RSA’s Mooney stresses ‘we have got a lot of work to do’ for better service

In March 2022, Mooney stressed that it was critical for the business to focus on how it trades with brokers, and developed a three-point plan to re-engage the broker community, focusing on distribution, service and the proposition.

He told Insurance Age that “we have got a lot of work to do” to get the service right, make sure customers come back and brokers partner with RSA.

I’m not going to just flick a switch. I’m going to make sure that our service and our proposition is fit for purpose and we have mutual respect on both sides. That’s a proper partnership and not just a transaction.

Part of Mooney’s three-point plan was to develop its regional independent broker presence.

Mooney commented: “In 2022, we brought more than 100 new relationships through the door, and they were regional independent brokers. I want to make sure we are actually there for our regional brokers and start to be relevant to all.

“We have been very strong with consolidators and global brokers, but I want to make our service more relevant and meaningful to those independents.

“The plan is to double what we did in 2022 – bring in another 200 through the door. I want to get us back up to a position where we are representative of the majority of brokers across the country.”

Active partnerships

He added that the new relationships are active partnership,  while some existing arrangements are slightly dormant.

“I am re-engineering those [dormant partnerships] and bringing those through. If you think there are around 2500 intermediaries, we’re only representative with the active partnerships, which is a very small percentage of that,” Mooney said.

“I want to build that [percentage] up over time. I’m not going to just flick a switch. I’m going to make sure that our service and our proposition is fit for purpose and we have mutual respect on both sides. That’s a proper partnership and not just a transaction.”

Mooney argued that since last year the insurer has improved its retention and customer service metrics, and moved up broker survey rankings. However, he acknowledged that the full scope of the improvements would take more than 12 months to deliver.

He added: “If anything, it will take 24 to 36 months until our brokers and customers start to see a real tangible change. We are not going to stop now that we have seen some improvement.”

Increased resources 

Mooney noted that RSA has brought in 65 new underwriters into its Glasgow operation, which runs the SME business, increasing resources by around 50%.

In 2022, we brought more than 100 new relationships through the door, and they were regional independent brokers.

He continued: “We have had a successful year, but for me, its only the start of the journey, and we still should be a lot bigger.

“Our brokers have welcomed our changes, but still want to do more with us.”

Mooney highlighted that RSA has invested significantly in its product governance team to embrace and deliver fair value.

He continued: “That gave us the opportunity to just look at every single product [and ask] is it fit for purpose, does it have representative value and can we actually simplify it?

Some products we had on the shelf – for instance, legal expenses – we had different variations of what they were. By simplifying that, we can give our customers a better and simpler choice.

“I don’t mean simpler in the respect of the quality of the product, I mean in the respect of how many products we have.”

Strong service agenda 

Mooney concluded by the end of 2023 he wants to have embedded a strong service agenda.

“That is easier said than done. At the moment, the industry, as a collective, is not delivering the service that our brokers require.

“We can step forward and jump ahead of the pack,” he said.

“We are going to launch a distribution strategy this year, so Alex Hardy [sales and distribution director] and the team are working diligently off the pitch at the moment to create this future of RSA distribution.”

For all the latest industry news direct to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.