Empowering customers to own their recovery journey

People’s ability to withstand a traumatic event and bounce back from it can be astonishing. What they have in common is a fundamental resilience that allows them to absorb adversity and come back better than ever.  

Resilience is an innate human trait that can be learned and developed. When harnessed effectively, it can be used as a powerful tool to overcome setbacks and get life firmly back on track.

Inspired by the role that resilience can play in helping people recover from physical and psychological adversity, we’ve been exploring how we can help our Compulsory Third Party (CTP) customers. The result is a new initiative called the ECC innovation program. 

The ECC innovation program has been designed to better the experience of our Personal Injury customers who have a lodged a CTP claim with us. 

Crucially, we’re improving how our frontline Claim Managers engage with customers by providing them with the skills and confidence they need to help customers on their path to recovery. The program also aims to empower our customers to take control of their recovery journey and use resilience tactics following a setback.

In response to our findings, Allianz’s Long Tail Claims team has implemented three customer-centred initiatives to bring the ECC innovation program to life. 

The first has been to reimagine the language used in written communications to customers. We’ve personalised the communications customers receive, simplifying the language used and reframing the message to focus positively on customers’ recovery journeys.

The second has been to co-design training sessions in partnership with AP Psychology & Consulting Services, that give our frontline claims managers the tools they need to support customers on their resilience journeys and help them carry out difficult and sensitive customer interactions. The objective is to help our claims managers have more enriching conversations with their customers, thereby helping customers develop resilience and take ownership of their recovery.

Lastly, the ECC innovation program, has pioneered the use of a virtual platform for scenario-based learning which was co-designed with AP Psychology & Consulting Services. Our team reflected on some of the common pain points during conversations between Claim Managers and customers and picked out interactions that we could learn from. We created a virtual platform that provides Claim Managers with constructive conversational ‘pathways’ to explore with their customers. The platform has been used in a military setting before, but its use in an insurance setting is unique.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have contributed to strengthening the ECC innovation program by evaluating its impact on the learner experience and learning outcomes, as well as customer recovery outcomes and the frequency of disputes. 

Dominique says building deep levels of trust between CTP customers and Claim Managers is essential to the success of the ECC innovation program.

“We’re training our Claim Managers to deal with customer claims with a great deal of sensitivity. When a customer is having a terrible time in their life, it’s important that they have access to a Claim Manager who can guide them in a compassionate, empathetic way.”

Establishing trust becomes a way for customers to understand that they can connect with their Claim Managers whenever they need to.

“As much as we’re encouraging customers to take ownership of their own recovery, we’re there to walk alongside them as well,” Dominique says. 

“As an insurer, we have a greater role to play than just helping someone overcome their physical and mental health injury – we have a responsibility to connect them back to the life activities that matter most to them.”