Insurers must be more customer focused, concludes EU-US Insurance Project

‘Consumer-centricity’ needs to be high on the agenda of insurance companies – that was the shared consensus of executives speaking at a forum in Frankfurt hosted by the EU-US Insurance Project.

The also concluded that some of the priority areas that insurers must address in 2017 include intra-group transactions and guarantees, cyber risk and the impact of consumer protection on the business models of insurance companies.

Speakers welcomed recent regulatory consumer protection efforts which are needed to adequately address today’s challenges of the digital world and to eliminate incentives for inappropriate sales practices.

Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of EIOPA, said: “The forum engages the world's two largest insurance markets in a dialogue with the ultimate goal of achieving efficient, effective and risk-based cross-border supervision. In the light of the challenges of the increased globalization and the need to place consumers in the centre of the business, such cooperation is crucial.”

Michael McRaith, director of FIO, said: “The EU-US Insurance Project has enhanced collaboration and understanding between insurance supervisory authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. With the ongoing commitment of US state and federal authorities, and EU participants, this multi-party engagement will continue to address issues of critical interest to the insurance industry and consumers in both markets.”