ANZIIF’s judges marked NTI highly for stronger than average customer satisfaction and retention rates. They were also impressed by the firm’s priority on the health and wellbeing of employees.
However, there was another key reason for the double win, said NTI’s chief customer officer Janelle Greene (pictured above).
“In particular – being an early adopter of the Insurance Council of Australia’s Guide to Net Zero Roadmap and the measures we have taken in working towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Brisbane-based Greene.
For NTI, a specialist in insuring heavy vehicles and ships, this initiative is more involved than it would be for other insurers providing risk advice and coverages for less fossil fuel-intensive industries.
The educational materials the firm makes available to brokers and customers suggest that NTI does not shy away from environmental responsibilities. The firm explicitly acknowledges the key role insurance can play in enabling changes in business practices that can help achieve net zero emissions.
“Heavy vehicles contribute significantly to global vehicle emissions,” says the introduction to the podcast The Road to Zero Emissions.
“This is our chance, as a heavy vehicle sector, to work on that common goal and what that means for us at the rate that we need to,” said Richard Gibson, in the podcast’s website blurb. Gibson is NTI’s national manager of repair quality and incident response.
Other insurers in the same space could be lagging behind. In March, NTI was the only insurer to attend a Queensland Transport and Logistics Council (QTLC) showcase of zero emission vehicle (ZEV) trucks.
Other criteria for the Underwriting Agency of the Year category included a change or innovation implemented in the last 12 months that addressed a business issue in the market.
Greene said this presented an opportunity for NTI to explain its Parcel Protect offering.
“Parcel Protect fills the growing need for an insurance product that covers high volume, low value shipments and helps businesses manage key pain points through growing their operations,” she said.
The offering provides insurance but also takes care of returns and claims for retailers. There was also an extensive pilot program involving more than 60,000 shipments prior to the official launch in 2023.
Judges were also likely impressed by the speedy customer service for this product. Greene said the offering has the capability to settle customer claims with a replacement item purchased from the merchant within 13 minutes after a claim lodgment.
“Similarly, where refunds are required, we issue payment within three minutes of the merchant’s customer accepting the offer, all running 24/7,” said Greene.
NTI’s chief customer officer said she’s “incredibly proud” of her staff’s “unwavering commitment to supporting the lives and businesses of fellow Australians.”
“We know what we have at NTI is unique,” said Greene. “The peer recognition lets us know that our customers and partners see it too.”
On the night of the ANZIIF awards, Greene captured that uniqueness when she came on stage to accept her firm’s Underwriting Agency of the Year prize.
“There’s such diversity of thought at NTI,” she said in her acceptance speech. “You can be in a meeting room with a diesel mechanic, someone who knows how to clean up an oil spill, someone who knows how to get milk out of a drain, a data scientist, an actuary, a relationship expert – and it’s the alchemy of that diversity that fuels our business and their passion.”
The ICA’s insurer roadmap to net zero was launched in November 2022 and was authored by Boston Consulting Group after what a media release described as “extensive consultation.”
The roadmap, said the release, “charts a path for insurers to achieve net-zero by 2030 for their own operations.” It also sets a pathway for insurers “to undertake the more difficult task of reducing emissions associated with underwriting activities, the claims supply chain, and investments, achieving net zero no later than 2050.”
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