Optimized insurance management not only saves costs, but also guarantees sustainable protection – and all this continuously at improved insurance conditions. Insurances are a daily business for Bernd Hendges, Head of Insurance Management at Kloepfel Consulting. In an interview with Kloepfel Magazine, he reports on how his everyday life in insurance management is structured, how optimization projects are carried out and what companies can do to realize advantages on their own.
Which three tips would you give to companies that would like to optimize their insurance management?
First and foremost, companies should of course examine their own insurance programs in the course of benchmarking. Several German laws demand that company managers understand and manage their insurance coverage seamlessly. In order to meet these requirements, an insurance and broker tender is recommended on a regular basis. It is essential to check the quality of the service taking into account various alternatives. Those who do not know their requirements or to what extent they are covered, operate with high risk. Only if the required quality has been determined a benchmark regarding the insurance costs can be made in a second step. These consist of the premiums paid to the insurance company and the remuneration of the insurance broker. The resulting costs must be regularly compared with other providers in order to discover potential savings. The third recommendation that I give companies again and again is the creation of transparency and adherence to international compliance guidelines.
I often hear in interviews with my clients that they are well aware of the possibilities in insurance management, but that the implementation fails due to an acute lack of time. The management of their own products and services leaves little room for the topic of insurance. And companies often lack the necessary in-depth know-how, since insurance is a complex business.
For which exciting projects or customers have you already been able to apply your expertise?
Our services are in great demand in all sectors, because insurance is a necessity for every company. For example, we worked for Deutsche Hospitality, which also includes the Steigenberger hotel group, for Kathrein, one of the leading satellite manufacturers, and for the textile manufacturer Seidensticker. This sector-related diversity shows the enormous relevance that insurance management has for companies.
How exactly does an insurance management project work?
At the beginning of a project, we carry out an in-house analysis using the basic data provided by the customer. On the basis of various key figures, we evaluate whether a tender can be recommended. If this is the case, we provide the customer with a first forecast. If we are then commissioned to carry out the tender, we work out a strategy with the customer. This involves defining exactly what the customer needs (compliance), which topics are particularly important to him, and what, for example, he explicitly wants to have checked. This is an important step because only with an individually tailored strategy we can ensure that the result of the tender meets our customer’s expectations. At the same time, it is our special claim to service and quality.
Discussions about the price have not started at this point. It is important that the customer does not have to suffer qualitative disadvantages in his insurance program. We always guarantee the vested rights. Especially for international companies, compliance guidelines must also be observed. If we have agreed on a strategy, we will invite further insurance brokers in addition to the current insurance broker for the tender. The brokers are first examined and evaluated on the basis of a comprehensive catalogue – a list of questions. The catalogue contains around 30 questions, which are of course adapted to the client’s specific needs. With all the risk information required for the tender, which we make available to the brokers, they should then prepare an as-is analysis, submit alternative proposals and present the results to the customer and us. It is very important that the broker and not the insurer is on site. After all, we want to avoid turmoil among the client’s insurers. The brokers in our network are all of high quality and can therefore also make binding in-house offers. The prerequisite for these offers is always that the scope of insurance must not deteriorate under any circumstances. Instead, it must be at least at the existing level and in the best case, of course, even higher. We then examine the offers together with the customer, who ultimately makes the final decision.
How long does a project take?
The duration of the project always depends on the data quality, but can be estimated at an average of six to eight weeks. Project start is the day of the first customer interview and we do not consider the project to be finished until a final decision has been made and the results have been implemented. For the customer himself the effort is minimal and only a few days have to be invested. All our previous customers confirm that we have not only advised them but also relieved them of a lot of work. In order to make the decision easier for the customer we prepare a summary of the decision making process after the broker presentations, which highlights the essential points and shows how the brokers performed. On the basis of this summary, the customer can then decide whether to stay with his current broker or commission another one. We accompany the process until all important policies are available and the promised results have been implemented.
What are the financial benefits of optimizing insurance management?
In the last one and a half years we have carried out 35 projects for various companies. We were able to identify savings of 14 to 36 percent in relation to total costs. One of our current projects is very representative for the potential of insurance management. Not only financial, but also qualitative advantages have been created. We can achieve this through our extensive network of brokers. We have access to each and every professional insurance broker but we have no contractual agreements with them and are therefore 100% independent.
The subject of insurance is a very sensitive one. How do companies manage to be protected against all risks and at the same time realize savings?
This works by clearly focusing analyses and optimizations on quality and also on the subject of claims management. This focus coupled with a reliable network of insurance brokers allows us to walk the fine line between high quality and low costs. Our brokers provide us with regular feedback, which we in turn incorporate into our analyses. In this process, 10 eyes see more than two and our clients can benefit not only from our expertise, but from the expertise of our entire network. With us, our clients obtain an overview and insight.
Thank you for the interview!
Further information on insurance management at Kloepfel Consulting can be found here: www.kloepfel-consulting.com/en/services/insurance-management/