Sustainable damage repair: what do insurers do? (1)

Just before the summer, the Association drew up a manifesto. Together with Schoonmakend Nederland and NIVRE, the Association wants sustainable damage repair to be commonplace by the end of 2024. How far along are insurers? What do they do? What can they do? In a series on sustainable damage repair, various insurers have their say. In this first part, AnsvarIdéa about the Conscious product line.

It was not entirely coincidental that Ansvar was chosen. In the Consumer Money Guide of June/July, AnsvarIdéa is proudly at the top of the list of sustainable products. With two times a 9.2 (for home and contents insurance) and an 8.9 (liability), Ansvar leaves number two (ASN Bank, with an average of 7) far behind.

Jan Hamburger, Commercial Manager AnsvarIdéa

Recognition

The interview takes place via Teams and three beaming faces can be seen on the screen. The Commercial Manager, the Commercial Product Specialist and the Claims Handling Manager are literally beaming with pride. "Recognition is just nice," says Commercial Manager Jan Hamburger. "A small insurer is not always recognized and acknowledged, so this is a huge boost for us."
"Due to our limited size, we are also not included in the Fair Insurance Guide," adds Erik Wiertz (Claims Handling Manager). "That doesn't make it easy to be 'in the picture'. A small insurer does not just pull out some resources to make TV commercials or broadcast commercials on the radio. We have to rely on practice and literally show what we can do."

About AnsvarIdéa
The insurer is part of Turien & Co. Holding and is based in Amsterdam. The holding company has about 360 employees. AnsvarIdéa never misses an opportunity to emphasize that it stands for sustainability. For example, Ansvar writes on its website: "We have an eye for where we come from, for our changing society and for the future."
AnsvarIdéa is a combination of two words. In Swedish, it stands for responsible and idea/concept. This manifests itself, for example, in damage repair by a sustainable handyman. Or an extra payment if the customer chooses to repair, while replacement is cheaper.
And Ansvar is the only financial services provider affiliated with the Fair Cobalt Alliance. An organization that is committed to improving the conditions around the cobalt mines. "Cobalt is (unfortunately) common in electric car batteries that we insure."

Ansvar was founded in our country in 1967 as a subsidiary of the Swedish insurer of the same name. The latter was founded in the thirties by teetotallers. They wanted to prove that teetotallers pose less of a risk from an insurance point of view. At the end of the 1990s, it was decided to sell the foreign subsidiaries. Ansvar Netherlands came into the hands of the Alcohol-Free Companies Foundation and the Salvation Army. The strict requirements under the Solvency Directive ensured that AnsvarIdéa was taken over by Turien & Co. in 2006.

Sustainability in DNA

Product specialist Sandra Dekker emphasizes that sustainability is in Ansvar's DNA. "We have an idealistic background. That helps. We don't do sustainability because it's popular right now, but because we want to. We also didn't design the Conscious line because there was a demand for it. Not with the intermediary and not with customers. We thought we could do that. After all, you can always ask yourself why you should do something, but you can also ask yourself why you wouldn't do it."

Sandra Dekker, Product Specialist at AnsvarIdéa

Role management

She firmly believes that senior management has a big say in this. "How much space do you get as an employee? How long are the lines? We are a small family business, with a very limited number of shareholders, and can switch quickly. Moreover, charities are of paramount importance to us. Recently, members of management and board swam along with the Amsterdam City Swim, which raises money for research into ALS. A good example is good to follow. We pay a lot of attention to volunteer work. Employees can declare the hours for this, but it is significant that this is often not even considered. And after the recent disaster in Turkey, there was room to help victims. That helps our Turkish colleagues, but it also creates a different mindset in the house. As a small company, you set your own course."

Shift in thinking

Dekker has been working at Turien & Co. since the 1990s and has experienced the change in thinking firsthand. "Of course, that didn't happen overnight. It's been a process of years. About six years ago, we took a close look at our insurance products from AnsvarIdéa. We asked Paul Burger of Ideële Verzekeringen (Ideële Verzekeringen (ideele.nl) for help. Together with him, we saw an opportunity to develop sustainable products. Paul has been committed to making insurers operate more sustainably for a long time. He inspired us to set up a special Conscious line."

Sandra Dekker: "To promote sustainable damage repair, we have increased our budget"

Lockers in the car

Ansvar, like many other insurers, starts in mobility. "For example, we experimented with a box in the car, but those experiments turned out not to be so successful. Eventually, the first product sketches for home and contents insurance were soon put on the table. To promote sustainable damage repair, we have increased that budget by fifteen percent. If, after damage, you opt for a refrigerator or TV that is more expensive than you are entitled to, but has a more energy-efficient label than the old appliance, we will reimburse that."

Search for partners

In addition, a search for good partners begins. "Let's not beat around the bush. It's a process of trial and error," says Claims Handling Manager Erik Wiertz. "In the end, we ended up at MainPlus. A company that works nationwide and directs everything for us. They organize the recovery locally. Especially if there is water damage, for which a plumber, tiler and a parquet specialist are needed, this coordinating role is essential. We are not a large insurer that has its own repair company in-house. That is not feasible for us. Proper procurement of damage repair is essential for a small insurer."

Manager Claims Handling Erik Wiertz

Psychological help

But there's more. Ansvar not only wants to have an eye for the product, but also for people. Dekker: "For example, we also reimburse the costs of psychological help in our home insurance. We were inspired by the Burns Foundation. They said that the damage to houses is well arranged in our country, but the personal (psychological) help afterwards is not. And a fire, storm or burglary can have a significant impact."
And the story isn't finished yet. Initially, the Bewust line was offered alongside the existing (less sustainable) products. But at the beginning of this year, the choice was made to offer all customers with home, contents and/or liability insurance the Bewust coverage. Dekker: "If everything goes according to plan, all customers will be insured by Bewust in January."

Long road

She laughs. "In retrospect, I think it's quite funny, because we didn't make it easy for ourselves. We first had a product, the Bewust line, in which we would rather repair than replace. Then we just started working on that. Of course, that's not marketing-proof at all, but it does work."
The choice to repair instead of replace is becoming commonplace for all Ansvar customers, but Dekker warns against too much optimism. "We are well on our way, also for consumers. It's quite nice if your phone or laptop can be repaired. That saves a lot of hassle with transferring contacts, photos, videos, etc. We work together with SmartPhort, who take care of this for our customers. But let's be honest. It is really not easy to always work with sustainable repairers. That is still a challenge. Just as the labelling of white goods is not yet uniform. An A-label for a refrigerator is not the same as an A-label for an oven. That can be tricky. It is also confirmation for us that there is still a long way to go. But with the arrival of three more Bewust products this year, we look forward to the future of sustainable insurance with confidence."