AidCom in the newspaper Adressa

A new article in Adressa, on February 15, 2011

Get SMS-alerts on potential threats

Get terrorism alerts on your mobile

Warnings to your mobile

Changing the way insurance companies handle their customers

- We are probably the only insurance company that knows which country our policyholders are located at all times, states Arnt Morten Skei, Claims manager at Copenhagen-based Tryg Insurance.

The Nordic insurance giant has taken to new mobile technology in order to build customer loyalty and stand out from competition.

Read more here

 

 

A successful technology partnership

- Insurance is a traditional industry, and little has changed over the past decades. We began to realize that our travel products were more or less identical to those of our competitors.

Tryg found the solution further north, in Trondheim, Norway, where tech start-up AidCom were setting up their 24-hour early warning operations.

- My idea came about after watching the devastating effects of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, explains AidCom founder Peder Kvendset.

- I asked myself, what could have been done to save all those lives?

Three years later, a system for country-specific mobile alerts was launched, enabling insurance providers and employers to get time-critical information out to their travellers in areas that were affected by major delays or security threats.

 

Providing peace of mind

The alert service, launched in early 2008, is now available free of charge to all Tryg customers.

- All of our policyholders that are travelling outside their home country, can now get mobile alerts and updates in near-real-time if something unexpected occurs at their destination, such as a extreme weather or political unrest, explains Mr. Skei.

- In addition to the news that goes out from AidCom, the system enables us to send out our own advice to the affected travellers.

- Our intent is not to make people feel anxious about travelling, rather the contrary, we want them to feel peace of mind, knowing that they will be notified should anything happen.

- Like one of our customers who were in Cairo during the riots, he told us that this service actually enabled him to move about town, as he was no longer confined to the hotel room watching CNN.

When the streets of Cairo started to heat up, the news updates provided peace of mind, not just to the travelers, but also to the insurance company

- It was at the peak of the tourist season in Egypt when the riots escalated, and we had many customers at the Red-Sea coast. Those who got the information from AidCom cancelled their day-trips to Cairo.

- Initially, we implemented this system as a marketing initiative. However, when you are able to keep your policyholders from entering high risk areas, there is great potential for reduced claims and evacuation costs.

 

The shift towards proactive customer care

- Our customers are becoming increasingly demanding. We used to be a company that just paid out claims. Now, we must be able to advise on safety and security, we need to make quick decisions, and give clear answers.

- With access to the same real-time information as our travellers have, we can do just that, and we can reach them before they start calling us.