I met an honest insurance broker, they exist

One third of insurers and insurance brokers recently inspected by the DGCCRF (French consumer protection agency) are in breach of the law: they engage in illegal telephone canvassing, have contracts signed electronically after a single call resulting in an agreement from the prospect (which is illegal when the agreement has been extracted) and make it difficult to terminate contracts. Should we buy and give Spinoza* to all Orias members?

Should we give up hope of finding and working with a friendly, honest broker who gives good advice? Are brokers and insurers, who have to balance growth and compliance, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by technology? Here is some news from a sector that perfectly illustrates the transformation that companies must undergo.

In 2021 and 2022, the DGCCRF inspected more than 147 establishments and identified breaches of legislation in one third of them, which were serious enough to warrant issuing 50 warnings, injunctions and fines. Telemarketing is still highly contentious, with deliberate confusion maintained about the caller's real identity. Three-click cancellation is not yet widespread. There's work to be done :)

Insurance companies and brokers are not paying enough attention to their telephone reception and resource planning for managing and resolving claims. Following the riots and damage that occurred in recent days, En-Contact tested various companies yesterday and interviewed individuals and professionals who had suffered damage and were obviously keen to contact their insurer to report the claim and request a visit from an assessor. 

In more than 76% of cases, outdated IVR systems are still in use, which simply inform callers, after several long minutes of waiting, that the services are overwhelmed. It may be argued that the crisis is massive and the number of requests significant. But isn't crisis management at the heart of an insurer's business? Very few companies and their brokers are using callbots, which are functional and effective, to extend the hours during which claims are processed. Stéphane Manigold is going to get upset again, so please spare his feelings. (This restaurant owner rose to fame after taking his insurer AXA to court during the Covid crisis).

Business interruption, the duty to advise: in recent days, we have seen that many professionals whose businesses and dealerships have been damaged or looted will probably have to bear the cost of the damage themselves, as many of them had not taken out business interruption insurance. Was this a poorly thought-out cost-saving measure or a failure on the part of the broker to fulfil their duty to advise?  

The moment of truth in insurance is when a claim occurs and how it is subsequently handled, as industry professionals often point out. It is evident that throughout the entire customer journey, there are numerous areas for improvement.

However, there is also plenty of good news.

Santiane and its dynamic president, Pierre-Alain de Malleray, have just announced the acquisition of three companies in its sector, including wholesaler UGIP Assurances, pure player Julia Assurance and publisher Appli-Key. France's fourth-largest broker now has a turnover in excess of £100 million and, as a sign that it has embraced the benefits of technology, is completely rethinking the equipment used on its customer relations platform. The aim is to become even more omnichannel, with a focus on web callbacks. PAM and his team are street-smart, as he explained to us.

Cetri Assurances, another independent broker specialising in the automotive distribution sector, is also experiencing strong growth after digitising its activities and processes. Read the interview with its CEO, Patrice Guizard, in issue 129 of En Contact magazine. 

Monitor sales compliance and relay customer feedback. In less than two years, a French publisher competing with Verint, Nice, Nuance, etc., has managed to demonstrate to insurers, e-merchants and security specialists that it is possible to sell over the phone using legal arguments. That, after listening to and analysing them using AI, it was possible to process telephone conversations and objections better and faster, and reduce training and quality control costs. Callity, the software publisher in question, specialises in speech analytics and the transcription of telephone conversations and emails in near real time! With 50% growth this year and 100% customer satisfaction, our customers have told us that ‘Callity and Deeptranscript's services have changed their lives’. ‘They are as effective as Anglo-Saxon publishers, but less cumbersome to set up,’ says one medium-sized company that has adopted them. Thank you to the French engineering schools that train discreet and talented entrepreneurs. 

On Thursday, 6 July, Teleperformance and Manifone will present the surprising and inspiring results of their collaboration in the areas of telephone canvassing and prospect reachability. This is a complex subject, but one that is central to remote customer acquisition. Both French companies are leaders in their respective fields. However, it took them a while to start working together. This shows the value of perseverance. Respect, Mr Lounis Goudjil, who has made Vannes his home (see the photo on the front page, showing part of the management team, partially reunited, on a boat, in the middle of a seminar on disruption :). 

The latest good news is the probable and imminent end of the SFAM-Indexia ‘scandal’, which our magazine was the first to expose seven years ago**. For years, the affinity insurance broker enrolled and debited numerous policyholders who had often never given their explicit consent to these insurance policies and the resulting direct debits. Many Hubside Stores are now no longer paying their rent. More and more defrauded policyholders are obtaining compensation, thanks in particular to the tireless work of Emma Leoty, a courageous independent lawyer.

At the end of June 2022, Paris Match ran the headline: Sadri Fegaier: genius or crook? Soon, the question mark will no longer be necessary. Journalists sometimes do their job, and technology can help. Move!

*Spinoza: philosopher who wrote and pondered on ethics and the intellect of necessity.

**From time to time, given the level of hassle we have to endure to dare to be an independent press, don't forget to pat yourselves on the back.

Manuel Jacquinet