Here's the low down on everything that's happening within the Insurance industry. Whether it's a new product launch, talent movements, new initiatives or collaborations with the most likely/unlikely partnerships- this is where you stay updated and relevant.
Starting first, we bring good news to new drivers in Singapore as Liberty Insurance has designed a policy plan to help you lower your premium loading and policy excess.
Singapore: Insurance policy for new drivers
The Automobile Association of Singapore (AA Singapore) has launched a motor insurance policy designed for drivers under 24 years old and for the inexperienced drivers who have less than 2 years of driving experience.
The policy plan underwritten by Liberty Insurance offers these drivers the option to lower their premium loading and policy excess. Safe drivers will receive petrol vouchers as incentives.
According to the General Insurance Association Singapore, the motor insurance segment recorded a significant 137% increase in underwriting profit for the year totaling S$9.96m ($7.33m). This is attributed to several factors such as the effectiveness of major industry initiatives including the Fraud Management System (FMS), motor claims framework and proactive consumer education efforts.
To correct safety misconceptions and improve driving behaviours, the policy plan requires young or new drivers to attend AAS Academy’s ‘Safe Driver Program’. After attending the programme, new drivers will have their additional premium loading reduced by 10% and subject to a policy excess of S$400 instead of S$3,000.
UK: Fitbit for dogs lowers premium on pet insurance
Starting from this month, customers buying a new MoreThan pet insurance for a dog will be given the option of signing up to PitPat Life at £4 a month – a subscription-based service which allows users to earn points as they reach their pets daily goals and exchange them for rewards.
By monitoring the physical activity of dogs through a collar-mounted blue-toothed enabled fitness tracker, pet owners who regularly exercise their dogs can enjoy cash rewards of up to £100 ($130) in a scheme launched by RSA-backed InsurTech firm MoreThan.
The scheme will devise a personalised daily exercise target based on your dog’s age, weight and breed. Through the collar-mounted PitPat activity monitor which is linked to a smartphone app, dog owners can collect points for completing tasks such as taking their dog for walks or weighing them regularly.
Points earned can be exchanged for benefits such as discounts for dog food or be put towards their policy renewal.
With obesity being a major factor in the severity of pet insurance claims, MoreThan pet insurance hopes the scheme will incentivise pet owners proactively to take better care of their pet’s health.
By the end of next year, PitPat Life hopes to have 50,000 members on its scheme, after which it may consider branching out into the cat insurance market.
New eLearning modules part of Chubb Travel Smart app
Chubb has launched an extended range of new eLearning modules as part of its Chubb Travel Smart app for business travellers.
Here are some of the benefits for business travellers:
- Pre-travel eLearning
- Direct access to medical and security assistance
- Live location-based alerts to help avoid trouble and stay safe
For risk managers and human resources teams, Chubb Travel Smart provides:
- An online dashboard for an instant and complete summary of travelling employees, including their location and whether they’re in any high-risk areas
- Send email and SMS directly to employees who are away on business and also pre-travel.
Developed in partnership with leading industry expert, Global Warning Systems, the new integrated eLearning modules mean users can now access all functions in a single app and a record is kept of employees who have completed specific courses, giving risk managers and employers the ability to monitor usage and ensure employees are adequately prepared for their trip.
Maybank Singapore partners Nanyang Polytechnic to develop new course
Photo: The MOU signing between Maybank Singapore’s CEO, Dr. John Lee (left) and Nanyang Polytechnic’s Principal and CEO, Ms. Jeanne Liew (right), was witnessed by CEO of IBF, Mr. Ng Nam Sin (centre).
Maybank Singapore has launched a certified course on future-ready skills that will sharpen employees’ capabilities to tackle new challenges in the future economy. The proprietary curriculum, Maybank FutureReady Certification Course, was developed in partnership with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF).
This new course in Singapore is part of Maybank Group’s S$10 million FutureReady digital upskilling programme for all employees.
The course will be held at NYP where its lecturers will deliver the curriculum. More than 300 Maybank Singapore employees will complete the course in batches over the next two years, constituting over 15% of its workforce.
Singapore: Ernst & Young commissioned for study on future of finance jobs
In the opening remarks on the press release by Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Chairman, Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF), the future jobs and skills landscape in the financial industry is a lot more complex and uncertain.
Technology is transforming finance- the way financial services are produced, distributed, and consumed. This means that jobs in financial services will also be transformed.
MAS and IBF commissioned Ernst & Young to study jobs in the financial sector. The study takes a 3-5 year time horizon and reviewed 121 distinct job roles in the financial industry. It identified the additional skills that would be necessary to perform these new tasks.
Ravi Menon has 3 key points that he thinks are worth keeping in mind:
1. The biggest impact of technology is to transform jobs rather than to destroy existing ones or create new ones.
- Technology affects tasks within jobs rather than entire jobs. Meaning to say, components of these jobs will be substituted using data analytics and automation, but some tasks would require human judgement, customization and creativity.
- Focus on tasks that will be affected by data analytics and identify the skills necessary to perform these new tasks.
2. Our strategy to help finance professionals must address skills, jobs, and careers in an integrated manner.
- Advised that skills cannot be looked at in isolation from job roles as well as job roles from careers. Instead, look at skills as the engine that will propel career mobility- laterally or upwards.
- IBF implemented programmes and services in 2018: The Professional Conversion Programmes and the IBF Careers Connect which provides career advisory and job matching services.
3. Workforce transformation must become a core business capability for all financial institutions.
- The combination of deep domain skills, broad lateral skills and the digital skills of the future does not often come in a package.
- The superior strategy is to continually train, upskill, and transform the existing workforce.
- This calls for a comprehensive workforce transformation strategy that is closely aligned to the business strategy.
For the full press release, read here.
Korea: Reports surge in false insurance fraud claims in 2018
According to Korean regulator Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), fraudulent insurance scammers claimed an all-time high of KRW798.2bn ($698m) in 2018, up 9.3% from the previous year. Out of the total fraud amount, FSS identified KRW130bn through its own investigation while insurance companies identified KRW670bn.
False insurance claims in South Korea have increased due to high-tech and diversified scams, according to Maeil Business News Korea.
Industry experts said that the actual amount of fraudulent insurance claims could be even higher given that only a fraction of scammers had been exposed. They warned that growing fraud would undermine the financial strength of insurers and in the end, this could affect policyholders as insurance fees would increase.
In Korea, insurance claims can be held back if an insurance company has reasonable grounds for suspecting fraud. The company can report the claim to the Financial Services Commission or investigative institutions like the police and prosecutors.
To combat insurance fraud, in March 2016, Korean lawmakers strengthened penalties for those convicted of the crime. The law also penalises those who have not actually followed through with insurance fraud but made an attempt at it. Under the law, the maximum prison sentence for insurance fraud is 10 years with a maximum fine of KRW50m.
People on the move
Markel International appoints new assistant underwriter in Singapore
The specialist insurer, Markel International, has appointed Lee Zong Wen as assistant underwriter in its trade credit and political risk team in Singapore.
Zong Wen joins Markel from JLT where, since 2016, he was senior executive broker for the credit, political and security risks team. Prior to this, he was an executive account manager at Coface, in its Singapore branch.
In his new role, Zong Wen will be responsible for servicing client accounts as well as supporting the existing underwriters and senior risk analysts, Dillon Matthews and Nick Davies, as they continue to grow the trade credit and political risk book in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region.
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