Kelly Whittington
Aviva
Manan Sagar
Gallagher Bassett
Alister Jupp
Crawford & Company
Industry experts
From AI to the Consumer Duty Act to inflationary pressures, what does the future hold for firms?
Weathering the storm: navigating a complex claims market in 2024 and beyond
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Kelly Whittington has been with Aviva for 26 years and has held a number of roles in that time. She has spent most of her time as part of the claims team, and she is now our director of commercial claims. Within this role, Whittington is responsible for commercial motor and commercial property claims service delivery to our brokers and clients from the moment they notify us of a claim to the moment that claim is settled. The broker and client claims service managers work across the UK to ensure we are continually developing relationships with our broker and client partners. Whittington leads our speciality lines team covering travel, mobile device insurance and home emergency claims.
Aviva
Kelly Whittington
Manan Sagar is an experienced global leader in insurance and technology with a history of building and managing profitable, high-growth businesses. Sagar has a proven track record of establishing the culture, articulating the vision and setting the strategy to successfully develop complex businesses across multiple global markets from acquisition through to maturity. Having previously held many senior positions across the insurance and technology sector, Sagar is currently the chief executive officer of Gallagher Bassett UK, bringing data-driven innovation, insights and expertise to claims management.
Gallagher Bassett
Manan Sagar
After obtaining a grounding in insurance and the world of claims in both insurer and broker capacities, Alister Jupp joined Thomas Howell (subsequently acquired by Crawford & Company) in 1992 to begin his loss-adjusting career. After qualifying as a chartered loss adjuster in 1997, he moved into major loss dealing with high-value claims across several industry sectors. Since moving into management, he has held a number of senior positions within both major loss and the wider property and specialty business. Currently he is head of specialty, focused on the expert lead solutions within various sectors including casualty, construction, engineering and cyber. Jupp has also produced articles and thought leadership for both Crawford and the general insurance press. In addition, he is passionate about people and talent development and has been involved in several projects to develop the next generation of loss adjusters.
Crawford & Company
Alister Jupp
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Gallagher Bassett (GB) is the United Kingdom’s leading provider of claims and risk management solutions for corporates, insurers, brokers and MGAs. GB is committed to providing solutions that reduce risk, improve efficiency and deliver superior outcomes.
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Solving claims challenges through innovation and expertise. For more than 80 years, Crawford has led the industry through a relentless investment in people and the innovative tools that empower them. This unique combination enables us to provide unrivalled claims management solutions to insurance carriers, insurance brokers and corporations worldwide. • Loss adjusting • Third-party administration • Managed repair
• On-demand services • Catastrophe response
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Aviva is one of the UK’s leading insurance, wealth and retirement businesses. Our purpose is to be with you today for a better tomorrow. We’re here for our customers when it really matters. We help our 19.2 million customers make the most of life, plan for the future and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right. We’ve been taking care of people for more than 325 years, so we understand that what you do today creates what’s possible tomorrow. We live in the same streets and work in the same towns. We’re deeply invested in our people, our customers, our communities and the planet that is our home.
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Looking ahead to what the future holds for the claims sector at large, our experts are optimistic about the lay of the land.
“I think we’re going to see regulators take more of an interest in what’s happening – you will see people investing in data infrastructures, analytics will be more nimble, more flexible in their approach and quicker in the pace of how they implement things in the market,” says Jupp. “Whether that’s bringing a new product, whether it’s dynamic pricing or whether that’s focusing on a niche market for their underwriting or broking product.”
For Whittington, she believes the future will see more of a focus on brokers using their unique expertise and understanding to help enhance the claims experience for insurers.
“Right now, we’re doing a lot of work with brokers on both the speed of notification and quality of information provided – this is a key focus for us in 2024,” she tells Insurance Business. “Fast claims notification, in particular on the same day of the incident, brings with it a number of benefits. This is a less recognised area of importance, and can prove difficult when multiple parties are involved, but it’s also a key driver in swift and efficient resolutions for customers.”
And while technology, particularly AI, will always be an important part of the industry’s overall future, Jupp warns that it’s not a miraculous answer to any challenges the sector is yet to face. Essentially, he’s confident that insurance will always be a people-led practice.
“I do worry about that balance between human intervention and AI,” says Jupp. “There’s a lot of emphasis placed on AI, but we also need people in the future. AI technology will augment what we do – not replace it. [It’s important] to be careful that it’s not seen as a panacea to all evils.”
replace it. This again chimes with the industry’s passion for people – both their own employees and the clients they help.
“At Gallagher Bassett UK, we’re selectively investing in technology – including generative AI – that enhances customer service and streamlines claims processing,” adds Sagar. “However, we recognise the importance of balancing automation with the human touch. While AI can handle routine tasks – like summarise notification of a claim – complex claims require the expertise and judgment of experienced claims professionals. Our approach is to use AI to augment human capabilities, ensuring that our clients receive both efficient and personalised service and our people are able to focus on what matters most: service.”
Future trends and industry predictions
According to research from Deloitte, over 90 percent of insurance companies are already using AI or are in the process of introducing it to their people. And this only looks set to continue, with the global AI insurance market predicted to be worth $79.86 billion by 2032 – a growth of CAGR 33.06 percent.
“We’re investing heavily in claims from a tech perspective, but also in terms of the capability of our people,” adds Whittington. “We recognise that making a claim is our ‘moment of truth’ for the customer, and we must make the claims experience as efficient as we can to deliver a great claims service. We’re there to support our customers when they need us the most, so keeping the human element in the claims service is so important.”
For example, at Aviva, they use virtual assistants and chatbots to help with some of the most common queries, offering customers quicker solutions. This allows their experts to concentrate on helping customers who may have more complicated queries or where they may require more support, such as those with vulnerabilities.
“Where we’re using AI is around automation of processes – making it easier for our claims handlers to work more efficiently to improve our overall claims customer experience,” says Whittington. “This means we can leverage the benefits of AI while maintaining the quality of customer service and personal relationships, improving efficiencies to deliver a better claims service.”
The key theme organisations are sticking true to is that technology should be used to enhance the human touch – not
Claims inflation was also a big issue last year with global climate change and ESG concerns becoming increasingly important risk factors to grapple with. According to data from the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2023, extreme weather events and climate-related disasters continued to wreak havoc on global economies – costing the equivalent of $1.5 trillion in the decade leading up to 2019. But is this really set to change in 2024? Or are these underlying issues still driving inflation?
“Claims inflation continues to be a pressing issue in 2024, driven by factors such as fraud, climate change, advancements in vehicle technology, and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” says Manan Sagar, CEO Gallagher Bassett United Kingdom. “The impact of these factors has not diminished; instead, they have become more complex and interwoven with new challenges. For example, the increased frequency of natural catastrophes due to climate change has resulted in higher claims volumes and complexities. Similarly, supply chain issues continue to cause delays and complications in claims resolution processes.”
Jupp agrees, adding that while overall claims may have diminished slightly, there’s no denying that they’re still there – driven mainly by geopolitical events.
“We’ve seen the war in Ukraine and Russia still going on,” he tells IB. “We see the Middle East crisis and the issues with the Red Sea. We have also got upcoming elections on both sides of the ocean this year. All that is likely to have an impact on inflation supply chain issues, which is at the lowest rate since January 2022– the looming general election could mean that there is still some volatility. And while The Bank of England may be anticipating inflation to come down, any of those geopolitical events could change that dramatically in a relatively short period of time.”
Climate change concerns in claims
Any discussion around industry trends and challenges would be lacking without mentioning the buzzword of the day – AI. Generative AI has managed to shift the zeitgeist, with more and more companies looking at investing time and money into exploring the new tools on the market. But is robotics really a replacement for the human touch, or something to help augment the process?
“For us, Crawford is about technology supporting our people – because our people are our biggest asset,” says Jupp. “The expertise and empathy they bring to any claims scenario is at the forefront of what we do. We see technology as an enhancement enabler to our people. My belief is AI will replace those run-of-the-mill backroom-type tasks so we can spend more time with customers and policyholders at their time of need.”
The rise of AI in claims handling
But it is not all doom and gloom; the introduction of the Consumer Duty Act has meant a renewed focus on customer and client care. Introduced in 2023, the act sets a high expectation of the standard of care that organizations give consumers, putting an emphasis on positive outcomes for the public – and it is beginning to revolutionize the industry.
“[The Act] is having an effect on all of us and how we deal with claims,” says Alister Jupp, head of specialty, UK & Ireland at Crawford & Company. “[There’s] a focus on customer service that we have not perhaps seen before in the industry. Crawford created a new role of chief customer officer earlier this year to reflect the importance we place on communicating with customers, against a backdrop of growing regulatory focus on insurance, including the FCA’s Consumer Duty Act.”
“But it’s escape of water that remains the most frequent reason for a property claim and can lead to untold damage and disruption for our customers and their properties.”
According to research from the Association of British Insurers, property insurers paid out the equivalent of £13 million every single day of 2023 to help organizations and individuals deal with weather-related disasters – a 10 percent increase from 2022.
GRAPPLING WITH the increasingly complex claims market is anything but plain sailing in 2024 – especially considering the notable increase in overall claims volume this year compared to 2023. Why? – a combination of severe weather and supply chain issues.
Speaking to Insurance Business, Kelly Whittington, commercial lines claims director – property & motor at Aviva, says that a wet and windy start to the year has seen a rise in property claims. However, this has only served to underscore their long-standing ‘prevention-first philosophy’.
“[That’s] resulted in an increase in frequent named storms and more weather-related claims in 2024 than we had at the same point in 2023, with January and February volumes up,” she explains.
Published Jul 8, 2024
“Our approach is to use AI to augment human capabilities, ensuring that our clients receive both efficient and personalised service and our people are able to focus on what matters most: service”
Manan Sagar,
Gallagher Bassett United Kingdom
“We recognise that making a claim is our ‘moment of truth’ for the customer, and we must make the claims experience as efficient as we can to deliver a great claims service”
Kelly Whittington,
Aviva
“There’s a lot of emphasis placed on AI, but we also need people in the future. AI technology will augment what we do – not replace it”
Alister Jupp,
Crawford & Company
Kelly Whittington
Aviva
Manan Sagar
Gallagher Bassett
Alister Jupp
Crawford & Company
Industry experts
More
From AI to the Consumer Duty Act to inflationary pressures, what does the future hold for firms?
Weathering the storm: navigating a complex claims market in 2024 and beyond
In Partnership with
Share
Kelly Whittington has been with Aviva for 26 years and has held a number of roles in that time. She has spent most of her time as part of the claims team, and she is now our director of commercial claims. Within this role, Whittington is responsible for commercial motor and commercial property claims service delivery to our brokers and clients from the moment they notify us of a claim to the moment that claim is settled. The broker and client claims service managers work across the UK to ensure we are continually developing relationships with our broker and client partners. Whittington leads our speciality lines team covering travel, mobile device insurance and home emergency claims.
Aviva
Kelly Whittington
Manan Sagar is an experienced global leader in insurance and technology with a history of building and managing profitable, high-growth businesses. Sagar has a proven track record of establishing the culture, articulating the vision and setting the strategy to successfully develop complex businesses across multiple global markets from acquisition through to maturity. Having previously held many senior positions across the insurance and technology sector, Sagar is currently the chief executive officer of Gallagher Bassett UK, bringing data-driven innovation, insights and expertise to claims management.
Gallagher Bassett
Manan Sagar
After obtaining a grounding in insurance and the world of claims in both insurer and broker capacities, Alister Jupp joined Thomas Howell (subsequently acquired by Crawford & Company) in 1992 to begin his loss-adjusting career. After qualifying as a chartered loss adjuster in 1997, he moved into major loss dealing with high-value claims across several industry sectors. Since moving into management, he has held a number of senior positions within both major loss and the wider property and specialty business. Currently he is head of specialty, focused on the expert lead solutions within various sectors including casualty, construction, engineering and cyber. Jupp has also produced articles and thought leadership for both Crawford and the general insurance press. In addition, he is passionate about people and talent development and has been involved in several projects to develop the next generation of loss adjusters.
Crawford & Company
Alister Jupp
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Source: FIS
of UK insurance executives are investing in AI
63%
of US insurance executives are investing in AI
50%
of UK executives are investing to ensure customers have access to competitive interest rates
81%
of UK executives are investing in delivering incentives for future customers
69%
Insurance sector’s investment in AI
Source: ABI
amount paid out to homeowners and businesses
£4.86b
the average claim paid to businesses and homeowners
£6,235
total home insurance weather-related damage claims
£573m
total homeowners’ storm damage claims
£133m
Weather chaos causes insurance claims rise in 2023
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Copyright © 2024 KM Business Information UK Ltd
Copyright © 2024 KM Business Information UK Ltd
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Contact us
About us
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Share
Kelly Whittington
Aviva
Manan Sagar
Gallagher Bassett
Alister Jupp
Crawford & Company
Industry experts
More
In Partnership with
From AI to the Consumer Duty Act to inflationary pressures, what does the future hold for firms?
Weathering the storm: navigating a complex claims market in 2024 and beyond
Contact Us
Specialty
Best in Insurance
Resources
Risk Management
TV
News
UK
Kelly Whittington has been with Aviva for 26 years and has held a number of roles in that time. She has spent most of her time as part of the claims team, and she is now our director of commercial claims. Within this role, Whittington is responsible for commercial motor and commercial property claims service delivery to our brokers and clients from the moment they notify us of a claim to the moment that claim is settled. The broker and client claims service managers work across the UK to ensure we are continually developing relationships with our broker and client partners. Whittington leads our speciality lines team covering travel, mobile device insurance and home emergency claims.
Aviva
Kelly Whittington
Manan Sagar is an experienced global leader in insurance and technology with a history of building and managing profitable, high-growth businesses. Sagar has a proven track record of establishing the culture, articulating the vision and setting the strategy to successfully develop complex businesses across multiple global markets from acquisition through to maturity. Having previously held many senior positions across the insurance and technology sector, Sagar is currently the chief executive officer of Gallagher Bassett UK, bringing data-driven innovation, insights and expertise to claims management.
Gallagher Bassett
Manan Sagar
After obtaining a grounding in insurance and the world of claims in both insurer and broker capacities, Alister Jupp joined Thomas Howell (subsequently acquired by Crawford & Company) in 1992 to begin his loss-adjusting career. After qualifying as a chartered loss adjuster in 1997, he moved into major loss dealing with high-value claims across several industry sectors. Since moving into management, he has held a number of senior positions within both major loss and the wider property and specialty business. Currently he is head of specialty, focused on the expert lead solutions within various sectors including casualty, construction, engineering and cyber. Jupp has also produced articles and thought leadership for both Crawford and the general insurance press. In addition, he is passionate about people and talent development and has been involved in several projects to develop the next generation of loss adjusters.
Crawford & Company
Alister Jupp
Looking ahead to what the future holds for the claims sector at large, our experts are optimistic about the lay of the land.
“I think we’re going to see regulators take more of an interest in what’s happening – you will see people investing in data infrastructures, analytics will be more nimble, more flexible in their approach and quicker in the pace of how they implement things in the market,” says Jupp. “Whether that’s bringing a new product, whether it’s dynamic pricing or whether that’s focusing on a niche market for their underwriting or broking product.”
For Whittington, she believes the future will see more of a focus on brokers using their unique expertise and understanding to help enhance the claims experience for insurers.
“Right now, we’re doing a lot of work with brokers on both the speed of notification and quality of information provided – this is a key focus for us in 2024,” she tells Insurance Business. “Fast claims notification, in particular on the same day of the incident, brings with it a number of benefits. This is a less recognised area of importance, and can prove difficult when multiple parties are involved, but it’s also a key driver in swift and efficient resolutions for customers.”
And while technology, particularly AI, will always be an important part of the industry’s overall future, Jupp warns that it’s not a miraculous answer to any challenges the sector is yet to face. Essentially, he’s confident that insurance will always be a people-led practice.
“I do worry about that balance between human intervention and AI,” says Jupp. “There’s a lot of emphasis placed on AI, but we also need people in the future. AI technology will augment what we do – not replace it. [It’s important] to be careful that it’s not seen as a panacea to all evils.”
![Alister Jupp headshot](https://media-s3-us-east-1.ceros.com/key-media/images/2024/07/03/7c1e353c169fbfc05a2d65bf127c9eee/img-1664-alister-jupp-crawford.JPG)