CPP Group UK Press Pack - BIBA 2019

CPP Group UK

Press Pack

BIBA 2019

InsurTech product set to improve insurance renewal rates

CPP Group UK, the financial assistance product provider, has launched a new
InsurTech device, Smart Key Protection, in response to customer retention
challenges that insurers face.

The product has been developed to help insurers add further value to their
products and services. With customers usually looking for an alternative provider
at the end of an annual policy, it’s essential for insurers to go beyond
competitive pricing if they are to increase customer retention rates.

The Bluetooth device has been designed to be attached to keys and has a
separation alert when the connection between the device and smartphone is
broken. The alert is presented to the consumer through an app, which can be
fully white-labelled, stand-alone or embedded within an existing, branded app.
As only five per cent* of insurance customers say they download their provider’s
app, the Smart Key Protection device will also help insurers tackle the challenge
of gaining and retaining mobile app users.

Online research by YouGov of 1,652 key and smartphone owners showed that 50
per cent would be more likely to purchase insurance if Smart Key Protection was
offered as part of an insurance package with the same or less coverage than
others on the market. Crucially, amongst owners with home or car insurance, 67
per cent stated that if the product was included in their policy, they would be
likely to renew it, if the price was similar or more than their competitors.

The app itself has been specifically designed using an API feed for simple
integration and has features such as last known location and an SOS button to
access a 24/7 locksmith network. It encourages regular interaction with the app
in the event of misplacing keys or their phone and is a modular proposition that
can be customised by the client according to their customer’s requirements.

Michael Whitfield, managing director of CPP Group’s UK New Business team,
commented: “Smart Key Protection will help insurers mitigate one of their
biggest challenges, which, like most organisations is retaining customers. We
specifically asked consumers about how technology can motivate their financial
services purchasing behaviour and 38 per cent say they would be likely to
upgrade their insurance policy if this product was included.

“This marks a huge milestone for our business. We’ve developed an end-to-end
customisable proposition that we think is a very attractive offering for a number
of clients. The notion that technology can be used to prevent a claim and deliver
exceptional customer service is something that is core to our new product
development strategy.”

The launch of Smart Key Protection marks the return of CPPGroup Plc to the UK
market and is the first in a number of FinTech and InsurTech products to be
launched.

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CPP Group UK announce partnership deal with sports club cyber
                       specialist – DeCyber

CPP Group UK, the financial assistance product provider, has partnered with
cyber security specialists, DeCyber, to launch a suite of products set to
transform how sports clubs and sports businesses manage their online security.

58% of malware attack victims are reportedly on small businesses or
organisations*, with the estimated cost of these cyber-crimes amounting to
£800 million per year in the UK alone**. Organisations that fall victim to cyber-
attacks risk losing members and customers as well as damaging their brand
reputation. With GDPR regulations now in force, they can also face substantial
financial penalties if they suffer a data breach.

CPP Group has partnered with DeCyber, strategically backed by The Risk
Transfer Group to offer a collection of products – OwlDetect, KYND and Wardwiz
- to help sports organisations and leisure businesses detect and manage the
risks arising from potential cyber-attacks. These solutions are provided in
conjunction with leading cyber insurance cover through Lloyd’s of London and
cyber risk awareness training through CybSafe.

Michael Whitfield, managing director of UK New Business at CPP, commented:
“Small organisations and businesses represent very easy targets for cyber
hackers and distributers of malware. Creating awareness of the damage that
cyber-attacks can cause is the first objective and we’re delighted to be
partnering with the DeCyber team in presenting a set of tools that can help to
achieve this in a very straightforward and approachable way. The fact that these
tools can then help to prevent the consequences of any breach is of huge value.”

Jonathon Lane has been working in the insurance sector for over 16 years. Since
2016 he has been focusing on the Cyber protection market. DeCyber is being
launched into the sports and leisure sector as clubs and organisations have
increasingly become the target of online attacks, particularly due to the amount
of valuable membership data they hold and manage.

Jonathon Lane, managing director of DeCyber, commented: “The statistics out
there about the risks that sports clubs are facing are pretty frightening,
especially when you consider there are multiple ways that they can be targeted
and that all these organisations will hold member or customer data. DeCyber’s
easy to use platform and proprietary “healthcheck” process ensures that clubs
and associations can have simple, easy and cost effective access to the latest
Cyber protection solutions.

“The products that we’ve developed with CPP and other partners will provide a
quick, straightforward and affordable way in which these organisations can
provide themselves with very significant levels of protection.”

The launch with DeCyber marks the return of CPP Group Plc to the UK market
and is one of many of a number of tech related products that will be launched in
the coming months.

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Brokers need to seize the initiative in the cyber market…for their
                      own good, as well as their clients’

By Michael Whitfield, managing director of CPP UK New Business

An Insurance Age article reported that Anna Sweeney, director, insurance
supervision at the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), warned that more
ground needs to be covered by firms in relation to cyber insurance risk.
The regulator is particularly encouraging practitioners and product providers to
be more proactive and to take more strategic positions in respect of cyber risk
management.

Having been personally active in the insurance broker market in various ways for
more than 30 years, the PRA’s review somewhat touches a nerve. Yes, more
should be done in terms of insurance providers raising awareness of cyber
strategies and products. However, it is with brokers that the real need for action,
but also the very real opportunity lies.

I believe that it is a core role of insurance brokers to raise the profile of risk
management generally with their SME clients. They have an emerging
opportunity to position themselves as the provider of choice in respect of cyber
risk management and mitigation solutions and the provision of advice in this
space.

There are a range of very interesting new “prevention” type products out in the
market, which complement perfectly the established and valuable “after the
event” insurance products. Despite some recent criticism I believe that those
insurance products are generally well thought through and that the need for
their active and ongoing development simply reflects the rapidly changing sets
of risks that they aim to protect against.

To remain competitive, insurance brokers have to be able to show their value as
the trusted expert advisor of choice for their SME customers. If they fail to do
so, they risk the core insurances that currently form the backbone of their
income stream becoming vulnerable to those wishing to commoditise those
products.

Many brokers have shown themselves to be adaptable and resourceful in
migrating away from their former reliance on income derived from personal lines
products in recent years. Those brokers shouldn't assume that their current
dependency on SME commercial lines business is a safe-haven forever though.
There is an onward march of commoditisation into ever more complex product
areas, which is not going to be arrested any time soon. I see propositions
coming over my desk from the InsurTech sector on an almost daily basis. Not all
of these are ‘game changing‘, but a significant few of these are very, very good
and sooner or later some will emerge to form an existential threat to the role of
brokers.

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A good broker possesses a unique asset that can be used in the fight against
commoditisation and as a critically important defence against these new entrants
- the provision of accessible and relevant advice. Insurance is all about risk. If
brokers can’t convince their clients that they need expert advice in respect of
acquiring risk awareness, management and mitigation products, why should the
client then believe that they need such advice in respect of the insurance policies
that back those risk management products up?

Awareness of cyber risk is much higher in some other parts of the world than it
is in the UK and Europe and we would do well to take a lesson from our
counterparts in North America and the Far East. Brokers need to seize the
initiative (and the incremental income opportunity) by moving cyber risk up the
agenda for their SME customers.

CPP Group is doing its best to help put approachable and relevant products out
there for brokers to use. We already have a great range of cyber risk tools in our
kit bag and there are more to come in the months ahead. We genuinely want to
work with brokers who understand this. However, for those that don’t see the
absolute need to provide added value for their customers I feel that the future
may be a bleak one. If the broker sector does diminish because its constituents
fail to deploy one of their key assets, that would be much more than just a great
shame!

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CPP Group UK boosts New Business team with senior hires

CPP Group, the global financial assistance product provider, is pleased to
announce two senior appointments to CPP UK’S New Business team, with Andrew
Jackson joining the company as head of sales and relationships and Alison Douglas
as head of propositions. Both will report directly to Michael Whitfield, managing
director of CPP Group UK.

Andrew and Alison are joining at a significant time for CPP Group which is
spearheading its growth strategy in the UK through the InsureTech scene following
its re-entry into the UK market in the first half of 2018.

Michael Whitfield commented: “I’m delighted to have secured people of Andrew
and Alison’s calibre to take up these important roles. Andrew has more than 20
years’ experience in the partnership industry, including financial services,
automotive, data and affinity marketing, both in the UK and internationally. Alison
brings a wealth of proposition delivery experience to the team, having run her
own management consultancy firm after previously spending over 20 years in the
affinity insurance market. Between them they’ve worked for some very high profile
organisations and I’m thrilled they have decided to join CPP as we start our new
business efforts in the UK.

Andrew Jackson said: “This is a great time to join CPP. I’m looking forward to
meeting all our existing and prospective business partners. We have some really
innovative products and opportunities in the pipeline and the next six months will
be a very exciting time as we take our propositions to market.”
Alison Douglas added: “It’s great to join the team at the start of this journey. Over
the years I’ve worked on many new products and partnerships, however it’s clear
that CPP have both the innovative outlook and the delivery capability to offer
something really different to B2B partners and their customers.”

CPP Group is on a transformative journey and the continuing investment in its UK
market supports their overall growth ambitions and is fundamental to achieving
this.

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The automotive sector needs to find ways to engage with customers outside
              renewal periods if it ever wants to build loyalty

Andrew Jackson, head of relationships and sales for CPP UK New Business, explains
why he thinks the automotive sector is lagging behind other sectors when it comes to
driving customer engagement and retention.

For a sector that invests so much into marketing their products and brand investment,
with TV often being dominated by adverts for new cars or services to help sell, insure
or buy a new car, it’s surprising to see how quickly this level of engagement with
customers fades once a purchase has been made.

Buyers have never been so empowered. They can research and configure online, they
can finance and insure without speaking to another human, so when it comes to dealer
interaction, they’ve almost made their minds up and increasingly just want to transact.
Given the prevalence of PCP within retail, the whole experience is becoming
commoditised and the customer is put into a spin cycle that finishes in 36 months’
time. The opportunity for long-term engagement is being washed away by the very
mechanisms that are meant to reinforce it.

But outside of a dealer’s aftersales efforts, engagement drops off quickly and is in
stark contrast to other sectors which are consistently looking to up the touchpoints,
maintain the relationship and build an ongoing loyalty – even if the experience
sometimes feels stilted.

The telecoms industry is a great example. Once a customer has signed up to a 24-
month contract and has their shiny new phone, providers go to great lengths to
continue to engage with users and understand their needs. Whether it’s O2’s Priority
Club offer or SKY’s VIP loyalty scheme, the continued contact is more about keeping
them front of mind than selling the next handset.

Driving loyalty and retention doesn’t need to be complicated but it does rely on
maintaining a presence in customers’ lives, whether that’s regular and consistent
messaging to reinforce brand, moving into their mobile lives through an app that
engages with them or solving an everyday problem that your customers have.
It’s approaching these challenges that led us to develop Smart Key Protection. With
more than 72 million sets of car keys in circulation in the UK, and a quarter of people
admitting having locked keys in their car, they are a great way to engage with your
customers.

Not only this, but over 10,000 sets end up in the bin each year, costing UK consumers
£180 million, with every motorist spending a few moments each day looking for their
car keys, even if they’re not lost.

Smart Key Protection is a branded, Bluetooth key fob and a mobile app to help
motorists avoid losing their keys. It tracks the last known location of the keys and
rewards people for returning ones they have found to their rightful owner. In the worst-
case scenario and keys are lost, consumers can also access a 24/7 locksmith service
through the app.

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It’s a simple but effective solution. Customers engage with their car keys and their
phones daily and linking the two is a perfect way to reinforce brand presence with a
practical solution to solve a problem.

And embedding useful functionality within an app increases a brand’s opportunity to
communicate, upsell and cross-sell useful aftersales products – whether that’s
pushing service reminders or helping stay front-of-mind for routine maintenance.

The integral nature of the app being fundamental to the benefits of a product like Smart
Key Protection provides dealers with another channel for increasing customer contact
customers. It reinforces previous experiences and gives another opportunity to draw
the user in the dealers’ fold.

There’s no silver bullet to driving engagement and optimising customer loyalty but at
a time when market fragmentation seems to be accelerating, taking simple steps
across your existing customer base is a great starting point.

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