Talanx modernises by digitalising the property/casualty business in Germany

"The measures will make our processes leaner, will improve our service for agents and clients, while at the same time helping to cut our costs significantly," said Herbert K. Haas, Chairman of the Board of Management of Talanx AG.
"Direct sales through online channels will continue to grow. At the same time, clients will continue to need a personal, highly qualified contact for products that require a relatively high degree of consulting. We will seamlessly integrate the online and offline worlds, thereby optimising the development of our products and services for the digital world," explained Dr Jan Wicke, the member of the Board of Management of Talanx AG with responsibility for the Retail Germany Division. "State-of-the-art processes and efficient IT platforms are a decisive success factor here."
Many of today's IT systems in property/casualty insurance will be successively replaced by tailored SAP software, as has already happened in the private liability, casualty and property insurance business. By the year 2019, SAP is also set to be comprehensively deployed in the Automotive line. The new automotive business will operate using SAP from the autumn onwards. In addition, automation across all lines is to be boosted significantly. With the launch of the new automotive product on the SAP platform in October 2016, the automation of business transactions in automotive new business will rise to over 80 percent. By the year 2020, 90 percent of the private new and renewal business within the composite insurance field will be processed automatically.
The first steps towards further process optimisation and improved service quality have already been initiated. On the automotive insurance side, direct sales through online channels such as www.hdi.de and comparison portals will be strengthened. In order to enable clients to interact with HDI at all hours, the insurer is also planning a self-service portal with which clients can independently administer personal details, such as their address information. The portal is set to go live parallel to the new automotive product in the autumn of 2016. In the spring, a claims service app will also be launched, which clients can use to exchange relevant information, in particular photos, directly with the insurer. This will enable claims for damage to vehicles as well as private liability and property insurance claims to be settled more quickly in overall terms. In addition, HDI agents are set to become more digital in future. Various components will successively be made available, enabling clients to contact their agent through digital channels with greater ease.
By modernising the property/casualty business, Talanx is finalising the last key component of the investment, growth and efficiency-boosting programme for the business in Germany. In the wake of the restructuring, the property/casualty and life insurance in the strategically important Retail Germany Divison is to become considerably more efficient due to annual savings from the year 2020 onwards of around EUR 240 million. In addition, additional positive sales effects are also expected to be generated.
In the summer of 2015, the company announced details of the restructuring of its German life insurance operations. For example, conventional life insurance policies are to be replaced by new, modern and capital-efficient life insurance products. To improve efficiency and for faster time-to-market, a standardised product and administration platform for all life insurers within the division is also being developed, along with the digitalisation of business processes and client contact points.
Initial measures have already been implemented. These include the capital-efficient "modern classic" on the new business side that was launched on 1 January 2016. For example, the "aktivplan" pension policies from neue leben, the "PB Privat Rente Zukunft" from PB Lebensversicherung, the "Privat-Rente Komfort" from Targo Lebensversicherung as well as the "TwoTrust Kompakt" from HDI. The latter is offered for occupational pension scheme provision (betriebliche Altersversorgung – "bAV"). With its treaty administration online portal "HDI bAVnet" launched in the autumn of 2015, HDI has achieved a pioneering position in technical terms in this field. In December 2015, this was awarded the "Digital Lighthouse" award by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Google. In future, business activities with risk and biometric products will also be strengthened.