The complicity that exists between Alberto Moreno and Maria Castañeda began to be forged eight years ago, when they debuted as members of the board of the Navarra College of Insurance Mediators. Him as president; and she, as treasurer. At that time, the highest body in the sector in the region was undergoing a profound process of renewal, focused on several areas: making the work of the professionals that comprise it known to the general public; strengthen services to members, consolidating the existing offer and completing it with new projects of great use for their day to day; strengthen the relationship between colleagues to create synergies; and intensify dialogue with public administrations.
Today, Moreno and Castañeda continue in the newly renovated college board. He has said goodbye to the Presidency, but it is not an ordinary replacement. Rather, it is a exchange of roles: the former treasurer assumes the main command, while her partner goes on to carry out the functions that her colleague did until now. Looking back and analyzing his mandate, the former president feels especially satisfied with the evolution that the entity has experienced, thanks to the selfless work of all the professionals who have passed through the meeting. But above all, he welcomes how the body’s visibility has improved. “When we arrived in 2012, the College was a great unknown. And although there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard, we have grown a lot and we have positioned ourselves as the benchmark entity in the sector “, value.
Alberto Moreno: “When we arrived, the College was a great unknown. And although there is still much work to be done, we have positioned ourselves as the benchmark entity in the sector “.
Both receive NavarraCapital.es in the new facilities of the College, located on Julián Arteaga Street. And they do it, never better said, taking extreme security to strictly comply with the measures antiCovid-19 without this implying giving up the closeness that characterizes their conversation. “We must lead by example”, they defend.
Behind them lie two curious statuettes that represent, at the same time, tradition and change: the awards that each year the organization grants in the Mediaoro Award. The previous board of directors decided to give greater packaging to these recognitions, in that very clear line of promoting the important social work carried out by a sector that generates more than 880 million euros in premiums each year in Navarra. “To make it symbolic, we commissioned these two figures from a sculptor. They are made of wood, a living element that indicates that our world is always evolving, and they have small steel shields, which symbolize the protection that insurance provides “, specifies the current treasurer of the College.
Proof of this effort to gain relevance is the fact that mediators continue to be a fundamental actor for the insurance sector, even though some areas predict their disappearance after the economic crisis of 2008. In fact, they are also resisting with integrity the onslaught of the pandemic, although they begin to see a decrease in the production of new policies due to the economic problems suffered by its clients. In any case, the decrease in business volume in the insurance field “It has nothing to do with the experience experienced by other sectors that have been severely punished” and is situated in a moderate range (in the first half of 2020, for example, the Spanish insurance sector entered 29,952 million euros, 11.1% less than the previous year).
Maria Castañeda: “When you take out insurance through a mediator, you forget to call 902. We manage all the incidents that may occur.”
“In England, for example, the online sale’, but here it has not had the expected success at all “Moreno emphasizes. A large part of Spaniards wish to “Make a face” the insurance they take out, they value the closeness and help offered by a mediator and prefer to delegate the cumbersome task of dealing with the small print of policies. Above all because, in addition, it does not imply an extra cost for the client, but the mediator charges a commission from the insurance company that issues the corresponding policy. “Many people ignore this nuance. Also, if you take out insurance through a collegiate, be it a broker or an agent, you know who you will have to claim when the time comes. You forget to call 902 and that broker or agent will do an exhaustive follow-up of your problem. We manage all the incidents that may occur “Castañeda insists.
The very essence of a mediator is to help their clients, put themselves in their shoes and solve any incident with maximum efficiency. “When an accident occurs, I live it as if it happened to me, I get upset and do everything possible to make things go forward”Moreno maintains.
Alberto Moreno: “We suffer with our policyholders and, if we do not agree with something, we fight to the death so that they are satisfied.”
Along these lines, the already treasurer of the College remarks that the involvement of his channel is “brutal” and that the relationship with the insured goes beyond what is strictly professional. Proof of this is the treatment he maintains with his oldest clients, whom he has served for more than three decades. “We suffer with our policyholders and, if we do not agree with something, we fight to the death so that they are satisfied. There is no other alternative that can achieve that ”, judgment. For this reason, it defends the existence of professionals who know how to navigate the nooks and crannies of the insurance world and who rigorously and independently guide those interested. “The guarantees are not the same in a company that charges 150 euros than in another where you pay 300”, specify both.
Moreno and Castañeda have been on the Board of the College for eight years.
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Despite the obvious advantages that the sector offers compared to other channels, both Castañeda and Moreno highlight that the ignorance Regarding the figure of the mediator, he continues to be one of his main workhorses: there are those who ignore his role and who, mistakenly, believe that the price of their policy will automatically increase if it is contracted through these professionals. From the sincerity, the representatives of the College emphasize the need to continue working to disseminate the work of the mediators and dismantle the false myths that surround the profession.
“Contrary to popular belief, with a mediator even the price of the policy can go down. Because you can change the company policy if you see the premium rise, for example. With a contracting by direct line via telephone, the client will have the same policy fifteen years later, although it does not offer even half the guarantees as at that time ”, Castañeda points out. The president also adds that the amount to be paid “It can also decrease depending on the conditions that each professional has negotiated with the companies”.
In April, the General Council of the Associations of Insurance Mediators denounced that certain banks committed a “Flagrant illegality” by linking the granting of credit lines endorsed by the ICO to the contracting of insurance.
The work of divulgationHowever, it must also be exercised internally. The image of a collective still often hangs over the sector “Individualistic, in which everyone works in their cubicle”. For this reason, Castañeda and Moreno see it necessary to emphasize that being a collegiate is “Something that always adds and never subtracts”.
Training sessions; detailed and updated information on new regulations; special agreements with insurance companies and professionals from different branches such as legal, data protection or expert advice … These are some of the benefits enjoyed by the professionals who make up the College of Insurance Mediators of Navarra. Looking ahead to the next four years, Castañeda wishes to strengthen ties between its members, strengthen relations between members and insurers, and strengthen collaboration links between the various provincial agencies.
The schools, as he points out, are true forums of learning in which, likewise, they join forces to fight against abuse and the mala’s practice. In April, General Council of the Associations of Insurance Mediators denounced that certain banks committed a “Flagrant illegality” by linking the granting of credit lines guaranteed by the ICO, aimed at those affected by the pandemic, to contract other financial products. This concern was echoed by the College of Insurance Mediators of Navarra, which in June updated your protocol -published in 2015- to deal with this type of case. “It is a guide and a way to put pressure within the sector, but it also invites third parties to report if they witness something or, at least, to make it known to professionals”, Moreno soul.
Maria Castañeda: “Contrary to popular belief, with a mediator the price of the policy can go down“.
According to Castañeda, the problem is not that there is “A healthy competition that forces you to improve”, but that behind these actions “There is a large part of coercion because the person is almost forced to accept the conditions presented to him and ends up paying for more expensive products and without the fundamental guarantees “. Hence, the president of the College of Insurance Mediators of Navarra stresses the importance of users knowing their right to “to resist” before “These pressures.”
In this regard, it considers that training is an element that differentiates bank employees from collegiate mediators. In fact, Moreno records that his colleague is the “Jiminy Cricket” of brokers and agents, “The one who does all the courses” and urges your colleagues to prepare “Not only because it is mandatory to comply with the guidelines of the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP), but also because we want to give a better service to consumers”.
Very studious since childhood, the current president of the College has not stopped enrolling in specialized courses since she graduated in 2003 in Business Administration and Management from the Public University of Navarra, it keeps “Super involved” with the insurance business school CECAS and verify the “Hito” which means being able to obtain the title of broker at the agency’s own facilities. Because before, those who aspired to practice as such had to move to other cities like Madrid. Despite the health crisis, eight students -five of them in person- have been able to study in the Navarrese entity. “We have already six promotions”, says Castañeda proudly.
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