CEO Today UK Awards 2021

35 CEO TODAY UNITED KINGDOM AWARDS 2021 Insurance It has always baffled me why any insurer would be willing to outsource this part of the customer experience. Your ability to pay claims is the core commitment you make to customers in their time of need, and it goes against the ethos of Policy Expert to allow an external third-party to be responsible for delivering our side of the bargain. We handle all home insurance claims in-house and do the same with home emergency and legal services, so we can keep control of the customer experience and ensure they are looked after. We use best-in-class hardware and software to offer a rapid response service which stretches to warning customers of adverse weather conditions, helping to minimise damage and ultimately getting them back in their homes as soon as possible. We are the only insurer to have invested in its own first response van fleet, equipped with advanced drying equipment to tackle flood damage. One of my favourite examples of Policy Expert’s approach in action is when one of our first response vehicles arrived at a customer’s home to investigate flooding while the customer was still at work, unaware that anything was wrong. We were able to alert them to the danger to their home and possessions; without that action, the damage would have been far worse. We also use our own approved network of surveyors and builders, and guarantee any repair work for two years: twice the market norm. When the worst happens, little things like this – which can seem like nice- to-haves – really matter to customers and help to get them back on their feet again”. Many financial services and tech businesses are renowned for intense work cultures. How do you make sure you look after staff? “As Policy Expert has grown, staff support and welfare have played a crucial role in our development as a business. We created employee forums and awards, established a culture of training and development, and built strong staff support programmes ranging from healthy eating to on-site leisure and relaxation facilities. It is crucial to me that our people enjoy coming to work and feel valued for the jobs they do. I want to empower them to bring their best to help serve our customers, and I take great satisfaction from seeing people progressing in their careers and having the confidence to trust their own decisions and inspire colleagues around them. After ten years of uninterrupted growth, it still feels like we’ve only just got started. We have grand ambitions for Policy Expert and a really capable team to make them happen. We have already become the biggest insurtech success story in the UK personal lines space, with almost one million customers and an expanding footprint following our move into motor in 2019. It gives us confidence to know that, when we all pull together, we’ve already proved our ability to disrupt the market and go far above and beyond the status quo.” “We give customers strong reasons to stay with Policy Expert, which is why 87% choose to do so”