The Australian insurance industry will return to a focus on new business growth this year, according to consultants Capgemini Australia.

This will be “predominantly driven by digital channels”, the group’s Insurance Practice Leader Dipak Sahoo told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

He says the “younger generation is looking at insurance seriously and adopting digital channels more than ever before”, with up to 40% of Gen Y customers preferring such channels.

But Mr Sahoo warns against a piecemeal approach.

“Up to now this has been done in bits and pieces. Companies need to start looking at the overall enterprise rather than just one line of business.”

A customer would not expect to get a different experience from two brands within the same company, or they would “start to wonder what is wrong”.

“There is immense opportunity to innovate in the digital space,” Mr Sahoo said.

Last year was the first chance for insurance companies to get off the “rollercoaster ride” of the global financial crisis and the eurozone crisis, he says.

With new business growth affected, they sought to improve bottom lines in other ways.

There were many alterations to operating models and much investment in technology, and this transformation occurred in tandem with a number of regulatory changes.

The year was benevolent from a natural catastrophe perspective, “which boosted the bottom line of insurance companies” and enabled them to “turn in good numbers”.