Australian insurers are increasingly sophisticated and looking for ways to further innovate to meet customer demands and reduce claims cost. At the same time, governments and businesses need a different way of thinking from their service providers, carving out new approaches to better manage risks and costs.
The opportunities are significant, and at DWF we believe that integrated legal services will be a game changer for our insurance clients.
Why integrated legal services are the way of the future for Australia
COVID-19 has emerged as one of the most important issues for the global insurance industry and the global economy more generally.
At a time when the industry is managing a surge in claims coupled with a substantially altered risk outlook, it is also having to deal with the disruption and the economic consequences of the pandemic.
With growing customer demand for digitisation and efficiency, insurers will need to challenge established and traditional operating models.
The Australian market is perfectly positioned to benefit from automation and increased integration between legal services and business services. Australian insurers spend a lot of time thinking about how to drive efficiencies and minimise claims cost. In a tight and competitive underwriting environment, the effective management of the cost base remains the key driver.
How integrated legal services creates time and cost efficiencies
Integrated legal services are designed to better manage risk to make all aspects of the insurance ecosystem simpler, faster and more cost efficient.
It does this in a number of ways:
- it introduces consistency to the entire lifecycle of an insurance policy,
- it ensures each part of the process is talking to all of the other parts,
- it directs expert legal advice to where it’s actually needed and automates other processes, and
- it puts in place processes to avoid claims and litigation in the first place.
In summary, increased integration creates efficiencies at every stage of the claims process.
For example, a claims manager might receive a claims notification but does not have the context needed to manage that claim. With an integrated solution, they will have instant access to the background leading up to the claim, can work with DWF to manage it quickly, and if needed, hand dispute management and litigation over to us.
The result is a more streamlined process and quicker claims resolution.
Not only will it help to reduce indemnity spend, but it can also benefit and attract a new breed of lawyers – lawyers who become client partners and project managers – focussing their skills and energy on strategic client priorities and spending less time on more mundane process tasks.
DWF is leading the way in the Australian market
DWF’s aim is to become a national provider of cradle-to-grave legal and business services to governments and businesses that have insurance needs and to the insurers themselves.
We see integrated legal services becoming an integral part of the Australian insurance market in the next five years. We will lead this transformation.
Insurance is our sweet spot, it is where our strengths lie, and our dedicated focus on this market will enable us to best serve clients. As an initial priority, we are expanding our legal and connected insurance offering across the east coast of Australia. Whether it is legal advice, claims assessment, risk management or litigation, our clients will receive it from DWF.
With innovation at the core of what we do, we plan on attracting lawyers, business advisers and insurance professionals who are committed to our integrated global platform.
As a global firm, DWF takes a holistic view of the insurance ecosystem, offering legal support at every stage of the process - from advising on the regulatory environment to the formation of a policy and all the way through to litigation.
This broad offering is achieved through providing traditional legal services alongside connected or complementary business services, providing high level expertise as well as processes of automation and scale. The result is better cost, risk and time management for our clients.
If you require further information or have any queries in relation to this blog, please contact Damien van Brunschot.
