Changing industry landscape
"In our 20 year history, we’ve seen the industry shift significantly, and sometimes in a very short period of time."
The accident and health industry landscape is changing, from political and regulatory changes, financial crises and catastrophe losses, to increased competition, technological innovation and changing customer expectations.
As one of the few dedicated accident and health underwriting agencies in Australia, AHI has the experience and longevity to have seen the industry through many cycles.
AHI CEO Danny Byrnes, an insurance veteran, says “In our 20 year history, we’ve seen the industry shift significantly, and sometimes in a very short period of time. AHI has seen market and broker demands change many times, and we’re pleased to say that we are still leading the way, whether that’s through our current digital transformation, or our revised policy wordings that continue the removal of mental health exclusions across our policy suite. As the industry has changed, AHI has always remained true to its purpose of protecting what matters most to our partners and customers.”
To celebrate its 20 year anniversary, AHI is once again looking to redefine itself in the marketplace, with a contemporary new brand, self-service website, new broker portal and policy wordings, it’s not difficult to see the Underwriting agency is looking to see in the next era with a renewed focus on broker and customer experience.
Head of Strategic Initiatives and Technical Services, Pete Murdocca says, “we’ve taken the business back to basics and redefined how we want to operate in the changing accident and health landscape. We’re not looking to replace our award winning personal service, rather we’re going to leverage technology to do the heavy lifting and give our people more time to focus on what matters most to us, our broker and customer relationships.”
So what can the market expect from AHI in the remainder of 2018 and into 2019? It’s not often you see an industry leading organisation with a 20 year history reinvent itself, but that’s exactly what AHI have, and continue to do. CEO Danny Byrnes comments, “industry feedback on the new brand and coming changes has been really positive, we’ve got partnerships that began the day we opened our doors, and we can’t help but feel a sense of pride that we are now able to reward that loyalty with an improved customer experience. We’ve already seen an increase in broker engagement, and a significant number of new brokers, from regional to international join the AHI family. January 2019 will see the new policy wordings effective, as well as our continued investment in the AHI online broker portal, for quoting, binding and renewals.”
Danny says, “we are looking forward to working more closely with our broker network to create positive change for them and our shared customers.”
As competition continues to grow in the market, and global conditions create challenges for the insurance industry, we expect to see many players focus on top line growth as well as bottom-line profitability to ensure their sustainability. Read more in an interview with Danny Byrnes and Insurance Business magazine.