Within If we appreciate our Nordic organization, and we strive to support developments for business processes for our Nordic clients. If Employee Benefit organization has therefore founded the Nordic EB Competence Groups within the following product areas; Travel- and Expat, Health, Personal Accident and Workers Compensation. There are approximately 20 dedicated Nordic EB specialists who are our experts in connecting our Nordic EB services together and driving the product development. If´s Nordic customers can now get locally adapted EB products with an efficient Nordic administration in a unique Nordic one-stop-shop.
Similarities and differences
They say that the devil is in the details. We also believe this to be true, and having the responsibility to insure the personal coverage for more than a million Nordic citizens we do not underestimate the importance of providing an efficient, clear and functioning coverage.
In our Competence Groups we share our experiences for future developments. We discuss Nordic similarities and how to develop even more efficient processes for them. Claims handling is one important area, where we thru the Nordic cooperation with SOS Alarm can provide a solid process for the Nordic countries and also further out in the world for our Global insurance programs. Different companies need different solutions, but it is important that the platform for claims services is well managed and supervised. To share knowledge of the increasingly important issue of compliance and Insurance Premium Taxes for international EB insurance solutions is another important task for the Competence Groups. The groups also evaluate new product requirements from brokers and clients and the possibility to export local conditions to other Nordic countries where it could add value.
EB products are very much linked to local social security systems, which vary between the Nordic countries. Our shared knowledge of these differences is a strength. We think it is important to be able to give the broker and client proactive advice on how to handle local taxes, information on mandatory local insurances and other important issues that originate from the local markets special structure. The experts in the Competence Groups share their knowledge and they discuss how to bridge over the differences where it makes sense.
Building knowledge to meet new demands
Business traveling and working abroad is increasing. Demand for additional health services to supplement existing social security systems is growing. There is clearly room for product and service developments within the Employee Benefit area.
We believe that increased cooperation within If strengthens our offer to our partners and clients. In addition to the Nordic Competence Groups we have therefore also created two new business areas for Employee Benefits, to start with in Denmark and Sweden. We have merged the EB Underwriting- and market-departments from Industrial, Commercial and Group Insurance into a common one-stop-shop unit called If Care.
If´s offer in the EB one-stop-shop strives to meet the demands of Nordic brokers and Risk Managers, having high cost awareness but also demanding a high level of consistent administration, on-line access to information and expertise to assist them in evaluating and managing the local markets complexities also far beyond the borders of the Nordic countries.
We are just on the edge of an exciting future.
