Tara Waite, our CEO, has outlined her thoughts for the year ahead in Insurance Times alongside other business leaders. Here is what she has to say. 

The future is bright for businesses who continue to put customers first.

One real opportunity we see for workplaces and working patterns as a result of COVID, is the further enhancement of customer journeys. The move ‘home’ emphasised the importance of simplicity and continuity of service coupled with a strong relationship model. We see advantage in the continued digitisation and automation work we have been doing to remove friction. Having replaced our core platforms and interfaces over the past few years we are focussed on the real value enablers for our partners and their customers.

The evolving regulatory landscape will be an area that raises some challenge. Protecting customers continues to be very high on the FCA’s agenda, especially during these unprecedented times. We will continue to work with the regulator as they shape new guidance to safeguard customers in areas such as assessment of affordability and forbearance. The whole insurance industry can expect the regulator to continue in this direction well into 2021. This also presents an opportunity. Businesses that offer their own premium finance will recognise the impact of changing multiple systems to meet strict regulatory requirements, and may look to partner with someone whose core business is the compliant and efficient processing of premium finance.

Despite COVID and Brexit uncertainty, those who keep their customers front of mind will thrive!