The new year may present an opportunity for the industry to start anew, but a new poll conducted by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has found that many insurance professionals foresee running into pandemic-related challenges well into 2021.
The CII surveyed 212 of its members for its poll, and found that most of the respondents identified a reduction in the amount of new business they receive as the biggest operational threat they face in 2021. The second biggest challenge identified by the respondents was greater remote working, and the third was updating IT processes to cope with the “new normal” of work.
Fraud risk – a perennial risk to the insurance industry – notably scored low on CII’s poll. Only 10 out of the 212 members polled (4.7%) said that fraud was their biggest challenge for 2021.
“Insurance professionals have had to adapt to the new normal created by measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 at lightning speed,” said CII chief membership officer Keith Richards.
Richards added that the change of pace forced by the pandemic “shows no signs of slowing down in 2021,” and it will continue to bring new business risks and opportunities to rethink traditional ways of work, drive greater efficiencies, and develop new customer engagement methods.
“Trust in the insurance profession has been impacted by the events of 2020 and it is vital insurers improve the experience for policyholders by focussing on clarity of proposition, promotion and ease of engagement in the months ahead,” Richards added.
