Insurers need to reward loyalty

Insurance companies need to invest in existing clients beyond their usual practices if they hope to maintain the insurance demand of 2009, according to the head of marketing, retail products and reinsurance at ING, Gerard Kerr.

Speaking to Money Management, Kerr said insurance companies must reward loyalty and provide more “tangible benefits” for their existing clients, as opposed to simply adding features to their insurance products.

“This is an opportunity for looking at loyalty ... [and] it could be anything that ... recognised [someone] as a loyal customer,” Kerr said.

“It’s the same with any industry ... where [customers] like to know that you still appreciate [them] as a customer, and that’s something that I think we can just do better as an industry,” he said.

Kerr also called on the insurance industry to invest as much in their existing clients as they did attracting new clients and making acquisitions.

New clients likely got more care and attention when first taking out an insurance policy, but that focus should apply equally throughout the life of the policy, he said.

Insurance companies also need to make greater use of communication tools, such as annual renewal notices, to remind their clients why they took out insurance cover in the first place, he suggested. He added that insurance companies should provide additional education about insurance to remind clients about certain benefits.

Kerr said communication with clients shouldn’t just be restricted to sending another notice that premiums have changed; it should be about trying to get a little bit closer to your clients.

2009 was a good year for risk insurance, he said, but he added that is important to capture that and see insurance being written at the same level into 2010.