qÜÉ=táääáë=nì~äáíó=fåÇÉñΔ - Willis · PDF filecçêÉïçêÇ= I am excited to present a summary of the inaugural results from the first global Willis Carrier Evaluation

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I am excited to present a summary of the inauguralresults from the first global Willis Carrier EvaluationSurvey. This is a groundbreaking project in whichover 2,500 Willis Associates benchmarked carriersacross a range of activities such as underwriting,policy administration, claims handling and service.

The results of the Carrier Evaluation Survey will becrucial to us going forward. We are committed toplacing our clients’ business with those carriers whobest meet their needs. We will use the results toenhance our services to our clients working togetherwith insurers to raise the standards of performance– theirs and ours. This goes to the principle, close tomy heart, of clients having confidence and faith inour industry and moving Willis forward into our nextchapter.

The Carrier Evaluation Survey is part of a widerinitiative, the Willis Quality Index®, which will belaunched later in 2007. The Index has been designedto enhance both our and our clients’ ability to makemore informed decisions. It consists of a unique

blend of feedback from our Carrier EvaluationSurvey and, critically, additional quantitativeinformation. This will include premium volumemetrics and other information collected by Willis,such as systems driven claims settlement and policyadministration metrics.

In this briefing note we present the results of ourinaugural global Carrier Evaluation Survey carriedout during Spring 2007. In the future we intend toconduct the Survey at Willis biannually and will feedthe results back on a timely basis to our clients, thecarriers and at a high level to the market in general.In the meantime, I trust you will find these firstresults illuminating, interesting and evenchallenging!

The Willis Quality Index is a market leading initiativefrom Willis which we believe will help to driveforward improvements in service across the industry.This is a clear win-win for our clients and for thecarriers we work with.

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35%

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Willis Carrier Evaluation Survey – Experience of Respondents (Years)

The results of the Carrier Evaluation programme arebased on a survey of Willis Associates carried outover the period 19 February 2007 to 11 March2007. Associates were asked to rank carrier groups,on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), against fourcategories. Within these categories were a total of23 questions.

The categories and areas of questions within eachare illustrated below:

• Underwriting e.g. commerciality, coverage andresponsiveness.

• Policy administration e.g. timeliness, accuracyand quality of their information systems.

• Claims e.g. attitude, settlement and technicalsupport.

• Service e.g. loss control, risk assessment andpost placement services.

We have not weighted the results from the survey inany way.

Individual responses were received from 2,550 WillisAssociates globally. Generally, respondents werehighly experienced with 62% having been in theinsurance industry for more than 10 years.

Sufficient responses were received on 80 carriergroups for inclusion in this research paper.

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táääáë=nì~äáíó=fåÇÉñL`~êêáÉêbî~äì~íáçå=pìêîÉóp~ääó=_ê~ã~ääManaging DirectorTelephone: +44 (0)1473 223954Email: [email protected]

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© This report is for general information purposes only and is not intended tobe relied upon nor is it intended that any action based be taken on or inconnection with any information contained herein. Willis Limited and itsholding, subsidiary and affiliate companies assume no responsibility or dutyin tort, contract or otherwise to any party in respect of this report. Theaccuracy and completeness of the information and opinion expressed hereinis not guaranteed. No warranty or representation of accuracy orcompleteness is given. This publication speaks only as to the date on which itwas created and Willis Limited and its holding, subsidiary and affiliatecompanies shall have no obligation to update or amend any information oropinion contained herein. This document is not prepared for and should notbe construed as providing investment advice or services and Willis Limitedand its holding, subsidiary and affiliate companies do not guarantee orotherwise warrant the solvency of any insurer.

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• In general, the Willis Carrier Evaluation Surveyoffers encouraging results for the carriersranked by Willis Associates. On a scale of 1 to10 all carriers were ranked above the mid-point. Although nearly half of the 80 carriergroups received a mean score of 7 or greater,none scored more than 8. There is clearlyopportunity for carriers to further differentiatethemselves through service and performance.

• Our research demonstrates that most carriersperform reasonably consistently across allsurveyed question categories – eitherconsistently well, or less well. There are,however, more examples of considerablevariation between a carrier’s scores in differentsectors – for example geographically or in aspecialist field.

• Underwriting was overall the highest ratedcategory, with a mean score of just under 7.Two elements, Coverage and ContractCertainty, were the highest scoring activitiesacross the whole survey. Underwriting scoreswere tightly clustered demonstrating littleperceived differentiation between carriers inthis activity.

• In contrast, the range of scores in all othercategories was greater evidencing a muchwider variation in opinions about theperformance levels of carriers. As a result,the overall aggregate scores for PolicyAdministration, Claims and Service wereslightly lower.

• Analysis by Willis’ business unit suggests thatour Associates in Employee Benefits, Specialtyareas and Reinsurance rate the performance oftheir carriers most highly. Associates in Willis’international offices had the least positiveviews in relative terms about their carriers.

• There is some evidence that carriers in morespecialist areas, for example those offering amore focused range of products and services,demonstrate better overall performance thansome more diversified groups. We will evaluatethis viewpoint in more detail as the resultsfrom future surveys become available.


HighUnderwriting – Coverage 7.17Underwriting – Contract Certainty 7.12Underwriting – Continuity 6.97

LowService – Risk Assessment 7.17Service – Loss Control 7.12Policy Administration – Information Systems 6.97

Highest and Lowest sub-Category scores – Willis Group

Mea

n Sc

ore

Overall Category Scores – Willis Group

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Underwriting PolicyAdministration

Claims Service

6.986.70 6.72 6.62

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Employee Benefits 7.23Global Specialties 7.21Willis Re 7.15Willis North America 6.98Willis International - UK & Ireland Retail 6.79Willis International - Scandinavia 6.68Willis International - Latin America 6.67Willis International - Continental Europe 6.46Willis International - Asia Pacific 6.44

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• Reinsurance markets were generally scoredslightly higher by Willis Re Associates than byother parts of the Group. Although evidentacross all categories, this was most markedPolicy / Contract Administration and Claims,and least in Underwriting.

• Reinsurers also scored slightly higher onaggregate in the Policy / ContractAdministration than in any other category.Responses from the Far East were however anexception to this, where they scoredcompanies significantly lower in this activity.

• There was quite a wide variation in viewsgeographically on Claims performance. LatinAmerican respondents viewed Claims servicesmore positively than those from othergeographical regions.

• The mean score given to reinsurers across allcategories by Willis Re US Associates wasslightly lower than that achieved by carriersoutside the US.

• Willis Re’s international based associatesranked reinsurers more highly for Service thanUS based respondents.

• The highest scoring individual carrier acrossWillis Re received the top ranking in three ofthe four categories demonstrating consistencyof performance.

• In terms of carrier domicile, the results werewell spread and showed little differencebetween entities based in US, Bermuda,London, Asia or Europe.


Mean Scores Willis Group versus Willis Re

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

7.116.70

7.27

6.626.98

6.72

7.18

Willis GroupWillis Re


Claims Service

Reinsurance includes responses from our offices in Australia, Europe, Ireland, Japan, Latin America, UK andthe US, including specialty areas of Marine, Aerospace and Retrocession.

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Underwriting 6.82 7.15 7.38 7.21 7.23 7.10 7.33 6.51

Policy Admininstration 6.41 6.77 7.11 6.88 7.08 6.94 6.86 6.36

Claims 6.32 6.56 6.91 6.74 6.84 6.48 7.06 6.18

Service 6.45 6.85 7.24 7.07 7.09 7.02 6.94 6.37

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• Opinions across the North American regionsdemonstrated clear differences regarding howcarriers operate at local levels. This isillustrated by the broad range of scores acrossthe 17 carrier groups surveyed. This spreadwas twice that seen by Willis globally.

• Compared with the overall, carriers scored onaverage slightly higher in North America in allcategories with the exception of Claims.

• The highest ranked carrier in the US scoredconsistently well across all categories, andparticularly in the Service sector.


Mean Scores Willis Group versus WNA

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

7.16

6.70 6.88 6.626.98

6.726.67

Willis GroupWNA


Claims Service

Canada

West

Central

Southeast

Northeast

New York

• Willis Associates from the North East UShad the most positive views on theircarriers, particularly relating toUnderwriting and Service.

• Our research indicates that Associatesbased in London experience better Claimsservice than in other regional offices inNorth America.

• The least positive views were expressed byWillis associates from our Bermuda andCanada offices, who provided some of thelowest scoring results for Claims world-wide.

This includes teams serving the North American markets from the USA, Canada, Bermuda and London.


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• Carriers in the Asia Pacific region overall scored relatively lowacross all four categories, compared with Willis’ global results.

• 5 of the 12 ranked carrier groups are headquartered in theAsia Pacific region, although many operate in other territories.

• Willis Associates in Asia Pacific were least satisfied withService, which scored lowest globally based on our research.

Mean Scores Willis Group versus Asia Pacific

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

6.57 6.706.44

6.62

6.16

6.726.39

Willis GroupAsia Pacific


Claims Service

Mean Scores Willis Group versus Latin America

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

6.75 6.70 6.62 6.626.49

6.72 6.70

Willis GroupLatin America


Claims Service

Mean Scores Willis Group versus Continental Europe

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

6.68 6.70

6.266.62

6.24

6.726.44

Willis GroupContinental Europe


Claims Service

Willis operates in 74 countries globally. For the purposes of this research we have concentrated on 4geographical regions: Asia Pacific, Continental Europe, Latin America and UK & Ireland.

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• Respondents in Willis’ Continental Europeanoffices were more critical of the carriers withwhom they operate than many other parts of theWillis Group.

• The most positive views related to the Underwritingsection although they were still lower than theaggregated results elsewhere.

• The lowest scoring category on aggregate wasService, which was significantly lower than for Willisglobally. Compared with North America,Continental Europe’s mean score was nearly 10%lower and was amongst the lowest across thesurvey.

• Associates in our Scandinavian offices generallyrate their carriers higher than those in the otherparts of Europe, particularly in Underwriting andClaims capabilities.

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• The mix of carriers in the Latin American regionwere evenly split between locally headquarteredand international groups.

• The international groups scored noticeably higherthan the local carriers across all categories,

although their scores were still below those achieved in other sectors/geographical regions.

• The results of the top 4 carriers in this regionwere extremely close, across all categories.


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• Overall, scores for carriers in UK and Irelandwere broadly consistent with results for WillisGroup as a whole. However, there was a widerrange of scores towards the lower end.

• The top scoring carrier group in the UK sector,which operates in the Lloyd’s market, scoredconsistently highly across all categories.

• There was some disparity in the views ofAssociates servicing different sectors. Forexample, carriers servicing SME segmentperformed better than those focused on largercommercial businesses. This is particularlynoticeable in our Service category.

• Respondents from Willis’ Irish operationsgenerally gave less positive feedback on theircarriers’ performance.

Mean Scores Willis Group versus UK&Ireland

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

6.966.70 6.68 6.62 6.626.72

6.58

Willis GroupUK&Ireland


Claims Service

Mean Scores Willis Group versus Willis Employee Benefits

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

7.30

6.707.07

6.62

7.18

6.72

7.29

Willis GroupWillis Employee Benefits


Claims Service

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Willis Employee Benefits teams specialise in life andhealth fields, and are based in offices in the UK, USand the rest of the world.

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• Carrier groups in the employee benefits field wereviewed by Willis associates consistently higherthan the Willis Group mean across all categories.

• As employee benefit carriers typically providespecialist services, this necessitates considerationof whether specialist carriers, by their verynature, are able to offer superior performance.Over time we hope the Willis Quality Index willprovide answers to this question.

• Underwriting and Claims categories bothreceived high aggregate scores from WillisEmployee Benefits teams, and indeed scoredhighly in comparison to other territories andbusiness specialisms.

• There was least variation between the top andbottom scoring groups in the Underwritingcategory and the most variation in Service.

UK & Ireland Retail includes Associates servicing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and largercommercial businesses.

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• Two thirds of the carriers, which were rankedby the Specialties teams, operate in the Lloyd’smarket indicative of the nature of risks insuredin this sector. Lloyd’s related entities rankedrelatively evenly with other markets.

• The overall results suggest Associates in Willis’Specialties businesses have a more positiveview on the performance of their carrierscompared with Willis generally.

• The results were particularly close for thosecarriers dealing with our Specialty businesses.Indeed a different carrier achieved top spotoverall and in each category. Critically, all ofthese top scoring carriers operate in the Lloyd’smarket.

• Results in Marine were consistently high acrossall categories.

• Carrier groups operating in Niche markets, forexample Fine Art and Bloodstock, scoredparticularly well in Underwriting as did thoseoperating in the Construction market.


Mean Scores Willis Group versus Global Specialties

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

6.98

Mea

n Sc

ore

7.34

6.707.01

6.626.98

6.72

7.19

Willis GroupGlobal Specialties


Claims Service

Specialty Businesses includes Aerospace, Construction, Marine, Energy, Financial & Executive Risks, Fine Art,Kidnap & Ransom and Bloodstock.

Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and deliveringprofessional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting andactuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has over 300offices in some 100 countries, with a global team of approximately 16,000 employees serving clients insome 190 countries. Additional information on Willis may be found on its website www.willis.com.

Documents

qÜÉ=táääáë=nì~äáíó=fåÇÉñΔ - Willis · PDF filecçêÉïçêÇ= I am excited to present a summary of the inaugural results from the first global Willis Carrier Evaluation