HISCOX CASE STUDY - Customer Service Improvement 

Background

The arrival of COVID-19 saw the insurance company Hiscox UK (Hiscox) facing a significant influx of Business Interruption (BI) insurance claims, and they wanted to improve their processes for handling those claims in an accurate and reliable manner. The situation was also significantly complicated by a Supreme Court case involving Hiscox and seven other insurance companies. Brought by the Financial Conduct Authority, this challenged the insurers’ refusal to pay out BI claims to some small firms.

Challenges & Opportunities 

Via financial services consultancy 42Stats, which was already working with Hiscox, VISION Consulting (VISION) was tasked with establishing a Resolver role and process to handle exceptions, breakdowns, and lead continuous improvement of the process, systems and performance at Hiscox. This included contributing to the design of a new claims portal, producing training materials on processes and systems for claim handlers, and delivering training courses that would rapidly develop and strengthen their competencies.

The programme was rolled out in September 2020, four months before the outcome of the Supreme Court case. VISION therefore had to build flexibility into the portal and the training strategy to allow for this outcome – which would ultimately back the small businesses and lead the insurers to settle significantly more claims.

ACCOUNT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

VISION APPROACH

An initial team of four VISION people was dedicated to the project for two months, significantly assisting in the design of the portal, creating bespoke training modules and processes for smoother resolution, and providing the first port of call for claim handlers with questions or issues, which VISION helped them to resolve so that the claims could progress.

Following this, the team was slimmed down to one VISION engagement manager to continue work on refinement as the Supreme Court judgement approached.

The project showcased VISION’s talent for mobilisation – moving into a chaotic, rapidly changing scenario, with the backdrop of the pandemic crisis and the legal case, while proving able to think and act at pace.

As part of the initiative, VISION introduced a number of new practices to ensure success: 

• Daily huddles with client teams.

• Bi-weekly reviews with senior managers.

• Monthly reviews with senior management.

• Mid-point reviews held during each phase ( the project was to be extended across four phases).

VISION’s engagement manager maintained a commitment tracker with the client engagement lead and reviewed this regularly to ensure client satisfaction.

SERVICE DELIVERY

Training preparation and delivery/establishment of the Resolver function

September–October 2020

TRAINING

• Learning the processes. 

• Learning the portal.

• Preparing training materials on process and systems.

• Delivering first pieces of training for Admin and FNOL team.

• Holding daily clinic sessions. 

• Completing training materials for the processes and portal functionality that were designed at that point (Release 1, plus some elements of what later became Release 2).

RESOLVER

• Establishing the Resolver function – creating channels of communication, building relationships with the process team, portal team, IT team and senior management team (for issues requiring escalation).

• Responding to queries related to existing live processes. Liaising with a wide range of individuals and teams to create solutions and provide answers. 

VISION’s work with Hiscox continued after this with continuation projects across five further training and Resolver stages. This was required to manage the significant surge in claims that followed the Supreme Court judgement.

When VISION began work with Hiscox in September 2020, the company was receiving up to 10 claims a day. By March/April 2021, that figure had risen to 160. VISION continued to successfully support Hiscox with training and resolving claims through to September 2021.

CONTRACT PERFORMANCE 

OUTCOMES/

The skills and processes acquired by the Hiscox claim handlers as a result of VISION rapid mobilisation enabled the business to cope with a level of claims that might otherwise have overwhelmed part of its operation. 

VISION supported in the design and mobilisation of the portal, provided crucial training and, in VISION role as the Resolver, swiftly resolved hundreds of claims.

VISION enabled Hiscox to keep on top of a challenging situation, improve its processes, and build a template for mobilisation in other unexpected circumstances.

Importantly, VISION then passed on those training skillsets to their internal training teams, so that they could continue the work themselves.

The Head of Operations at Hiscox BI Claims wrote to VISION Lead Resolver to say: “You’ve been instrumental in driving solutions across BI claims, ensuring our customer service was prioritised and getting claims moving.”