For instance, more scaleable funds would be better-resourced to provide intra-fund advice, a valuable tool to engage members in a discussion around the adequacy of their insurance cover. Boldeman added that the slow move to a 12 per cent compulsory employer contribution rate (should it ultimately be introduced) would allow “increasing affordability” of insurance within super, and address some of those Cooper concerns about the trade-off between premiums and retirement account balances. Group insurers would also be driven towards excellence by “enhanced member expectations around service”, Boldeman opined. “This is the area where the next ten years will see the most change.” Not only were buyers becoming more financially aware, they had grown up (or at least grown accustomed to) the connected world of smart phones and tablet PCs, and “want their questions answered on the spot”, the group insurance chief said.

It was important that insurers such as Tower join and benefit from the global move on-line, Boldeman said, noting that his group was already doing so through a range of web-based application tools, auto-underwriting facilities and telephone solutions. “We see the claims process as an area where the industry can improve.” Boldeman says. “Too often members do not understand the process for their claim to be assessed. Explaining the process properly and giving members opportunities to ask questions can make a big difference as to how positive they find the process.” Furthering the effort to make members’ experience of group insurance as hassle-free as possible, Tower is also an early participant in group insurance industry trials of a product from medical software specialists, Zedmed.

Tower and other insurers have already begun working more closely with member administrators, training and empowering call centre staff to effectively become claims managers, and reduce for members the number of contact points (read: number of times details must be repeated) on the way to successfully fulfilling a claim. “Some super funds are certainly seeking more control,” Boldeman said. It is a natural extension of their members’ demands that super funds, too, would demand more from their group insurer over the next 10 years, Boldeman predicted. “Funds will look to longer term relationship models, aligned to what they really want,” he said, predicting that the current threeyear cycle of tenders might extend somewhat. On the product side, Boldeman hoped the trend to better aligning cover with needs continues.