The Inspire Insurtech Interview’s series is designed to inspire fellow insurtechs. We want to share who they are, what they do, and what we can expect from them in the future.
This month we are talking to Drew Schnehage, Managing Director of Innovation Group Australia. Drew was recently selected as one of the winners for this year Elite Women in Insurance 2021. Congratulations Drew!
Tell us Innovation Group Australia’s brief pitch.
Motor accidents present fleet owners and drivers with a challenge, and the process of getting vehicles repaired and claims settled is complicated. Innovation Group takes the headaches away from fleet operators by offering a full end-to-end accident and claim management process, as well as risk management and driver training.
We run dedicated 24/7 hotlines for our fleet clients, along with organising a contracted repairer to collect the damaged vehicle and provide a rental car to keep your driver mobile. Our digital platform keeps all parties updated on the progress, and we take care of all the paperwork with insurers and others involved in the claim.
Fleet operators get access to a nationwide network of body shops, windscreen centres and rental car providers, along with prioritised repair slots, extended guarantees on work performed, and full claims administration and settlement.
So how did Innovation Group Australia begin?
Innovation Group has been around since 2001, and the business initially started from a partnership with LeasePlan, one of the biggest Fleet Management Companies globally. LeasePlan had the vision to provide vehicle accident claims management to their fleet clients, and Innovation Group became the enabler of this service. The partnership has spanned over 20 years, and the service delivery has been refined to a fine art. We manage incidents for several fleet management companies and their fleet clients as well as self-insured corporate fleets and work closely with insurers to create a seamless and better experience for fleet owners and their drivers.
Since I joined the business at the end of 2019, the focus has moved to the digitalisation of the claims journey, and we have some exciting new ‘innovations’ excuse the pun launching in the next couple of weeks and months.
How has Innovation Group Australia evolved since its inception?
We pride ourselves on our service delivery, and we are one of the best third-party administrators offering vehicle accident management to the fleet industry. We are one of the only third-party administrators that provide a fully insourced service offering. We manage our own 24/7 call centre with a team of agents that are dedicated to managing the initial customer experience and repair progression, a team of highly experienced technical vehicle assessors in the field, a dedicated recoveries team with outstanding results and agents that proactively manage the cost of third parties not at fault. We manage vehicle accident claims from the cradle to the grave. Our digital journey will further enhance our already perfect solution to automate and streamline our process and service offering making it easy and transparent for our fleet managers and their drivers.
What is your team currently working on for 2021, or what have you accomplished recently?
On the first delivery of our digital journey, we can provide the fleet driver with the ability to lodge their claim on their mobile phones. The process is easy, simple, and transparent, with the ability to upload images and direct and select a repairer of their preference. Fleet managers can track and view the progress of the repairs on their vehicles on our easy-to-use client portal. The integration with our valued partner repair network will automate the experience with instant updates. The future of Artificial Intelligence is on our doorstep, and we have partnered with a global company to deliver a solution that will shorten the life cycle of a claim and improve the time off-road, which is a critical risk factor for fleet companies. The biggest development has been the data and insights we deliver back to our clients to manage their drivers and incidents better.
How does innovation Group Australia give back?
We give back time, efficiency, and cost savings to our fleet clients.
- We continually evaluate what we do and how we do it to close the gaps and improve the customer experience.
- We deliver on an improved customer experience, manage the time off-road, and deliver consistently on the average repair cost for our clients.
- We provide valuable data insights on how to manage the risks of driver behaviour. We have partnered with eDriving, a global provider of driver behaviour and training products called Mentor, to close the loop.
- We equally give back to our staff. Without them, we don’t have happy customers, and we don’t have a business.
What is Innovation Group Australia’s biggest challenge in today’s market?
The biggest challenge in the current market is the price. The current economic environment makes it extremely difficult to negotiate renewals or secure business when clients only look at the bottom line. We deliver an outstanding product, and we focus on selling the savings we produce, not just on average repair cost but also the saving to the client to get their vehicle back on the road faster. We further drive costs down with our focus on recovering money from at-fault parties and managing the cost of third parties that are not at fault. Clients need to look at the overall value proposition and not just the final page on commercials.
Anything else you’d like to say that we didn’t ask?
Innovation Group forms part of a global company, but in Australia, we are nimble and respond quickly to our clients. I always say to my staff, let’s keep it simple and stick to the basics. We continually push the business to deliver the best outcome for our clients. We have been able to deliver on so many new initiatives over the last 18 months. I suppose that was the one positive on COVID and lockdown in Victoria.
Thank You.
