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11/03/2020

Five on the Fly: Urbantz with Byron Dunne

Urbantz general manager for UK, Ireland & Northern Europe Byron Dunne answers Linkline’s ‘Five on the Fly’ about some the challenges and future of his sector.

What have the challenges been in your sector?

Tradition and more importantly lack of risk taking. The logistics industry is very traditional and to an extent risk averse. Many of the more important roles within the larger organisations change hands between the same people. Thus a very challenging environment to implement change as naturally these profiles bring the knowledge and tradition they have been used t,oo from one company to the next, thus inhibiting change.

This is a major roadblock for innovation as not many of these individuals have the experience to implement game changing strategies, and when they do they put the job on the line as margins are tight, volumes are growing and resources are restricted.

How did you/the organisation adapt?

Education. We are in contact with C-Level Logistics and Supply Chain management throughout Europe. Opinions differ in each country together with legislation. Certain countries are very open to finding and testing new strategies to stay ahead of the game, or at least keep up with the game, others are experts at identifying problems, complaining about them and not executing any plans.

We try to find common ground by advising these individuals and providing them with the technology they need should they decide to execute a plan of action. The media has created a lot of noise about what is trendy and what sells clicks, but the reality is that the majority of what the press predicts as the future of last mile is not relevant for the next 5 years. It’s important to cut through the noise, stick to the vision and push for change.

What lessons did you learn/ are you learning from this?

The last mile goes well beyond the walls of the Supply Chain and Logistics offices. The customer is having more and more influence on what the future of logistics will hold.

Logistics is no longer an isolated department that sources goods, operates fleets and manages operations. It has now become one of the most important elements in creating a brand, maintaining customer relationships and ensuring sales

What advice can you give based on your experience in this area thus far?

Embrace new ideas, new innovation and take some risks. Amazon has built a more efficient supply chain than the vast majority of traditional retailers and transport operators in the space of 10 years. It’s not magic, it’s forward thinking, disrupting and innovating that has put them where they are today.

What does the future hold?

Urban logistics is changing rapidly. Consumer behaviour is also changing rapidly. Logistics processes, strategy and technology are not changing as quickly as they should be. The future is quite bleak for companies that are not embracing change and they will be left behind.

For more information about Urbantz please visit their website www.urbantz.com

The post Five on the Fly: Urbantz with Byron Dunne appeared first on Linkline Journal - Ireland.

31/03/2020

Central Bank of Ireland: Expectations of Insurers during COVID 19 Crisis

Insurers must put forward consumer-focused solutions on policy payment breaks, rebates and claims
While most insurance policies are clear, if there is a doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer should prevail
The Central Bank expects the CEOs of Irish authorised firms to take responsibility for the oversight of how their firm is managing determinations of whether claims are covered or not in the context of COVID-19.

The Central Bank of Ireland has today set out its expectations of how regulated insurance firms should treat their customers in light of the significant economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Central Bank has written to the Chairs and CEOs of both life and general insurance firms requiring them to take account of the challenging situation in which many of their customers find themselves and to put forward consumer-focused solutions for insurance payment breaks, policy rebates and claims in light of the emergency.

Where a claim can be made because a business has closed as a result of a Government direction due to contagious or infectious disease, the Central Bank is of the view that that the recent Government advice to close a business in the context of COVID-19 should be treated as a direction. This is a view that has also been set out by the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. Firms must ensure that claims are appropriately assessed and where there is insurance cover in place that claims are accepted and paid promptly.

Where relevant, firms must proactively communicate in a clear, transparent manner to customers about the levels of cover provided by individual insurance policies including informing them, when renewing existing policies, if there are any changes to those policies arising from COVID-19.

Firms must ensure that their customer-facing functions are adequately resourced to ensure that customer needs are met and queries are handled in an appropriate timeframe and that they have processes in place to engage positively with customers who are experiencing difficulties in the payment of premiums as a result of COVID-19.

Firms must also engage with their intermediaries and partners to keep them fully informed at all times about the implications of COVID-19 for existing and new policies.
In relation to insurance claims, firms must ensure that they are fully compliant with the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 and all other relevant regulatory requirements. Any claim settlement offer made to a claimant must be fair, must take into account all relevant factors and must represent the firm’s best estimate of the claimant’s reasonable entitlement under the policy.

Firms must ensure that they handle claims effectively and properly and where appropriate to do so they must offer to assist their customers in the process of making a claim, including, where relevant, alerting the claimant to policy terms and conditions that may be of benefit to the claimant. Although the Central Bank expects that most policy wordings are clear in terms of what cover is provided and what is excluded, where there is a doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer should prevail.

In the case of Irish authorised insurance