such as data, AI and customer expectations, and all these must be taken into account when creating a support programme for claims professionals moving forward.
“Whatever we need to do should come from clear and simply explained policies that we deliver on in the key moment of truth of making a claim,” Trott said. “Small steps towards building back this trust, with some strong messaging about how many claims we do pay out on, will slowly and surely rebuild trust.”
