Zurich’s claims head reveals emerging trends

In recent years, a growing number of insurance firms have started repositioning themselves as customer-centric, and one senior exec believes the shift has inspired an increased focus on the claims process with the area now evolving rapidly.

“The major changes in the claims space that we are seeing is obviously the adoption of Claims Rules Engines and Artificial Intelligence,” says Sherriff Hamza, head of claims at Zurich Financial Services. “I think a lot of organisations are investing in claims systems but the rules engines are the next frontier because we are seeing a lot of work in the development of the tool, but getting the tool to match your organisation’s risk appetite is the biggest challenge.”

Hamza, who is speaking on an expert panel at the upcoming ClaimsTech Summit in Sydney, also says insurers will be under pressure to constantly upskill staff.

“Some staff are equipped to deal with the changes but I think the roles will change and what we need to do is ensure staff are upskilled to be able to deal with that change,” he tells Insurance Business. “Engagement of the staff through that change is going to be a key focus because you do not want to lose good people as a result of this.”

For now, Hamza suggests the insurance industry isn’t doing enough to equip the current claims workforce for the future.

“I think we tend to be reactive in nature because projects of this nature take a lot of investment from organisations,” he says. “However, any organisation that does go on to this journey needs to do so with eyes wide and needs to ensure a change manager is engaged and staff training is a priority because engagement of staff during this process is critical to the ultimate success.”

Sheriff Hamza has worked in the insurance claims space for over 20 years, including stints at ING, AIA and Zurich. He will be speaking on an expert panel at the upcoming ClaimsTech Summit, where he and other senior industry figures will discuss the impact of transformation and automation on the claims workforce of the future.

More information on the event, which takes place in Sydney later this year, can be found online.