How Aviva has enhanced its online Commercial Combined proposition

Authored by Aviva

We know that placing business online for a complex product like Commercial Combined Insurance (CCI) isn’t always straightforward – especially if your risk doesn’t fit online appetite. This year, we’ve been developing our proposition to stretch the capability and appetite of the digital product and also to make sure you have the underwriting support you need when you need it.

In this article, Caren Barnett, Digital Strategy and Performance Manager, discusses how we’ve enhanced our service proposition for CCI to address your demands to make it easier and more seamless to place business online.  

What improvements have been made to service?

“We’ve invested heavily in our service proposition – recruiting roles into our digital trading team, increasing authority levels and bringing in more underwriting expertise from across the business.

We’ve listened to your feedback that you want quicker access to decision makers. As a result, we’ve created a specific CCI ‘skill set’ team to support our most complex digital non-motor product. 

This team is made up of some of our most experienced underwriters who are focused on finding the right solution for you and your clients. This approach will help you maximise your digital placement strategy.”

What happens if a risk can’t be placed online? 

“You’ve told us that it’s a struggle to get quotes from the market on small business which doesn’t fit online and that you waste a lot of time chasing quotes often with no success.

We’ve addressed this by introducing new functionality, integrated within the digital quote journey, initially for CCI –  for both Fast Trade and Acturis eTrade.

That means that where a risk doesn’t fit our online proposition, but we may be able to offer an offline solution, you can use our new functionality to request an offline quotation where it can be submitted directly to us, removing duplication from the process.

We know speed of service is key and so where risks are referred offline, we’ll work with you to quickly establish deadlines and keep you informed every step of the way.”

Where are these offline referrals handled?

“We’ve set up a new dedicated team of experienced underwriters based in our Digital Hub in Perth. And we’ve brought that experience in from across our existing Mid-Market offline teams so you can be confident that we’ve got the right people handling your businesses.

This team has the same levels of authority that you’d find within our Mid-Market teams, making our Digital Hub a ‘one-stop shop’ for CCI risks.”

How does this team differ?

“Whilst situated within digital, the team are all dedicated Mid-Market underwriters focusing solely on the CCI product. They’re there to deal with the demand that falls out of the digital system, on both Fast Trade and e-Trade.

The online and offline teams work collaboratively to find a right solution for your clients. This is a unique underwriting set-up for Aviva and we believe we’re the only insurer operating in this way. It allows us to capture business that traditionally ‘fell between the gaps’ of online appetite and regional Mid-Market business.”

The team will also work to find an offline solution for any existing Aviva online customer whose needs have changed, meaning they no longer fit our digital proposition.

Why does the new team sit within the digital structure?

“Situated in Perth alongside the online team, allows for easier collaboration and enables our underwriters to have a thorough understanding of our digital proposition. When business falls offline, our underwriters will discuss the risk with the broker to help them really understand the client’s business. As they learn more, they’ll constantly challenge our digital capability and remain focussed on placing as much business online for you as possible.” 

How successful is this new service proving to be?

“It’s still early days, but we’re seeing a strong demand for this service and we’re already helping brokers to find successful online and offline solutions.

One of the most rewarding things for me is the strong feedback and sentiment that our new service is starting to drive which I’m happy to share a selection of:

“Not fitting online so no other option and goodbye is the response from other insurers. It’s great Aviva has this option now and that they’re trying to bridge the gap.”“Aviva stand out – they listen to our feedback they keep pushing the innovative boundaries and have brought to fruition something we have been screaming for – a joined-up approach to online and offline risks. It’s a refreshing change to the usual ‘computer says no’ outcome we get across the market.”“Great service from Aviva. Quick responses and very proactive with calls being made. We do not get that from any other insurer.”

What additional benefit do you expect to see from this new service?

“We’re able to gather first-hand data to help us better understand business needs and why risks are still currently falling outside our enhanced digital proposition. This allows us to quickly identify common trends that we then use to help inform and validate our future transformation plans.”

What’s next for your CCI offering?

“Our mission is clear. We want to continue to provide the number one eTrading platforms1. And CCI is a key focus area where we have the biggest potential to continually stretch our capability.

We’ve an ambition for brokers to start their journey digitally for risks up to £15,000, which is why we’ve introduced this new capability. We’re encouraging brokers to take a digital-first approach in the knowledge that if it doesn’t fit online, we’ll be there to catch it.

But we’re not done by a long way and through our disciplined approach of ‘listen-learn-act’, we’ll continue to deliver further enhancements to make sure we’re meeting the increased broker demand. So, keep an eye out for more upcoming enhancements to our digital proposition in the near future.”

Caren Barnett

Digital Strategy and Performance Manager, Aviva