The whole country, and indeed the whole world, is facing new challenges under these unprecedented circumstances. Though not unexpected, the recently announced extension to this lockdown period will serve to try us even more. The effects of the quarantine period are likely to last much longer than this bout of the virus itself, with economic and cultural consequences which are still to be fully understood. That being so, it is important that we, as a profession, find a new way to work which both prepares us and our clients for what the future holds, while also maintaining continuity.
At the CII we understand that we are not the core of what constitutes the insurance profession, but our members and their employers, who are our most significant stakeholders, are the profession. It is they who are doing the incredible work which is maintaining public trust as much as possible, and this is commendable. During this time where many are worried about how they are going to return to their status quo, properly managed insurance policies will provide a level of security for the public which will ease some of that pressure.
For the profession, it has always been the case that perception becomes reality. Historically, we have not been very adept at managing the expectations of our clients resulting in a mismatch between clients’ expectations, and what is possible for insurance to provide at a point in time. The CII’s annual Public Trust Index repeatedly reveals that the public predict a lower level of reliability from their insurers than what is actually delivered to them at the claim stage, or, what we recognise as ‘the moment of truth’. The insurance profession actually pays out more insurance than the value in claims made. But we need to be vigilant about any complacency and adding more inaccuracy in perceptions.
It is self-evident that insurance is in the spotlight again for the mismatch over business interruption cover. While it is fair to say that retrospective cover possibly leading to the meltdown of the whole sector, is clearly not the answer, neither is blaming the policyholders and the public for the perception gap. We need a constructive dialogue and a difference of outcome for the future. While we bear the mounting pressure of this lockdown, and face the long-term consequences which will follow, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to lead with conviction, and reinforce the dependability of the insurance profession. It would be unforgivable for the profession to navigate a crisis which has caused huge disruption to so many, and to emerge completely unchanged. The profession must be proactive during this period so we come through the other side of this pandemic having built an effective holistic solution which, should something similar ever befall us, we are ready and able to manage it, armed with new knowledge gained through this experience.
To that effect, the CII remains committed to supporting the profession by maintaining a strong connection with our members. We will continue with the production of our regular good practice guides which we will publish on a variety of different subjects so that our members remain supplied with examples of success and innovation in client service, and methods of continuing to build public trust. We have also been able to equip our members to maintain their CPD while in quarantine by working towards digitalising a vast majority of our educational content, including podcasts, webinars, articles, and blogs. In fact, this period of lockdown has driven the CII to accelerate our plans towards the modernisation of our organisation, and this represents just one example of how we can seize this challenge as an opportunity to evolve for the better.
