March 30, 2021 – Willi Bors, Austria Director of Dialog Lebensversicherungs-AG, criticized the issue of occupational disability by the state and many insurers in an interview with VersicherungsJournal. Because the business field is the domain of the company and the development potential is considerable in view of the still modest market penetration, Dialog will continue to focus on the areas of death and workforce in the future.
ADVERTISING
–
–
- Dialog Austria boss
Willi Bors (Image: Dialog)
It is a well-known fact that Austrians are not very aware of biometric risks.
Accordingly, biometric insurances also lead a niche existence, which we only recently pointed out in our VersicherungsJournal Spezial.
In an exclusive interview with Willi Bors, the Austrian director of Dialogue life insurances-AG, we got to the bottom of the cause and talked about his company’s strategies for dealing with this situation.
Topic is neglected
Although the market penetration of biometric insurance in Austria is limited, so Bors, he still cannot complain: he is “very satisfied” with the long-term development of his company. Because it is not a saturated market, strong growth is possible.
However, disability insurance in particular is often neglected. The topic of occupational disability does not even appear in the statistics of the insurance association, which shows that this division has not yet reached a relevant size.
For a long time, even large domestic insurers ignored the topic. But since life insurance “more or less collapsed”, they have discovered the business field of biometrics and recognized that one can earn money with biometric risks.
Financeability
The fact is that the statutory disability pension cannot be financed in the long term. With the Social Law Amendment Act 2012, people who were not yet 50 on January 1, 2014 are only entitled to a pension if they are permanently unable to work.
The limited occupational disability pension was replaced by rehabilitation or retraining allowances. A sufficient supply by the social security is therefore no longer given. However, other issues would have priority for the government in the current situation.
Sensitize customers
But the topic is neglected by providers; for example, there is no advertising for it in the mass media. “It is up to the product providers and, above all, the sellers to address the issue,” says Bors.
“If you don’t do that, nothing will happen. No customer comes and asks about disability insurance, ”says Bors. Customers have to be “picked up emotionally”, they have to be shown where the problems are if they don’t have insurance.
For example, if someone needs a loan to build a house, it goes without saying that they take out risk insurance in order to be covered in the event of death. Customers must first be made aware of the fact that an occupational disability could have a “much more dramatic financial effect”.
Younger people as a target group
Despite the online affinity of younger people, also in insurance matters, an offer of occupational disability insurance, for example via social media, would not be expedient, says Bors, as it is too intensive in terms of advice.
Younger intermediaries in particular could “convincingly address” a young clientele, and they are also the ones who mainly sell occupational disability insurance. One should not underestimate the young brokers, they are “very active”, emphasizes Bors.
On the product side, there is the option of taking the starting age into account “in a risk-adequate manner when calculating the premium”. With flexible tariffs it is possible to motivate young people to graduate with small contributions. A switch to a variant with a constant premium is then possible at any time.
Dread Disease
Bors sees an enormous need in the area of dread disease insurance (coverage of serious illnesses). Health awareness was “definitely strengthened” by the pandemic, and people are paying more attention to their health.
Insurance against serious illnesses such as cancer or myocardial infarction is “just as important as occupational disability insurance” and “fits perfectly into our spectrum as a biometrics specialist,” says Bors. It is important that the product is designed to be easy to handle.
According to a German study, half of men up to the age of 70 suffer from a serious illness, compared with a third of women.
That is why Dialog with the new tariff generation has created the possibility of taking out “Dread Disease Supplementary Insurance” in the life insurance. This is much cheaper than in the form of capital insurance.
It remains with the specialization
This year Dialog celebrates 30 years of presence in Austria. She also wants to continue pursuing the strategy as a biometrics specialist in the future. They will try to further optimize their products, but never go in the direction of capital, pension or unit-linked insurance.
Dialog will continue to focus on the areas of death and labor because the business area is attractive and it specializes in it.
This also has positive effects on the company’s key figures. The solvency ratio, financial strength and equity ratio are well above the market average. Wanting to do everything and being good at it will not work in the long term. “For us, quality comes before quantity,” says Bors.
– .
