Alternative Business Structures could be used to help the motor claims process evolve according to Tim Roberts and Eddie Longworth.
With a spark of imagination, Tim Roberts, Senior Partner of Parabis Limited and Eddie Longworth, Managing Director of Gemini Vehicles Solutions, believe insurers could exploit the opportunity offered by Alternative Business Structures to combine legal and non-legal operations into single multi-disciplinary entities, to deliver comprehensive, streamlined claims services cost effectively via white label or affinity businesses.
“ABSs offer an innovative and neat route to addressing a number of issues facing the insurance sector today,” said Tim Roberts. “A wealth of concerns ranging from access to justice for consumers to filling the income void created by the banning of referral fees could be met via ABSs.”
Mr Roberts’ and Mr Longworth‘s vision is that a purpose-designed, end-to-end business capable of handling all injury and non-injury aspects of a motor claim could sit behind an white label ABS owned by the insurer or broker. Operating costs would be streamlined with everything being handled by that single entity, stripping out existing referral expenses otherwise incurred throughout various stages of a claim.
Eddie Longworth added: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime strategic opportunity to achieve a structural change that allows insurers, brokers and others involved in the claims process to offer a better service to their customers and achieve savings by consolidating income streams from activity that is all over the place currently. It’s an innovative, exciting and timely development at a time when the insurance sector could do with some good news.”
Third way
“This is an innovative third way for ABS,” added Tim Roberts. “There are ABSs that will be created to allow legal businesses to secure external investment to fund growth and development; there are ABSs that will allow retailers to develop their in-house offerings and then there is this third way – an insurer’s white label entity which combines the legal and non-legal services involved in motor claims using an arms-length relationship with existing service providers.”
As insurers and brokers consider their options for the future both Tim Roberts and Eddie Longworth are urging market participants to look at all the options available to them and to plan strategically for the future.
