Morning Briefing: Millennials may need brokers more than Boomers

Millennials may need brokers more than Boomers… RBC Canada signs new deal for mental health support… AIG appoints new legal chief as veteran Rosso retires…

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Millennials may need brokers more than Boomers
It’s not millennials driving the demand for digital interactions with their insurers; in fact, a new report shows that when it comes to life insurance many need to have in-person contact with insurers more than older applicants.

In the 2016 Life Insurance Study from J.D. Power, 25 per cent of Gen Y (“Millennials”) life insurance customers made their application online compared to 33 per cent of ‘Boomers’ while the proportion requiring interaction with their insurer in person was 43 per cent for Boomers and 60 per cent for Millennials.

“Life insurers are trying to compete in a stagnant pricing market by focusing on communicating with their customers,” said Greg Hoeg, vice president of U.S. insurance operations at J.D. Power.

The study shows that customers want a mix of personal and digital interaction with their insurers although just 12 per cent of respondents said they had exclusively used digital channels in the past 12 months.

“The challenge for insurers is to understand what, and how often, to communicate. It’s not as easy as assuming the younger generations want to be self-sufficient and only use digital channels or that older generations only want to communicate by talking with another person,” said Hoeg.

State Farm ranks highest in life insurance customer satisfaction for a third consecutive year, with a score of 828 (out of a maximum 1000). Nationwide ranks second with a score of 806 and Northwestern Mutual ranks third with a score of 799.
 
RBC Canada signs new deal for mental health support
RBC Insurance has signed a new deal with Best Doctors Canada to provide support for employees and business owners suffering mental health issues.

Almost 30 per cent of all group disability claims at RBC Insurance are related to mental health and the new program called Onward is geared towards helping those clients with depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns, get healthy, productive and back to work sooner.

"We see the enormous impact mental illness has on the lives of our clients. This is why we partnered with Best Doctors to deliver a program that is specifically designed to provide those individuals with the holistic support they need to help them recover more quickly," says John Carinci vice-president, group & business markets, RBC Insurance.

A trial of the program over the past year resulted in a 40 per cent reduction in claim duration with shorter wait times and changes to the diagnosis and treatment plans of those who participated.
 
AIG appoints new legal chief as veteran Rosso retires
Peter Y. Solmssen has been appointed vice president and general counsel at AIG effective October 18.

He will oversee the insurer’s global legal, compliance, regulatory and government affairs functions reporting directly to CEO Peter D. Hancock. He will also be part of the executive leadership team.

Solmssen succeeds Thomas Russo who is retiring at the age of 73 and received glowing praise from his boss.

“I want to thank Tom for the invaluable contributions he made not only at AIG, but over his entire outstanding career," continued Mr. Hancock. "As one of the brightest legal minds in business, Tom has provided AIG with wise counsel on virtually every area where insurance, finance, and the law intersect. We wish Tom all the best in his well-deserved retirement. I, and all of AIG, will miss his friendship, counsel, and guidance.”
 

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