Sponsored content: Leigh Broomhead, head of insurance at Europcar Mobility Group UK, discusses how industry change is needed to target claims costs and customer satisfaction
For many years now, the insurance industry has found a lack of supply and sector focused expertise to be a big barrier when it comes to providing replacement vehicles for both non-fault and fault customer claims.
Europcar commissioned research that surveyed 1,000 motorists who had to make a claim involving a replacement vehicle in the last 12 months found that only 58% of these motorists were satisfied.
The poor provision of suitable replacement insurance vehicles fundamentally ignores the fact that onward mobility is critical to the overall claims experience.
A poor service not only impacts customer satisfaction – it adds costs that could have easily been avoided. The time has come for this claims pinch point to be addressed.
Customer satisfaction focus
Insurers have long asked for a single-source, digitally transparent solution for replacement vehicle management.
There is also a clear need for a customer-centric approach offering the communication channel of choice, so that the policyholder can understand where their replacement vehicle is, the expected time of delivery, as well as providing transparency over vehicle condition.
Realtime vehicle tracking, giving policyholders full visibility of their claim and hire vehicle, could reduce instances of failure and improve satisfaction.
There is also a need for a solution that can be tailored to each insurer’s specific requirements without the need for expensive or time-consuming system development.
Technology meets service
Addressing these issues, vMobility has worked with Europcar Mobility Group UK to launch a groundbreaking new partnership to shake up the replacement vehicle sector – vHire.
This combines the technology-driven, insurance-focused service of vMobility with Europcar’s extensive national fleet and network, plus market-leading delivery and collection service, to deliver an insurer-first replacement vehicle solution unlike anything else in the market.
Building on the existing relationship between vMobility and Europcar, vHire delivers a unified insurance-first service that integrates onward mobility, repair coordination and customer communications through a single digital platform.
And, by leveraging the latest in AI to drive decision-making and process efficiency, the new service ensures that the right mobility solution is provided for every claim. It doesn’t just default to a hire vehicle, which is critical both for cost management and customer satisfaction.
One track to replacement reform
As regulatory requirements shape the sector, insurers need simplicity – one contract, one workflow, one customer journey.
It makes complete sense to reduce claim lifecycles, cut claims costs, improve customer satisfaction and deliver a seamless customer experience.
Combining the insurance market expertise of vMobility with Europcar’s fleet and ability to deliver a car anywhere in the UK, means the replacement vehicle market no longer needs to be a claims pain point.
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