IN the past two weeks we have been analyzing some of the dynamics in the Zambian insurance market.
Today I will specifically look at technological advancement and some of the opportunities we have not yet utilized.
I was intrigued when I received a text message from my insurer reminding me to renew my policy which was expiring in about a month’s time. Two weeks later I received the same reminder.
This reminder was useful as it allowed me to arrange renewal of my policy way ahead and I had to commend my insurer on this score.
It is one of the best and cheaper ways of reminding clients to renew their policies especially in personal lines.
Rather than prepare renewal notices which requires a lot of paper-work, why not make use of today’s technology.
Alternatively this technology can be used to supplement the traditional ways of communicating to clients.
In this time and age, technology is moving at a very fast rate.
For example students on a four-year degree programme may find that by the time they are in their fourth year, the technology they learned in the first year has become obsolete.
Consider how faxes were so prominent in the last two to three years in Zambia, yet today they are rarely used.  I do not even remember the last time I received a fax from my office.
Emails have since overtaken faxes as a means of sending and receiving documents.
With the advent of smart phones people can receive their office mails instantly on their cell phones.
Despite these developments, the Zambian insurance players have not yet made optimal use of technology in generic terms.
Most of the documents are still issued manually such as motor certificates and policy documents.
A number of players have their internal Information Communication Technology systems they use to generate some documents but these systems are rarely extended to intermediaries or offsite operations such as at mobile offices.
This therefore means a considerable human input susceptible to its own risks.
Imagine a client with a fleet of more than 500 vehicles who wants cover notes or certificates.
The insurer or broker has to spend many hours writing with the same in ink but with more investment in ICT this can be reduced, thereby making service delivery more efficient.
A client could be requested for a schedule of their fleet which they usually have in excel and within a few minutes export or upload it unto their (insurer’s) system.
Alternatively, a client considered to be large, can be connected to the system that allows them restricted access but enough to generate significant documents such as a motor certificate.
The centralized pooling of information through national data bases is an area the market also lags behind.
From the underwriting point of view, there is no sharing of information, for example an unscrupulous person can insure his vehicle with two insurers with the intention of claiming from both in an event of a loss.
Further insurers’ data bases are not linked to the Road Transport and Safety Agency database.
If there was such a linkage for example, there would be very few if any uninsured motor vehicles.
What the agency would be doing is that, at the point of issuing road tax they will simply check or they set an automatic confirmation from the database whether the vehicle in question is insured.
From the claims side there is no central data base for example of total losses.
This poses a huge risk to the industry for example one who repairs such a vehicle that was written off can get away with it as there is a very slim chance of other insurers detecting the same like in other developed markets.
When we talk about e-marketing the industry has not yet done much.
I commend insurers for their websites, which contain products they offer and contact details which is very important for a prospect.
There should be very few if any insurers with a service of completing a transaction online without physical contact with the insurer.
I am aware of life insurance that can be bought via mobile service providers which I commend insurers for such initiatives.
The intention of this article is to provoke players to think outside the box and make optimal use of technology.
Comments: webster@picz.co.zm or webster_tj@hotmail.com or on face book search for Insurance Talk-Zambia page or call/text 0977 857 055
(The author is a Chartered Insurer with more than ten years industry experience).