Achieving greater control through consistent service

One of the major benefits from an international program is that it can give you greater control over the service that you and your clients need. Zurich’s International Programs and our single global platform can help you give your clients the assurance they need that there won’t be any surprises and that the policy implementation around the world will be transparent.

By contrast, with a decentralized program, many aspects of service can be out of your control. Because you’re depending on different people in each country to deliver what your client expects without the benefit of a coordinated approach and consistent goals, the opportunity for a communication breakdown increases, as does the potential for errors. Each party may follow their own sets of procedures, and aligning them can become cumbersome and difficult. In addition, you have to consider the potential challenges presented by different languages, cultures and market practices.

Ideally, you want every person handling your client’s insurance needs to take the same level of care that you do, provide a consistent level of service and make it their priority.

Zurich’s International Programs are designed to deliver consistency of service and certainty of cover. At Zurich, we have deep knowledge and experience in the global marketplace and have structured our program to make service a priority. Some of our differentiators:

• We have dedicated teams in place across the Zurich global network to handle international business, so your client’s program is given the priority it deserves.
  
  
• We offer a consistent implementation process. All of our employees dedicated to international program servicing follow global operating directives. Our partners, chosen after a rigorous selection process, adhere to the same operating directives, and we build Service Level Agreements into our partner contracts.
  
  
• We measure the service performance on a weekly basis with a single set of metrics for all countries. All measureable steps of your client’s program implementation are tracked in our International Program System (IPS). The system captures key program information, including policy issuance dates, premium payment amounts, and payment dates and claims status, which allows us to identify and quickly respond to service issues.
  
  
• As a broker you want oversight of your client's international program. With your client’s permission, we can provide you access to the My Zurich portal, which will enable you to see your client’s insurance and risk management data as well as a variety of reports. This information is available to you in real time, enabling you to focus on insights rather than collecting information.
  
  
• To help drive continuous service improvements, we issue a Customer Service Report that contains key performance data ranked by country. This report, generated at around the midpoint of the program year, facilitates our discussions with you and your client to address pitfalls and agree on an action plan where needed.
  
  
• We recognize that every client’s needs are different. We can customize servicing to suit you and your client. With over 50,000 international program policies issued every year by Zurich Insurance Group, our service teams have the experience to support you.

When you work with a global insurer like Zurich for international programs, you can have greater control over the service you and your customer experience. With specialists on the ground, including over 8,000 Claims professionals, as well as tools and processes that can give you greater transparency and oversight, we can give you greater confidence that your clients’ service needs will be treated with the priority they deserve.

William J. Porter, CPCU
Head of International Sales & Distribution
Zurich North America