Meeting customer expectations, leveraging on rapid technology advancements and navigating a tough economic environment are among the main challenges facing insurers, delegates at the 10th annual Claims Convention heard last week.

Accenture Insurance Strategy Lead for Asia-Pacific Ravi Malhotra, who spoke at the event in Sydney, says today’s insurance customers have high expectations.

“In general, consumers are more demanding… they are price-sensitive but also have high expectations of service and product choice and coverage,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Customers are also much more demanding in terms of experience expectations, which have been learned from their interactions with companies in other industries, and they increasingly expect interactions and offers that are personalised and relevant for them.

“Essentially, customers have come to expect many of the same things from insurers that they would from a great retailer or e-commerce company.”

Insurers will succeed if they are in sync with client needs and ready to leverage on technology advances to reach out to customers.

Technology will play an increasing role in the way insurers connect with clients.

Insurers are also under pressure to produce strong underwriting results amid challenging business conditions.

“Being ready to navigate these challenges will require companies to have an understanding of the changing environment and how they are currently positioned for it,” Mr Malhotra said.

“They will need to strategically apply technology where possible to enable new offerings, improve existing operations and empower their workforce.”

The convention is organised by the Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters in collaboration with the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.