Interview: Juan Peña Núñez, Senior Development Underwriter A&H Global Accounts at Zurich
Juan Peña Núñez, Senior Development Underwriter A&H Global Accounts at Zurich, talks to Michelle Royle about PABT policies, customisation, and emerging trends
You have been Senior Development Underwriter A&H Global Accounts at Zurich since last August. Tell us about your role, and the transition from your previous roles in the industry.
The leap from assistance into corporate business travel insurance wasn’t really a jump into the unknown for me, although it was a significant career change. Having worked in the 24/7 global medical, security and risk management industry for over 25 years, representing all the major international private medical insurance (IPMI), retail travel and business travel insurers, it seemed a logical next step to move into accident and health (A&H) insurance.
I was always intrigued by the underwriting element, and when the opportunity arose to find out and do it myself, I jumped at the chance.
In terms of my role, I am responsible for spearheading business development in the London market regarding the UK Zurich personal accident and business travel (PABT) proposition, services and capabilities. This involves articulating to insurance brokers and global corporations the merits of the Zurich policy coverage. I am also undergoing intensive training to gain my underwriting authority.
Currently I am working closely with an experienced team of underwriters, who continue to support me at every opportunity and have made me feel incredibly welcome.
Your role focuses on specialist PABT for internationally mobile companies. These PABTs are subject to rigorous policy limits, exclusions, restrictions, and policy benefits – can you explain why these checks are so important?
Our PABT policy facilitates global mobility and enables travel by providing our clients with comprehensive policy coverage, generous financial limits, with limited exclusions and policy restrictions. The intention here is to provide a truly useful insurance product that responds to specific eventualities, when you need it most, providing customers with peace of mind.
Having worked as a service provider on the emergency response side for Zurich Insurance, I have seen firsthand how our clients have benefited and been supported by the fantastic insurance cover and services available, in some incredibly challenging, complex and costly circumstances.
The intention is to continuously refine our product, through a combination of direct broker, insured and assistance provider feedback, as well as our own market intelligence and research. We also look to harness any new, relevant technology/service offering and coverage available.
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all PABT solution
PABT policies benefit from proactive travel risk management services. Why are these benefits so important for the user, and for the insurer as well?
Like the services you mentioned, most PABT policies, including ours, now contain an impressive suite of proactive travel risk management services and digital solutions. These include travel health and security apps with configurable safety alerts and GPS tracking, employer tracking dashboard, online travel safety e-learning, mayday/panic alarm alerts, telemedicine, counselling support services, mental health support, travel security and safety briefings for high-risk destinations, country travel advice reports, homeworking benefits, rehabilitation support for accidental disability, etc.
This provides organisations with a fantastic suite of pre-deployment, on-deployment and post-deployment support and assistance.
The extensive range of proactive travel risk mitigation benefits and assistance services that come as standard with every policy will, as part of a broader risk management strategy, enable organisations to ensure positive outcomes for employees, and bolster employers’ risk and benefits management. However, in my experience, the utilisation of these services has traditionally been disappointingly low. This suggests a need for greater broker, client and insurer engagement.
That said, with the launch in 2021 of the ISO 31030 travel risk management (TRM) standard – the first global standard dedicated to business TRM – more and more businesses are now looking to understand, promote and make use of any existing arrangements, including any business travel insurance, TRM solutions, crisis response, travel safety benefits, services and technology.
However, it has always been difficult to quantify, capture and evidence what effect these services actually have at an individual company level, and this is of course subjective. Nonetheless, I have seen that when the insured is fully aware of the tools and services at their disposal, travellers are better prepared, better informed, and react more effectively and efficiently when there is an issue.
Insured clients that adopt this proactive approach are helping to reduce their overall risk profile by reducing their exposure. They also promote a culture of accountability, and increased employee welfare, contributing to their overall business continuity and resilience. This makes them a more attractive proposition to the insurer, as they are able to demonstrate the risk mitigation measures and safeguards in place, in addition to their decision making and rationale. This helps the insurer better understand their client’s arrangements and approach to risk management and risk mitigation.
Ultimately, this enables the insurer to evaluate the client risk profile more effectively, often leading to more competitive terms being offered. This also helps mitigate claims when they arise, arguably contributing to fewer and lower claims, helping to reduce the loss ratio and keep premiums down.
PABT products cover cross industry- sector businesses operating on an international basis, sometimes in high-risk, hostile environments, and can cover the most junior person to the most senior. Are these policies always customised to the exact risks these travellers are taking, and dependent on the profile of the traveller?
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all PABT solution, as organisations differ hugely by industry, size, global footprint, budgets, risk appetite, infrastructure etc. The broker, as the client advocate, has a central role to play in sourcing and finding insurance that is fit for purpose, based on each client’s specific requirements, activities, global footprint etc.
By nature, an insurance policy is there to respond to a wide variety of different perils and individual risks, regardless of who the claimant is, which renders personalised and tailored solutions very difficult. Whilst a PABT policy is quite comprehensive, it is still down to the employer to establish and understand what shortfalls, gaps or additional TRM requirements they may have. In this respect, the aforementioned ISO 31030 made things easier for businesses, as it helps them identify deficiencies in existing TRM arrangements, as well as guidance on how to address them.
Therefore, businesses can now benchmark themselves and execute an effective global framework that is bespoke to their organisation, travel population, global footprint and risk appetite. As a result, insured businesses that have gone through this process are more likely to use and promote the suite of proactive TRM services that form part of a PABT product within their companies.
The insurance industry is changing rapidly. What trends do you see emerging at the moment when it comes to what these policies are covering, and what changes do you envision for the future?
It is true that insurers are always on the lookout to enrich their proposition and provide their clients with meaningful, valid and relevant services. New policy benefits and features have evolved slowly, with a noticeable increase in the last five years around the travel safety, travel risk management and traveller education elements.
It is hard to predict accurately what initiatives and services will be adopted in the future, but I foresee further development of the travel risk management offering, whereby more features are included within the core proposition.
I also predict more educational initiatives from insurers regarding travel trends, travel safety, travel health and other related topics. The provision of consultancy services, as part of risk management and risk engineering support, which companies like Zurich can provide, may also be a consideration.
Inevitably, artificial intelligence (AI) will certainly have role to play in some way, and as this technology matures, the challenge will lie in identifying where and how this can add value and merit.
If you had to give advice to someone just starting out in the industry, what would you tell them?
That they have made a wise career choice, as the travel industry is large, acting as a launch pad for other related roles and positions. Also, that by applying yourself, working hard, showing enthusiasm and drive, the rewards are there in this sector to succeed.