COVER Magazine welcomes you to the Claims & Underwriting Forum.

The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department is seeing an increase in referrals for potential fraud in life and health. We're joined by Colin Jemide, Fraud Prevention Adviser for the IFED, who will present an overview of the referrals the IFED is receiving, uncover more recent cases of fraud in the life and health space and signs of potential fraud insurers need to be aware of in a modern, digital society.

Over the last decade, underwriting has undergone a tremendous amount of digital transformation. Although this function has advanced greatly, claims processing has not kept pace. UnderwriteMe aims to address the challenges in claims, as well as show where that are big opportunities for future claims development. In this session, we will:

• Compare the challenges and opportunities for digital transformation in claims
• Discuss what is needed to make it easier for a customer to make a claim
• Uncover decision-making in the claims process

Research shows that, following illness or injury that’s led to an Income Protection claim, most people want to get back to work and back to feeling themselves again as soon as possible. The impact of being off work long term can have long-lasting effects on our mental as well as physical health. In this session we talk to Phil Deacon about the vital role early intervention plays in supporting people to get back to work, and how they have designed a proposition that encourages policyholders to contact them as soon as they’re unable to work. He’ll talk about their HALO claims service and how offering a list of support services at point of claim isn’t the best approach.

The protection industry, the products, the customer and the people, is evolving. Mark Hussein, Chief Executive of HSBC Life, will talk about how HSBC Life is modernising, both in their propositions and products to serve the customer, and how they're changing internally to better represent the industry. This session will discuss:

• Product and proposition innovation to support value for money
• Digital underwriting enhancements to increase access to protection
• Business and distribution strategy
  
• Diversity and inclusivity in the industry
• Mental health and leading an hybrid working business

While insurance providers often review existing underwriting criteria and practices to make sure more people can get the cover they need. However, the process isn’t universally perfect and there are still areas where policyholders are still at a disadvantage due to outdated or inflexible underwriting decisions. This session will explore the view from the consumer coalface, with protection advisers reviewing where existing processes could do with an update or rethink to better suit modern consumer needs to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Are some organisations going to fast with transformation, without diagnosing the challenges in the process? What basic pieces of information are being forgotten and leading to mistakes and lack of integration? What do our panel of experts see as the future of claims and underwriting?

Thank you for joining us at this years Claims & Underwriting Forum.