Aviva and Ageas agree industry-first
Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer, and Ageas have secured an agreement which will reduce the cost of handling third party motor claims between the two insurers.
The agreement is the first insurer-led arrangement following the 2014 Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) ruling on motor claims which effectively left insurers to find better ways of working in order to reduce the cost of non-fault claims.
At the heart of the agreement is a subrogation portal provided by Validus-IVC that is already reducing the number of touches between the two insurers when subrogating the cost of a non-fault claim. The portal matches claims, views on liability and requests for payment without the need for letters or phone calls. Not only does this allow handlers to look after the customer’s car and better address their concerns, it also ensures that both sides know much earlier that they are both dealing with the same claim, which speeds up the claim’s resolution.
In addition, both insurers have entered into a (bi-lateral) agreement that will keep the cost of subrogated claims as low as possible, as it prevents insurers from charging one another unnecessary costs which only serve to increase insurance premiums.
Andrew Morrish, claims operations director, Aviva, said, ‘We are proud to work with Ageas on this new initiative which has the potential to revolutionise the way insurers handle third party claims
’We want to work with all insurers to establish this solution as standard for the motor insurance market. We believe the portal can play a key role in improving insurer efficiency, enabling portal users to settle third party non-fault claims much quicker and it shows how insurers can build trust in the market.’
Rob Smale, claims director at Ageas, said, ‘We believe this is a key milestone for the entire insurance industry. We are always looking for new ways to make the claims process more efficient and reduce unnecessary costs, which results in a quicker and smoother process for the customer. The Portal we have developed with Aviva is a perfect example how we, as insurers, can and should use technology to improve the customer journey further and build trust in the industry.’
