Clients must be placed at the core of everything from underwriting to claims experience, according to a report on the future for the commercial insurance industry.

The customer is now king thanks to the availability of information in the digital age, Suncorp’s latest Insurance Insights paper says.

“There is a real threat to the viability of insurance players… if they do not view their businesses from their customers’ perspective,” according to report author and CEO Commercial Insurance Anthony Day.

He says multiple distribution channels are needed to cater for changing and diverse requirements.

“The commercial insurer needs to have the broadest distribution strategy it can sustain. At the same time, the strategy needs to be flexible in adopting technology, which is in itself evolving rapidly.”

Shifts in customer buying preferences are a crucial concern for intermediaries such as brokers and authorised representatives, the report says.

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