Going green is a favourite tactic many companies use to capture client interest, and for insurers, it has been a tricky sell – but one company has found a way, allowing brokers to benefit too.
Aviva Canada has introduced Green Assure, a new insurance enhancement that enables customers to replace their damaged or destroyed property with energy efficient and environmentally friendly products.
“Many of our brokers and customers have expressed interest in environmentally-friendly replacement options,” says James Russell, chief underwriting officer for Aviva Canada. “Our global commitment to sustainability, includes minimizing our own environmental impact and encouraging others such as our vendor partners to do the same.”
The concept behind Green Assure is that for $25 per year, you can have $25,000 additional coverage (with the option of $50 for $50,000 more). With that extra coverage, replacement options can include high efficiency furnaces, HVAC systems, insulation, windows and doors, or the option of zero volatile organic compound paint or certified sustainable flooring products.
“It has generated a lot of questions from some brokers via their development team, so it has definitely generated a buzz,” says Barry Owen, senior product manager at Aviva Canada. “We started to look at this product some time ago, as part of our standard product development process. So we reached out to our customer panel, and asked them if they would purchase a product like Green Assure. We got a very positive response to that.” (continued.)
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Tapping into that green market is crucial, says Owen, as Aviva Canada’s customer panel (the panel consisting of a group of Aviva clients that are used on a quarterly base through emails to gauge consumer reaction to products and services) indicated that the majority consider themselves ‘green.’
“Around 50 per cent of them said they do look at green options when making green purchases,” Owen told Insurance Business. “Both in products and materials, our panel indicated they like to look at the green aspect it when considering a purchase. Almost 80 per cent said they would seriously consider purchasing Green Assure.”
The primary requirement for a product to qualify for Green Assure coverage is to be recognized by the ISO, says Owen.
“One of the requirements that we have, there are all kinds of things that are green out there. But they aren’t as green as the manufacturer’s claim them to be,” he says. “So, one of the requirements we have is that the materials or products that Green Assure will respond to, is that they have to be certified by the ISO.”
