Being professional: A keys to success
Being professional: A keys to success
Being selective in determining a market segment, and
professional in assessing a risk, are characteristics that should
be applied to the market strategy of insurance companies in
Indonesia. If these are not followed, an insurance company may be
having a difficult time competing effectively.
Joseph Kristanto Tan, President Director of PT Asuransi CIGNA
Indonesia (CIGNA), incorporated in 1986, said that committing to
such a strategy through the years has made CIGNA one of the
healthiest insurance companies in the market. "As a multinational
company, we can utilize our worldwide capacity and resources to
support our business strategy," he said.
There are two basic insurance product lines provided by CIGNA:
Property & Casualty (P&C), such as for fire insurance, marine
cargo, third-party liability, etc.; and Accident & Health (A&H),
such as for hospital care, accidental death, etc.
With regard to the current economic situation, he admitted
that it has impacted CIGNA's business, as it has other
businesses. "Our business is slower than normal, and the number
of policy cancellations has increased, especially U.S. dollar
policies.
"However, we are confident that we will survive this crisis
and achieve improved results this year."
This will be achieved by, inter alia, servicing policyholders
better and securing assets by being conservative in investing
funds, he said.
There is a general perception in society on how difficult it
is for a policyholder to process an insurance claim, and Joseph
admitted that such a perception does exist, adding that there
are, in fact, many reasons behind this problem.
One common problem is inadequate or incomplete documentation.
"People need to understand that an insurance company must get
complete documentation before it is able to make a decision
whether a claim is legitimate," Joseph said. "The other problem
is that sometimes, people buy insurance without knowing what the
coverage is exactly.
"Therefore, if a policyholder files a claim which turns out to
be an event that is not under coverage, this will create an issue
because the policyholder will think that the insurance company is
trying to get out of paying the claim."
Accordingly, he believed, policyholders must have an
understanding of what their insurance coverage is, and have
complete documentation if they want to get their claims settled
quickly.
Other important issues which need to get special attention
from CIGNA are market the opportunities and challenges for the
insurance industry in facing the globalization era. As a
multinational company, CIGNA is ready to compete in the tight
insurance marketplace.
"We must prepared ourselves to face the open market," said
Joseph. But, he also hoped that the local/national insurance
companies will also prepare themselves, as this time is getting
closer.
Concerning the Insurance Council of Indonesia, Joseph said
that there was still a lot that could be done by the council to
support Indonesia's insurance industry.
He would like to make one suggestion: "The council is managed
by people within the industry, that is, people who have to take
care of their own companies before they can spend time on council
business. This creates some constraints.
"Accordingly, as in developed countries, it would be ideal if
the council is managed by people who dedicate 100 percent of
their time to the development of the insurance industry. This
will make the council more proactive in accommodating its
members' needs."