Falcon Insurance banks on new underwriting process
FALCON Insurance will drive up premium income from its commercial line by 5 per cent this year after revising the underwriting process last year to deal with the severe competition.
Chief executive Sopa Kanjanarintr said yesterday that the company last year emphasised the quality of underwriting to commercial customers, so the premium income from its commercial line contracted.
“We decided not to allow some customers who made high claims to renew. After adjusting the process, Falcon this year is ready to step forward in commercial insurance, especially property insurance,” she said.
Property premium income fell below Bt600 million last year from around Bt700 million per year in the past. The firm hopes this year will return to Bt700 million.
The government’s projects are another key factor fuelling the growth of premium income from engineering and construction insurance – one product in its commercial-line portfolio.
Falcon’s gross premium income is projected to climb by 15 per cent to Bt2 billion this year from Bt1.743 billion in 2016.
The commercial line contributed Bt1.3 billion in premiums last year and the remainder of Bt400 million was generated by the personal line.
The company will embed digital technology into its work flow and implement an electronic document system to manage underwriting, policy processing, claims services and payments to prepare for the digital age of insurance in the next decade.
Insurance companies must adjust to survive in the next decade, since this business is not only facing new regulations but also changes in the purchasing power of younger customers.
New legislation allows foreigners to hold up to 100 per cent of an insurance business in Thailand and supports the use of electronic transactions by the insurance business.
Falcon Insurance is 40 per cent held by Thailand’s The Navakij Insurance and the rest both directly and indirectly by Falcon Insurance (Hong Kong) and Fairfax Financial Holdings, the holding company in the Canadian city of Toronto.
The purchasing behaviour of younger consumers, who will be the major insurance customers over the next decade, will change insurance purchasing to electronic channels.
In view of this, Falcon has developed a product strategy with the concept of easy-simple-friendly, enabling customers to access its products online and select what kind of protection they need.
“We are offering an insurance package covering several types of assets including property, automobile and health insurance in a onetime purchase. The premium will not be more than Bt20,000 a year,” Sopa said.
The company plans to launch a car-repair service to appeal to younger people who require repairs for minor damage, which will be finished in two to three hours.
