THE NEED

Rebounding from the financial crisis, the insurance industry has transitioned from survival mode to establishing sustained profitability in a market with low interest rates, aging technology, and challengening customer requirements.

Market and technology changes have had an impact on the insurance industry. Insurance companies need to embrace the industry trends towards transparency, advanced technology, and overall customer experience while managing risk and seeking optimal returns in a low-interest environment. The transformation needed is dynamic in an industry with dated systems and process.

Additionally, customers are asking for more; available online information, clear pricing models, and personal attention, and they do not want to take a lot of their peronal time to receive such service. All this while the industry faces the need to reduce opertating cost and re-invest the savings in technology.

THE SOLUTION...REAL EXPERIENCE

Starting with a review of the client’s vision and objectives, LoBue assists management in designing business models that contain cost, improve technology and provide improved customer service and delivery. The LoBue Group incorporates the following objectives in a typical transformation program for insurance companies:

• Designing and implementing required changes; aligning organization structure with strategic and operational objectives and positioning the firm for continued growth and success.
• Structuring the key customer-touch points - Improving the timeliness of claims processing, online account policy maintenance, and renewals while taking advantage of cross-sell opportunities.
• Designing claim and call centers that improve both the quality of customer service and the efficient use of equipment, software, human resources, incentive compensation and physical facilities.
• Transforming technology to improve transparency for the customer and support operational and business goals.
• Developing activity based key management indicators to create an early warning system for risk, operational issues, and customer service quality.

In the design and implementation of the project, LoBue consultants form a partnership with the firm’s management, facilitating a smooth transition of completed tasks from the project team; LoBue also provides requisite training and the transfer of project methodology and project knowledge. LoBue prides itself on implementing results that can be quantitatively measured, and contractually ties the consulting fees to major deliverables and milestones.

REAL RESULTS

A New England based, leading insurance provider had a major goal of significantly reducing their overhead expenses. LoBue had re-designed their administrative, human resources, facilities management, technical support, purchasing, legal and finance operations, achieving an annual reduction of expenses in excess of $100 million.

For the same insurer, LoBue had redesigned the retirement products operations, enhanced several products and streamlines operational processes and customer service. The bottom line results included $12 million in annual cost savings and an improvement to the revenue stream.

For a consortium of 30 large U.S. based insurers engaged in asbestos related litigation, LoBue had designed a non-profit subsidiary chartered for the paying of claims and the equitable distribution of liability to member companies. The project included the designing of operations and accounting processes, acquisition of staff, the development and installation of the supporting technology.