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The insurance intermediary is overhauling its business and looks to leverage artificial intelligence and new-age technology to drive its next phase of growth
Mustafa O. Vazayil, Managing Director, Gargash Insurance.
Mustafa O. Vazayil, managing director of Gargash Insurance, said in an interview that post-Covid-19 insurance-driven growth is likely to continue and be driven by the UAE’s economic expansion. harrij times.
“The insurance industry is a reflection of the economy. If the economy grows, the insurance industry grows. When the economy expands, the industry expands, and their insurance demand expands. We are very optimistic about the next two or three years, especially in the UAE and Dubai. Rent Rising, real estate prices are rising. We (UAE) have world-leading infrastructure in the region, which will allow us to play to our strengths,” Vazayil said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the need for health insurance and increased awareness of expanded coverage. “Before Covid, health insurance was not taken seriously. The pandemic has brought changes and people are starting to look at health insurance differently. They have realized and paid more attention to their enhanced coverage,” Vazayil added.
Gargash Insurance is one of the UAE’s leading insurance intermediary brokerage and risk management services. Established in 1994, the company has grown steadily over the years, catering to the insurance needs of small and medium enterprises as well as large corporations. The company expects to double its premium income to AED1.5 billion by 2025. Currently, the premium collection is AED 750 million.
Insurance intermediaries have a strong foothold in the industry and stay ahead by investing in technology and innovative ideas. In 2004, the company was the first in the industry to launch click, payment, and policy delivery services. “We pioneered this service in Dubai, when physical certificates of insurance were mandatory and had to be collected. It gives our customers the peace of mind to buy an insurance policy and have it delivered at home.”
Gargash now hopes to drive the next phase of growth and customer engagement through the use of artificial intelligence. “AI will be the future and it will be part of the customer experience journey sooner than we can imagine. Currently, customer engagement is limited to the time of policy purchase or claim or renewal. AI will help with more interactions throughout the year Improve the customer experience,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of consumers prefer online transactions. It’s a growing area for us,” he added.
Intermediaries like Gargash have been pioneering in helping businesses understand their risks, exposures and find risk management solutions. “Insurance is only one part of the risk management solution. There are a lot of other things intermediaries can do to help companies understand risk, assess risk, decide how to transfer risk so they can do their business well, and when transferring risk, what types of solutions are available The program can investigate it,” Vazayil said.
Regarding providing an excellent customer support service, the General Manager added: “We do not sell substandard products. We set minimum requirements from the customer’s point of view. Gargash has service level agreements with select insurance companies. We pay close attention to insurance The turnaround time of the company and the network of garages they work with. These factors are important and are included in our quotes.
According to the Central Bank of the UAE, the general insurance sector recorded net premiums of AED 34.5 billion in fiscal year 2020. The industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of less than 4% between 2020 and 2025.
As activity increases, so does the number of mergers and acquisitions in this space. “I’m seeing more M&A deals because the market is overcapacity. The market size involves more players than required. We can eliminate another 10-15% of the companies and the market will still be fully served.”
At Gargash Insurance, senior leadership is working hard to overhaul the entire organization to be more agile and aggressive in the insurance space. “We will be making major changes to our approach in the coming months. By January, we will have a completely reinvented organization that will completely change the way we do business.”
Talking about the economy, Vazayil said: “Dubai is more or less insulated (from the global recession) because the economy is not based on manufacturing. Oil prices may drop slightly, but the Dubai economy is ready to attract global surpluses. I Do not think the threat of a global recession will have any serious impact.”
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