Flourishing in the HNW market means creating ‘a marriage of the right wordings, expertise, service delivery’ and finding ‘coverage to support clients’, says insurer’s head of personal risk services

Insurer Chubb UK sets high standards for its personal lines offering, which features broker-led cover for high net worth (HNW) individuals across home, contents, motor and valuables.

The insurer’s customer promise to ‘raise your expectations of what your insurer should deliver’ does not appear to be an idle boast, as it achieved a coveted five star rating from brokers in Insurance Times’ Five Star Rating Report: Personal Lines 2022, published this month (February 2022).

This marks the third time in the past four years that Chubb UK has achieved this high rating from brokers, demonstrating its consistency.

A delighted Annmarie Camp, head of personal risk services at Chubb UK, said: “I am absolutely grateful to the broker partners we have.

“We are 100% distributed through specialist brokers, so everything we do is about being client focused and to do that, we work with the best in class brokers in the industry to offer very personalised, service-focused solutions to their top clients. We work hard to do right by our brokers and clients.

“Even though we’re very pleased to earn a five star rating, we’re always focused on how we can continuously improve our offerings from a wording point of view and also from the perspective of service and our responsiveness.

“This includes the integration of new digital technology [to streamline] the business process, whether it is through our online platform MP24, or our individual underwriting response to opportunities.

“We are highly focused on continuous improvement and investment in this key segment because we are an industry leader in serving HNW brokers and their clients.”

Understanding HNW

So, what is behind Chubb’s success with broker partners?

In terms of its overall quality of cover score – its highest rating in the 2022 survey – Camp said this can be attributed to the insurer’s strategy of analysing its HNW coverage against evolving trends in the marketplace.

This helps Chubb UK better understand the needs and lifestyle of HNW clients, so it can then adapt its cover accordingly.

Camp explained: “When we see the kind of risks they face, we look to create solutions.

“As an example, in July 2021, we introduced some additional service around cyber security for our clients to help them manage that risk and recover if they are faced with that challenge.

“It is about always looking at the exposures and how we can help to protect clients. Coverage is critical, but we back it up with exceptional service and claims.

“It is really a marriage of the right wordings, expertise, service delivery and - most importantly - that our claims team seeks to find coverage to support our clients.”

Chubb UK also scored highly for its overall claims experience, providing recognition for the business’ highly experienced team of claims experts.

Camp continued: “We always look for ways to try to give our clients the best experience possible as they go through what can be challenging and difficult times. It is hard not to think about the massive and unprecedented flooding in London last July that impacted several HNW areas of the capital.

“I believe our response to that was phenomenal in terms of how quickly we were able to act and support our customers.

“Here, we not only demonstrated our expertise, but also the benefits of the network of restoration companies and support services we work with that meant we were able to give such an outstanding response so quickly to our clients and to the brokers [which] are such an integral part of the claims process.”

The foundation of Chubb UK’s claims process is “thinking about what each individual client’s preferences are”, she added.

“That is critical and to help with this, we also have expertise that can really help clients get the best possible service in restoration and valuation.

“Our claims teams do a phenomenal job of reassuring clients that we will take good care of them and give them effective strategies to make the best decisions to bring them back to their pre-claim status.”

Company collaboration

However, achieving a five star rating from brokers comes down to more than just an excellent claims service.

It is also the result of many people working hard across different, important service areas. Camp stressed the contribution of other parts of the business, including underwriting and relationship management professionals.

She said: “When we bring in new professionals to our HNW business, we have a commitment and investment in continuous training.

“So, whether it is technical underwriting or relationship management, we are looking to support our highest level of expertise and also develop new talent.

“We are fundamentally an underwriting company, so we focus on having highly skilled individuals to work on the most sophisticated business in the market.

“Of course, it’s great to receive a five star rating, but the most important element we can offer brokers is stability. They know when they place business with Chubb that we want to retain it year over year and have as little disruption as possible.

“In these challenging times that we’ve been through, we continue to demonstrate our strength, stability, dependability and our commitment to improvement, so brokers can keep on delivering the best to their clients.”

Human relationships

Chubb UK also performed highly in areas such as policy documentation and overall relationship management, achieving four stars in both according to this year’s report.

Camp noted that in these areas, the use of innovative technology has been combined with a personal touch to meet the expectations of clients and brokers.

Camp concluded: “Technology is another enabler, but we really maintain an interest in being very client-centric and having a human, personal relationship with brokers and their clients.

“We continue to have a robust broker relationship management team and like any aspect of our business, we always seek to improve.

“I’m hopeful that as the world begins to open up again, we can enhance those relationships with our key brokers and their business partners.

“Our products really serve HNW individuals and their families. While many of the risks they face are familiar, we understand the risk landscape evolves and we look to help protect [them] against the impact of those emerging risks wherever possible.”