Annual Review Annual

Transcription

1 1 Customers Transformation Flooding Pensions International Health Value Innovation Representation Intelligence Annual Review 2014 Engagement Progress Insurance Fraud

2 2 1 CONTENTS 03 About 04 Welcome From Our CEO 05 's Strategy House 06 Communications PR & Stakeholder Engagement During Membership Services and Events 15 Insurance Information Service (IIS) 16 representing the Industry In Ireland 19 representing the Life Insurance Sector 21 representing the General Insurance Sector 25 representing the International Insurance Sector 27 representing the Health Insurance Sector 29 representing the Industry in Europe 31 's Directory of Members 32 Board, Councils, Committees, Forums and Working Groups 33 Structure of 33 Board 34 Councils 36 Life Sector Committees & Working Groups 37 General Sector Committees & Working Groups 40 International Sector Working Group 41 Health Sector Committees & Working Groups 42 Industry Wide (Common) Committees & Working Groups 44 Management Team

3 2 3 ABOUT INSURANCE IRELAND As the Voice of Insurance actively promoting the highest standards, represents the domestic insurance and international life insurance market. This business generates 25bn in premium income (domestic and overseas), employs 27,000 people, with thousands more in ancillary services and contributes over 1.6bn in tax to the Irish exchequer. Insurance makes a major contribution to Ireland s economic growth and development and is a cornerstone of modern life. One of the most important aspects of insurance is to pay claims to customers at times when they need it most. Each year the insurance industry pays out more than 5.4bn in claims to Irish customers. INSURANCE IRELAND TEAM AT THE FRAUD CONFERENCE As the voice of the industry, s key functions include: Representing its members interests to Government, state agencies, regulatory bodies, public representatives, other national interest groups, the media and the general public. Representing the position of members at a European level, particularly via Insurance Europe, the European Association for national insurance company representative bodies, and at a global level via the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA). Keeping members abreast of relevant policy and regulatory developments and providing a forum for member debates on such issues. Providing information to Government, the wider policymaking community and the public about insurance. AVIVA STADUIM 2014 THE VOICE OF INSURANCE

4 4 5 INSURANCE IRELAND STRATEGY HOUSE WELCOME FROM OUR CEO Reflecting on 2014, it has been a year in which further consolidated its position as the voice of Insurance at a domestic and international level, the latter through our representation via Insurance Europe & Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA). The 2014 high level metrics supporting our role as the Voice of Insurance continued to show an improvement compared to 2013, highlighted as follows: Membership up by 12% 300 member organisation staff engaged directly with us in delivering on our strategy for the industry, an increase of 25% compared to events held in 2014, up from 8 in 2013 Over 1,700 delegates participating in Events, the highest recorded for any year in the history of the organisation Increase in the number of policy & regulatory items we engaged with on behalf of the sector, up by 28% on 2013 The establishment of s INED Council The ongoing building of internal capability to support our ever increasing agenda Increased media presence In continually striving to be more refined in our representation on behalf of the sector, and in doing so seeking to achieve the right outcomes for our sector and its customers, perhaps the biggest ongoing challenge faced by is to increase understanding about the role of insurance, its benefits and how its unique business model works, both at a consumer, institutional and government stakeholder level. To this end and in accordance with our overall strategic plan, our most recent Consumer Conference took the first high profile step in engaging proactively around the consumer agenda on behalf of the sector, with other initiatives, including policy, across Life, General, International & Health demonstrating to our wider stakeholders the role our industry currently plays and can play in the future in providing solutions that address our countries economic and social challenges. As an organisation we will continue to work in partnership with government and the regulator to ensure that the right solutions are found and implemented so as not to restrict the potential of our sector when our consumers need us most in these ever changing times. To close I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support, and as your representative body in the context of an ever growing presence amongst our stakeholders, we will strive even harder in 2015 to represent our members needs at domestic and European level. Promoting Ireland as a place to do business OUR VISION IS TO BE THE VOICE FOR THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND RECOGNISED AS A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE BY OUR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS ENABLERS: LEADERSHIP & REPRESENTATION; ADVOCACY & POLICY DEVELOPMENT; FOCUSED ON MEMBER NEEDS; HIGHLY PARTICIPATIVE - THE VOICE OF INSURANCE IN IRELAND. Influencing the Regulatory environment OBJECTIVES Building the Contribution to the Economy Serving the Irish Customer Delivering our Transformation Programme OUR MISSION IS TO REPRESENT AND SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN IRELAND IN THE INTERESTS OF OUR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS OUR VALUES TRUST & TRANSPARENCY, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, ACCOUNTABILITY, RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, INNOVATION Kevin Thompson CEO INSURANCE IRELAND

5 6 7 COMMUNICATIONS PR & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT DURING 2014 MEMBERSHIP SERVICES AND EVENTS During 2014, our communications focus was on consolidating our position as the voice for the sector both in the media and in direct engagement with our key influencer stakeholders, e.g. Government Ministers and key officials in the Departments of Finance and Environment. Issues that were top of the agenda in both media and stakeholder outreach included health, pensions and flooding, and we made progress with key stakeholders in all of these areas. Our first major initiative of the year was the announcement in March with Minister Brian Hayes and the OPW, of the Memorandum of Understanding to share flood defence data. This was a major breakthrough in terms of constructive collaboration with this key stakeholder and we will continue to collaborate with OPW on this issue to ensure that both industry and Government have a thorough understanding of the challenges, ultimately with a view to providing more customers with flood insurance. The announcement was very well received in the media. Our second significant initiative was the publication in April of a major report, commissioned by, from PwC on the future of the insurance sector in Ireland and the potential economic benefits to the Irish economy. Entitled Creating the Future for Insurance in Ireland, the report detailed the important contribution our sector makes to the Irish economy and set out a roadmap for job creation and expansion in the sector. A key element contained within the road map related also to the International Insurance sector, creating a blueprint on how best to retain existing companies based in Ireland as well as attracting new operations. The first step in promoting this blueprint to International Stakeholders occurred in May when, Kevin Thompson, CEO of, was invited to speak at a high level IFSC Ireland event in the New York Stock Exchange, consolidating our position as the voice of the industry and delivering us another opportunity to underline the importance of our sector to the Irish economy to an influential Irish and US business audience. In September, we also hosted a conference to discuss pensions, and particularly Universal Pensions, attended by the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton. We then launched a report entitled A Universal Pension for Ireland in September, and hosted a media briefing and a workshop which was again attended by Minister Burton. The report is another strong example of collaborative work with stakeholders. Following on from last year s very successful CEO breakfast meeting with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, T.D., guest of honour at this year s event was Mr. Michael McGrath, T.D. and Fianna Fail spokesperson on Finance, who gave strong insight into the opposition s views on the economy. This was a further example of our strategy to gain insight into the views of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in a constructive and collaborative manner. Throughout the year, we maintained frequent contact with the media, particularly business media, with a number of briefings either on a group or one-to-one basis, as well as placing a number of opinion pieces from the Chief Executive in national newspapers, appearing on TV, and dealing with all questions from the media. We will continue to build out our media and stakeholder programme on behalf of our members next year. Ann O leary, Communication and Events Management Executive Pictured at the Annual Lunch were Garvan O Neill, Partner, PwC, Tony O Riordan, Head of Life Insurance Actuarial Practice, PwC and Kevin Thompson, CEO, Pictured at the Pensions Policy Initiative are from left to right Gerry Hasset, Managing Director, Irish Life, Joan Burton, Tánáiste and Minister for Social Protection and Kevin Thompsn, CEO, Insurance Ireland. In late 2013, Laura Farrell was appointed to a newly created role in as Director of Membership Services and Events. In mid 2014, the team was expanded with the appointment of Ann O'Leary as Communication and Events Management Executive. The focus of the team is three fold: To enhance engagement with our members and strengthen relationships To increase awareness and promotion of services amongst members To further develop the value proposition to members MEMBERSHIP SERVICES OBJECTIVE: TO ENHANCE ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR MEMBERS AND STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIPS One of the primary vehicles for engagement through Membership Services of existing and new members is the Calendar of Events. Up to 2012, Insurance Ireland hosted one event per annum in the form of it s annual industry lunch. In 2013, we held eight events. This year 35 events were delivered by with c1,700 members and stakeholders in attendance over the year. The calendar included six feature events: our AGM and Annual Industry Lunch, two Pension Policy Stakeholder Workshops, our annual CEO Breakfast, annual Anti-Fraud Conference and the inaugural President s Conference Customer 360. The balance of the calendar covered a range of events serving various targeted segments of our membership base and/or specific stakeholder groupings. Third party briefings were facilitated on an array of topics including mediation in claims, the pending introduction of postcodes, the UK chargeable events regime and telematics. A training seminar was delivered for 90 fraud specialists operating in Special Investigation Units across our member base. We ran a series of Flooding Workshops for our members and four Seminars for the Central Bank of Ireland presenting on topics such as RDR. The Chief Risk Officer Series ran three fora during the year which provided a highly engaging platform for senior risk staff to network and learn from their peers through the exchange of experiences, challenges and ideas. Our guest of honour for this year s CEO Breakfast was Michael McGrath, TD, Spokesperson on Finance, Fianna Fáil who engaged in an incisive and lively session with our CEOs that resonated with all in attendance. We will shortly release details of the 2015 calender. SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2014 CALENDAR Pension Policy Workshops & Report Launch - A Universal Pension for Ireland A Workshop designed to develop consensus on the details and timing of a universal pension for Ireland amongst key stakeholders was held on February 11th of this year in Dublin Castle. Participants included IBEC, ICTU, Age Action and the Pensions Board. On Tuesday, 30th September, hosted a second cross sectoral stakeholder workshop. At this second session, launched a specially commissioned report titled A Universal Pension for Ireland, which focused on policy and implementation issues based on international best practice. Joan Burton, TD, Tánaiste & Minister for Social Protection was in attendance along with four high profile speakers; David Harris, Managing Director, TOR Financial, Peter Neilson, CEO, Financial Services Council, David C. John, AARP Policy Institute and Tim Jones, CEO, NEST UK.

6 8 9 Pictured at the Fraud Conference Understanding the True Impact of Fraud were from left to right Niall Kavanagh, COO, Risk Intelligence, Ciaran McGaley, CEO, Risk Intelligence and Kevin Thompson, CEO,. Pictured at the Fraud Conference Understanding the True Impact of Fraud Tom O Brien, Senior, SIU, Liberty Insurance. Pictured at the Customer 360 Conference were Kevin Thompson, CEO,, Karen O Leary Member of the Commission, Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Bryan Dobson, RTE and Sean Casey, President,. Anti-Fraud Conference Understanding the True Impact of Fraud 250 delegates registered for our Fraud Conference - 'Understanding the True Impact of Fraud' held on November 13th in the Aviva. The turnout was 56% up on 2013, and included C-level executives, functional heads and fraud specialists at middle and senior management levels. There was a strong representation from across all our member sectors: Life, General, International and Health. The event was designed as a fast paced morning conference with the speakers latterly forming a panel for a highly interactive audience Q&A session to close the event. Speakers included representatives from Europol, City of London Police/IFED, Liberty Insurance and AXA PPP Healthcare. We had six exhibitors and four sponsors on the day, including Risk Intelligence, our Platinum sponsor. At the event, our Innovation Strategic Alliance Partner Accenture launched the findings of a detailed insurance fraud consumer sentiment survey recently commissioned by Accenture and carried out by Amárach Research in the Irish market. This was developed in conjunction with members of our Anti-Fraud Forum. A video shot by Accenture featuring members of the Forum was played on the day of the conference. Inaugural President s Conference - Customer 360 The Customer 360 Conference took place on December 3rd at the Convention Centre Dublin. There were 260 delegates in attendance for this Inaugural Presidents Conference an event we are keen to establish as the industry s annual flagship event. The conference title Customer 360 reflected the rounded discourse that took place on the day with respect to the nature and needs of the customers we serve both now and in the future. The Customer 360 Conference was aimed at Directors and Senior s across the Life, General, International and Health insurance sectors. We heard from CEOs from each of these sectors, from Consumer Representatives, from the Regulator and from thought leaders on the new age of the digital consumer. The Conference was largely panel based with discussions hosted by Bryan Dobson. The format of the conference was a departure from the norm in its highly interactive and participative composition. The voice of the customer was amply facilitated, and we as an industry discussed and engaged around issues of import to our customers and challenges for us in engagement and delivery. Pictured at the Customer 360 Conference were Kevin Thompson, CEO,, Donal Clancy, Managing Director, Laya Healthcare, Anthony Brennan, CEO, Zurich Life and Ciaran McGettrick, Managing Director, Phoenix Group Ireland. The findings of the survey provided insights into Irish people s perception of insurance fraud and their opinions on why fraud is committed. A key implication of the research is that attitudes towards fraud are largely appropriately negative however consumer sentiment toward taking action to combat fraud is disturbingly ambivalent. The findings will be used to inform our future anit-fraud advertising campaigns.

7 10 11 Pictured at - Milliman CRO forum in September are Ger Bradley, Milliman, Fergus Barry Fergus Barry and associates and Eamonn Phelan, Milliman. Pictured at - Milliman CRO forum in September, Niall Butler, Allianz Worldwide Care. Chief Risk Officer Forum We closed the year with the last of three CRO Fora for 2014 on December 11th. The CRO Forum is designed to be a high-level discussion group exclusively formed and attended by Chief Risk Officers of Insurance Ireland Member and Associate Member companies. The purpose of the series is to engender debate and discussion, facilitating peer learning, network building and the sharing of experience and knowledge in this community. The topics for the last forum of the year was Risk Management and the Regulator which was be delivered by Mark Burke of the Central Bank of Ireland, and the value added dimension of the role of CRO which took the form of a peer debate facilitated by Milliman, our partners in the Forum Series. Previous fora have featured presentations on subjects including Emerging Risk, ORSA, the Structuring of the Risk Management Function and the Role of the CRO at the Top Table. PROGRESS TOWARD Insurance Europe General Assembly and International Conference 2016 In November 2013, at s CEO breakfast with the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, T.D. we announced our successful bid to host the Insurance Europe General Assembly and International Conference The conference will bring representatives from 34 national insurance bodies and global insurance leaders to Dublin to address key issues facing the insurance industry. In the intervening year established a Strategic Steering Committee to oversee the design and development of the conference plan. The Committee consists of our CEO, Kevin Thompson, Director of Membership Services and Events, Laura Farrell, our current President Sean Casey, Managing Director New Ireland Assurance, our President for 2015, Ciaran McGettrick, Managing Director Phoenix Group Ireland and our President for 2016 the year of the Conference, Andrew Langford, Group Chief Executive FBD. The Committee oversees the activities of the Advisory Committee, a panel mainly populated by marketing, business development, communications and PR specialists drawn from across our member base to support us in bringing this industry flagship event to fruition. This panel is augmented by the presence of Kieran O Donoghue, Head of International Financial Services, IDA. Ireland's Bid document to Host - Insurance Europe General Assembly & International Conference 2016 Pictured at the first planning meeting for the 2016 conference is the Members Advisory Committee: Front row left to right Kevin Thompson,, Dick Harnett, OSG, Jennifer Hoban, and Brendan McEvoy, Irish Life. Back row left to right Laura McLellan,, Brian O Neill, Friends First, Damien O Neill, Allianz, Patrick Nally, RSA, Maurice Cullin, Zurich, Denis Curran, IDA and Ann O Leary,. Insurance Europe 2016 Advisory Committee Laura Farrell Director of Membership Services and Events Ann O Leary Communications and Events Management Executive Damien O'Neill Allianz Head of Marketing Brian O'Neill Friends First Strategic Marketing Director Patrick Nally RSA Group Marketing Director Dick Harnett OSG Group Head of Business Development Marketing and Sales, Brendan McEvoy Irish Life Director Marketing Susan Landers Allianz Worldwide Head of Marketing & Client Management Bronagh Twomey FBD Insurance Group Head of Marketing Kieran O'Donoghue IDA Head of International Financial Services Regina O Connor Senior Vice President Government Affairs & Corporate Compliance XL Group Paula Hodson Director of Development Services Insurance Institute of Ireland

8 12 13 Vincent Sheridan Dónal Clancy Ciaran McGrettrick Anthony Brennan Andrew Langford Andrew Langford Group Chief Executive, FBD Chairman, Non Life Council Anthony Brennan CEO Zurich Life Chairman,, Life Council Ciaran McGrettrick Managing Director, Phoenix Group Ireland, Chairman, International Council Dónal Clancy Managing Director, Laya Healthcare Chairman, Health Council Vincent Sheridan Chairman, Insurance Ireland INED Council MEMBERSHIP SERVICES OBJECTIVE - TO INCREASE AWARENESS AND PROMOTION OF INSURANCE IRELAND SERVICES AMONGST MEMBERS Sectoral and European e-newsletters During 2014 introduced a series of newsletters that are championed by the Chair of each of our Councils: These e-newsletters issue shortly after the regular meetings of each Council, typically between three and five times a year. The newsletters feature a note from the Chair highlighting the recent activities of the Council, a note from our CEO Kevin Thompson on the activities of the Secretariat and how those tie back to our strategy as the voice of the industry and the sector to which the newsletters relate, and various updates from relevant Secretariat staff focused on stakeholder and media engagement on behalf of the industry, Committee and Working Group activities and outputs, and relevant publications and events. This year we have also introduced a quarterly European and Global update. This e-newsletter focuses on our work on behalf of our members in Europe and globally. It features updates from the staff of member organisations that represent the industry s interests on key Committees and Working Groups in Insurance Europe. Member Contact Development As we progressed through the year we actively sought opportunity to engage with our membership base on a broader basis than previously undertaken. We have the highest level of member participation in our Councils, Committees, Working Groups and Forums in the history of the organisation with almost 300 member organisation staff engaged directly with us in delivering on our strategy for the industry. As indicated, we welcomed c1,700 attendees to our industry and sectoral events and we have significantly grown our communications reach into our membership base through delivery of this calendar. We increasingly communicate with a broader cohort of member staff in fields we have not previously engaged directly with such as marketing, customer services and information. We will continue to seek new opportunities to deepen our engagement and moreover our value add to our members staff in Website Enhancements In the second half of the year we designed and delivered a series of infrastructural enhancements to the website which allowed us to improve the site s value as a communication tool. The website is now restructured in such a way as to facilitate a simplified user experience when searching the member database, events, news and publications. We are in the process of scoping an online registration system in conjunction with Insurance Europe for delivery by end quarter one 2015 to support promotion of the Insurance Europe General Assembly and International Conference 2016 and to support our own calendar of events for 2015 and onwards. In 2015, we will also work to improve the web based information we provide to our members customers as part of our Customer Charter. It's not funny when it's your Money - Insurance Ireland Advertising Theme and Creative. MEMBERSHIP SERVICES OBJECTIVE: TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE INSURANCE IRELAND VALUE PROPOSITION TO MEMBERS Millward Brown Membership Research In November 2013, Membership Services commissioned a research survey conducted on our behalf by Millward Brown amongst our member base. With respect to how we engage with our members, a core objective of the research was to better understand how to develop and demonstrate our value to our membership base. We gleaned from the findings of the research that some of our services and the means by which we deliver them required review. This included our website which we have restructured in order to make it more user friendly. We learned that our members value direct and proactive engagement and we have sought to address this through our calendar of events, range of sectoral e-newletters and quarterly EU updates. We understand that our members have a need for greater visibility of our public affairs and public relations strategies and workings and our impact in both spheres, and we have addressed this throughout this report and will ramp up communication of our efforts and successes in this regard during 2015 through the medium of our e-newsletters. Our deliverables against key responsibilities as identified by our members under our mandate as the representative body for the industry both domestically and in Europe/ Globally are dealt with in later chapters of this report on an industry wide and sectoral basis. Anti-Fraud Advertising Campaign on behalf of the Industry We know that fraudulent claims cost our insurers c. 200m per annum. As the voice of the industry invests in an annual advertising campaign to combat insurance fraud. Millward Brown has tracked awareness of the Fraud Hotline - Insurance Confidential and advertising campaign at various stages since 2005 on our behalf. The approach involves a pre & post measure to assess recall of the advertising campaign and impact on attitudes to fraud and fraudulent behaviour in Ireland. Awareness of our confidential telephone line to report fraud reached an all-time high in 2014 on the back of our most recent TV advertising campaign according to Millward Brown who estimate that 54% of the public are aware of the campaign with some age groups and regions experiencing 60%+ scores. Our TV advertising campaign has been successful in cutting through, with an above norm recall of the advert. This is a positive score in light of the normative database we were bench marked against for the purposes of the Millward Brown research containing many FMCG brands with significant ad spend. However, attitudinally the Millward Brown research tells us that we have further work to do to reinforce the negative impact of insurance fraud. The findings of Accenture s consumer sentiment research coupled with Millward Brown s research pertaining to our advertising campaign indicate some consideration should be given to changing the existing messaging of our advertising and/or showing other means by which the Irish public are impacted by fraudulent behaviour.

9 14 15 INSURANCE INFORMATION SERVICE (IIS) To this end we intend to review our advertising campaign in 2015 in the context of the Amárach and Millward Brown research and initiate a tender process for the business with a shortlist of advertising agencies which we are currently collating. Our primary aims for next year s campaign are to endeavour to impact on attitudes amongst the general public toward fraud and ultimately to address behaviours. These are complex, ambitious and long term goals but we view these as being integral to our remit as the voice of the industry. As part of the process of briefing the shortlisted advertising agencies we will engage with our members to collate inputs as to how we could build the next campaign to achieve these goals. Strategic Alliance Partnerships introduced its Strategic Alliance Partnership proposition to the market in quarter one The concept of the Alliance when first proposed took the form of an alignment of our brand with targeted professional services/consultancy firms working within our industry. We initially offered a limited number of firms the opportunity to co-brand select industry activities for an intended period of up to three years - in the lead-in to the Insurance Europe 2016 Conference and General Assembly, with an annual fee attaching to the alliance arrangement. The Strategic Alliance Partnership proposition has evolved throughout 2014 into a true partnership opportunity for firms seeking to achieve meaningful strategic alignments within our industry. In the six months to April 2014 an independent & rigorous assessment of the industry was conducted by PwC on our behalf. This process engaged a broad range of national and international stakeholders across the insurance industry & related sectors. The final product of this exercise was our report Creating the Future for Insurance in Ireland. Recommendations following the assessment have now been incorporated into s Strategic Plan to align with our other objectives as per our Strategy House, see page 8. The evolution of the Strategic Alliance Partnership proposition from inception in quarter one 2014 has mapped the development of our Strategy House for the Industry in conjunction with our Board and Councils, contextualised by the findings of our industry report. This year saw the development of the Accenture Innovation Strategic Alliance Partnership which will be finalised by contract later this month and formally announced early in Thus far the alliance has contributed greatly to our calendar of events with Accenture providing high profile speakers for both our Anti- Fraud and Customer 360 conferences, undertaking and sharing valuable market research in the area of Fraud, supporting our Membership Services team in the delivery of these flagship events and producing a video about fraud featuring members of our Anti-Fraud Forum. The Alliance will work this month to constitute the Industry Innovation Task Force which will report to the Non- Life Council and will be populated by representatives from across our membership base, the IDA, Accenture and the Secretariat. We continue discussions with a shortlist of other professional services/consultancy firms and hope to announce further alliances early in operates a free Insurance Information Service (IIS) which answers questions on all types of insurance for the Irish Public. IIS is a sub division of. It also investigates complaints made against our members. IIS staff liaise between policyholders and our members in areas of dispute, providing assistance to people having difficulty in obtaining car insurance quotations under the Declined Cases Agreement and advise the general public on all areas relating to insurance. In provision of this free service IIS engages with the broker industry, the Consumers Association of Ireland, the Central Bank of Ireland, and Citizen Information Branches. A breakdown of statistics from IIS for the first six months of the year is provided to the right of the page. IIS notes a continued positive reaction to the resolution of complaint cases to the satisfaction of both insurer and policyholder negating the need for such cases to pursue the Financial Service Ombudsman s route. IIS continues to accept calls from the Financial Services Ombudsman s Office as part of early intervention in resolving a dispute, before it may escalate to a full review with the office of the Financial Service Ombudsman. Setanta Insurance On the 17th April 2014, the announcement was made by Setanta Insurance to surrender its insurance licence and dissolve the company. As a result, IIS encountered a substantial volume of contact by phone and from the following: Public Solicitors Citizen Information Branches Broker Industry Total contacts regarding this matter for the period 17th April to 30th May 2014 was 1, Queries from Jan June 7,430 (20% increase compared to same period for 2013) January 1096 February 1012 March 1056 April 1522 May 1440 June 1304 Queries from Previous Years Year ,004 Year ,802 Year ,278 Year , Complaints from Jan June 637 (34% increase compared to same period for 2013) January Y84% N16% February Y84% N16% March Y81% N19% April Y88% N12% May Y90% N10% June Y87% N13% Complaints on Previous Years Year Year Year Year Pictured at CEO Breakfast 2013 are Frank Farrell,, Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, Fine Gael Leader and Paul Holohan,. Yes No

10 16 17 INSURANCE IRELAND REPRESENTING THE INDUSTRY IN IRELAND THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY INSURANCE IRELAND REPRESENTS 95% OF THE DOMESTIC MARKET AND 80% OF THE INTERNATIONAL LIFE MARKET OUR VISION IS TO BE THE VOICE FOR THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND RECOGNISED AS A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE BY OUR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDER OUR MISSION IS TO REPRESENT AND SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN IRELAND IN THE INTERESTS OF OUR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS A survey of our members, conducted on our behalf by Millward Brown, showed that the most important function to members is that of representing the industry to key stakeholders. Public policy and advocacy are deemed to be the critical areas for members. Almost 50% of members agreed that it is very important that members are kept abreast of relevant policy and regulator developments, while the majority of members agreed that is effective at helping the industry reach agreed policy positions. Identifying areas for legislative or regulatory reform and commenting on draft legislation are also important functions of on behalf of members. The majority of our members believe has the correct strategy. Encouragingly, one in three members said they would like to get more involved and a further one in two members believe they will be more involved in initiatives in the future. The survey indicated that regulation and legislation are the key areas where can provide members with critical advice and updates. These are our main areas of focus, through a programme of direct engagement with stakeholders, media engagement and the production of meaningful statistics and industry information. The following is a round-up of the activities carried out on your behalf throughout the year. Engagement with CBI continues to engage on behalf of members with CBI at all levels of the organisation. At the most senior level, II s President Mr Sean Casey and II s CEO meet with the Deputy Governor Financial Regulation Mr Cyril Roux. There was also a senior meeting between the II Board and CBI Director of Consumer Protection Mr Bernard Sheridan. Such meetings reinforce II s commitment to engage with the CBI strategically, as well as at a technical level, in the interests of a more productive and constructive relationship. It also ensures unintended consequences are avoided for both the regulator and regulated entities. CBI Presentations Earlier this year, agreed to run a number of sessions for CBI prudential staff on the challenges facing insurers. The first of the presentations by Aviva, on UK RDR, took place in July. In September, Irish Life and Zurich Life collaborated on a presentation on the domestic life market. In October, a session from Aegon and Prudential covered variable annuities, portfolio bonds and QROPS in the international market. A presentation on the domestic non life market is also planned. Risk Appetite Discussion Paper The CBI published a Risk Appetite discussion paper in June and the deadline for responses was 1st September. Most of the questions were aimed at entities that had direct experience of implementing a risk appetite statement. s Regulation, Compliance and Legal (RCL) Committee was of the view that the paper was broadly helpful and should be welcomed by, but that there was no need for a more specific response. Auditor Assurance The Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 means that the CBI can require external auditors to provide an opinion to the CBI as to whether an institution has complied with certain requirements. The CBI has advised that this will be implemented on a pilot basis for High Impact insurers for the 2014 financial year - the requirements that auditors will be asked to comment on will be the CBI Solvency II Interim Guidelines. We met with the CBI in May to discuss its proposals in more detail and we have asked the CBI to meet with us again when the exercise is complete to review how successful it has been from their point of view, and to discuss any issues which have arisen for insurers e.g. costs. Fitness and Probity Changes The RCL Committee requested additional clarification from the CBI about its proposals to make the following positions Pre-Approval Controlled Functions: Chief Operating Officer, and Head of Claims. Amended Regulations have now been published. Variable Remuneration for Sales Staff The CBI published Guidelines on Variable Remuneration for Sales Staff on 25th July. The guidelines apply to all insurers, banks and investments firms and follow recommendations issued in relation to insurers in November The Guidelines require insurers to review their remuneration structures and the Chairperson of the Board is required to confirm to the CBI that the necessary changes have been implemented by 1st January has highlighted to the CBI that this timescale is extremely challenging and the CBI has indicated that it is open to discussing this with individual insurers. Solvency II Working Group The committee s activities in 2014 have, in the main, been focused around the implementation of or the responding to legislation. In late 2013 the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) published four preparatory guidelines to be implemented variously in 2014 and The Omnibus II Directive which set the start date of the Solvency II regime as the 1st January 2016 was published in the Official Journal in May A draft Solvency II delegated act was circulated in January 2014 and further ones in March, July and October In conjunction with Insurance Europe the Committee was involved in making a number of representations on the delegated act. Due to the number of areas on which comments were made, eight were identified as priority areas for discussion with the EU Commission. These were focused on the following aspects of the delegated act; The credit risk adjustment The volatility adjustment The matching adjustment Extrapolation Long-term investments Equivalence Currency risk Own funds When the version of the delegated act for consideration by the EU Parliament and Council were published, in October, progress was visible in a number of these areas. The European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority (EIOPA) is issuing Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) and guidelines in two waves. This first of these, in June 2014, consisted of 6 ITS s and 32 Guidelines. Wave 2 is due to be published for consultation in the fourth quarter of 2014 and will comprise 20 ITS s and 19 Guidelines. The first set of 32 guidelines contained a total of 521 individual guidelines. The Committee contributed a large number of comments through Insurance Europe who made in total over 1,000 comments to EIOPA. In the final quarter of the year a number of consultations will be carried out which the Committee will consider and if appropriate make a response. The European Central Bank (ECB) is to publish its proposal for the provision of data from insurers to the ECB; EIOPA will hold a consultation on its proposal for the auditing of reports. The CBI will hold a consultation on national specific templates, ones it will require in addition to the standard EIOPA quarterly and annual ones. Finally the Department of Finance will hold a consultation on the transposition of EU Solvency II legislation into national law. The Committee collaborated with the Taxation Committee in considering the taxation implications of Solvency II, which included the commission of a study on this matter by PWC. In total the Committee will have held a total of nine meetings during Solvency II and tax The Finance and Taxation Committee agreed a submission to Revenue in August on the tax consequences of Solvency II. Most of the issues relate to the domestic life closed book of business but there are some areas of broader application. Representatives of the Committee held a follow-up meeting with Revenue on 15th September at which Revenue requested additional information. Discussions with Revenue on this issue are continuing. Financial Services Ombudsman engaged with the Financial Services Ombudsman in relation to the new legislation giving the FSO the power to name individual providers in regular reports. The first bi-annual report on the new basis was published on 26th February and eight insurers were named. In advance of publication had formulated a (reactive) PR strategy but in the media coverage of the FSO s report, there was very little focus on the insurance industry. The FSO subsequently wrote to us to advise that his next report will be published in early 2015 covering the year We plan to meet with the FSO in advance of this.

11 18 19 INSURANCE IRELAND REPRESENTING THE LIFE INSURANCE SECTOR Vincent Sheridan, Chairman, INED Council FATCA Revenue published its FATCA Guidance Notes in October following extensive consultation with industry, including. They have also advised that will be asked to participate in an Automatic Exchange of Information industry consultation group which will look at issues arising from the implementation of the OECD Common Reporting Standard and other initiatives. Shared Services Industry Statistics The provision and publication of statistics is an important part of s work. publishes this data in its Factfile, Annual Report and other key reports. Statistical information gathered by is used by members on a regular basis as it covers key data on life and non-life market trends. issued 3rd quarter headline statistics for Life and Non-Life domestic members in October. Results show a year-on-year increase of around 9% under life premium on APE basis. Under Non-Life, results show a year-onyear overall increase of around 0.3% with motor segment recording an increase of 5%. is currently exploring solutions to provide enhanced market intelligence to members in a centralised place - a solution is expected to be in place by Q A revamped version of our FactFile was issued in September. This forms part of a series published by annually providing the key facts and figures on the industry in Ireland. The scope of this year s publication was increased to include statistics for International and Health members for the first time. New Industry Wide Independent Non- Executive Director (INED) Council has recently established an INED Council. At its first meeting in June the INED Council agreed the following terms of reference: Promote best practice for insurance industry INEDs Act as a sounding board for the various regulatory entities in relation to existing and proposed legislation impacting on insurance INEDs Organise appropriate training for insurance INEDs Act as a networking hub for insurance INEDs To build a community for II member company INEDs, supported by an annual event The first INED annual event is being planned for May We will be jointly hosting the industry s inaugural INED conference with the Central Bank of Ireland on the 14th of May Pictured at the Pensions Policy Initiative are from left to right Gerry Hassett, Managing Director, Irish Life, Joan Burton, Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection and Kevin Thompson, CEO,. Life Sector Members Acorn Life Ark Life Aviva Life & Pensions ECCU Equitable Life Friends First Life Genworth Financial Assurance IBRC Assurance Irish Life London General Life New Ireland Assurance Phoenix Ireland Quinn-life Direct Royal London t/a Caledonian Life Scottish Friendly Standard Life Sun Life of Canada Zurich Life Pensions Policy Initiative The key policy initiative during 2014 was s response to the OECD s recommendation that Ireland introduce a universal pension system. We firstly established an Academic Advisory Panel which includes the following social security / pensions policy experts: Susan St.John, University of Auckland David Laibson, Harvard Business School Constantin Gurdgiev, Trinity College Dublin Business School Jeff Brown, University Illinois, Chicago Colm McCarthy, University College Dublin The Academic Advisory Panel reviewed s proposals to reach out to the key stakeholders in Irish society, including trades unions, IBEC and NGOs with a view to taking the first step towards building a national consensus on what needs to be done. developed, with the support of Tor Financial Consulting (who had assisted the OECD in its Review of the Irish Pension System), our own proposals as to how the Government should meet the challenge. then hosted a Stakeholder Workshop in Dublin Castle on 11th February where representatives from Government, IBEC, ICTU and SIPTU discussed with leading economists the options available to implement a universal pension system. This was followed in September of this year with a further Workshop in Dublin s Marker Hotel to launch the final Insurance Ireland report and to host a discussion with stakeholders, the industry and policy specialists with a view to identifying the first steps to a universal pension. Phasing out of Pensions Levy also welcomed the Minister for Finance s statement in the Budget that the pensions levy would be phased out by the end of Kevin Thompson, Chief Executive,, said, Insurance Ireland was very disappointed last year at the continuation of the pensions levy, which was widely regarded as a serious disincentive to saving for retirement. The country has public debt of 192bn but this becomes insignificant when you take account hidden state pension liabilities estimated at 440bn. Our population is continuing to grow and people are living longer into retirement, and clearly we need to address the issue of pensions in a very fundamental way. Government wants people to save for retirement to reduce the significant burden on the state, but the pensions levy ran entirely counter to achieving that goal. Today s announcement in relation to the ending of the levy is very significant and will encourage more people to save for their pension. The positioning of as a key commentator on pensions issues is one of the strategic goals in the PWC report. Pensions Committee Revenue Large Cases earlier this year established a joint Revenue/pensions industry forum to discuss technical issues. representatives are participating along with other industry stakeholders. Revenue personnel also attended a meeting of the Pensions Committee in October at which useful progress was made towards agreeing new procedures to streamline the scheme approvals process. Following submissions from Insurance Ireland, the Minister for Finance agreed that the Revenue Commissioners will

12 20 21 INSURANCE IRELAND REPRESENTING THE GENERAL INSURANCE SECTOR allow access to the Approved Retirement Fund option for all holders of Buy-out Bonds arising from DC pension schemes regardless of the date of transfer. Members of the Pensions Committee also assisted in preparing a response to the Department of Social Protection consultation on the review of the IORPs Directive which proposes changes to the governance and information requirements for pension schemes. The Insurance Ireland response queried whether some of the proposals were proportionate, particularly for insured and small schemes. Genetic Testing and Life Assurance The Disability Act 2005 introduced a ban on access to genetic test results by life assurers and provided that the legislation should be reviewed after a number of years in operation. This review is being progressed by the National Disability Authority which held a seminar on 30th September to initiative a consultation. Dr. Paul Gueret, who is Chief Medical Officer of a number of life offices, gave a presentation on the practical experience of insurers in implementing the legislation and other speakers included Garrett O Neill, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Aisling de Paor, Lecturer in Law at Dublin City University, Dr. David Barton, National Centre for Medical Genetics and Avril Daly, the Genetic and Rare Disorders Organisation. s submission was progressed by the Genetics Working Group comprising underwriters from four member companies. The submission highlighted that although the ban on access to genetic test results has not had a significant impact to-date, any restrictions on access to family history information could have a negative impact on the cost and/or availability of covers and particularly serious illness cover. will continue to participate in this important debate, particularly if any changes to current legislation are proposed by Government. Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Advert The annual Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies advertisement was published by on behalf of members on 1st October in the Irish Times and Irish Independent and on 3rd October in Iris Oifigiuil. Michael Curtin, Operations Executive - General Sector Anthony Brennan CEO, Zurich Life Chairman, Life Council Jennifer Hoban Life Assurance, Jennifer Hoban Anthony Brennan Pictured from left to right : Jerry McGrath, Business Product, FBD Insurance, Nigel Dawkins, Risk Control, Commercial Underwriting, RSA Insurance, Zoe Panayotou, GIS Analyst,Product Underwriting, Zurich Insurance, John Carey, Underwriting, Allianz, John Dooley,Head of Commercial Property, Liberty Insurance, Liam Basquille, Principal Officer, OPW, Michael Horan, Non-Life Insurance,, Vincent Hussey, Senior Engineer, OPW, Tom Bolger, Assistant Chief Engineer, OPW and David Parke, GIS Analyst, Aviva Insurance. Paul McDonnell, Head of EU Regulatory Affairs & Planning, at the Office of Publics Works Flooding Conference General Sector Members ACE Europe AIG Allianz Amtrust International Aviva Insurance AXA DAS Group DeCare Dental Ecclesiastical Euro Insurances FBD Genworth Financial Insurance IPB Insurance Liberty Insurance London General Insurance Mapfre Assistencia RSA Insurance Travelers Insurance Zurich Insurance In 2014, the General Sector team was expanded with the appointment of Michael Curtin as Operation Executive. Michael joins us from Allianz where he worked in underwritting since OPW Memorandum of Understanding on Flooding launched a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Flooding in March at a joint press conference with Minister Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with Special Responsibility for the OPW. The MOU went live in June. Under the terms of the MOU the OPW will share flood defence data with Insurance Ireland so that members can take this data into account when assessing flood risk. The MOU is the start of a process which will help our members make flood insurance more widely available in areas benefiting from flood defences built to the desired standard of 1:100 years. The OPW has so far provided data on 12 completed flood defence schemes with more to follow. met the new Minister of State for the OPW and IFSC, Simon Harris TD, in October of this year. Our aim in engaging with Minister Harris was to build on the /OPW MOU and secure more flood defence information. In October, participated in the OPW s National Stakeholder Meeting on their Catchment based Flood Risk Assessment and Management Programme, i.e. reviewing progress with their flood mapping prior to production of OPW Flood Risk Management Plans in 2015 in line with the EU Floods Directive. Our endeavours in the area of flooding are aimed at ensuring that robust flood defence strategies and adequate investment in flood defences are put in place so that insurers can provide cover against the risk of flooding rather than against inevitable events. Shared Services Effective Management and Quantification of Flood Risk Project is participating in an industry project which would help insurers to effectively manage and quantify flood risks at high spatial and temporal resolutions which aligns directly with the current and likely future needs of our Insurance industry. A project team comprising researchers and engineers from Universities and organisations like DCU, IBM, Marine Institute and a representative from is in place to progress this project. The project is underway and currently at analysis phase. Office of Public Works Flooding Conference Paul MacDonnell, s Head of EU Regulatory Affairs & Planning, presented an overview of the dangers posed by inappropriate public policy concerning insurance at the Office of Public Works Flooding Conference at Dublin Castle on 10th April. Winter Storms Claims costs resulting from the storms between mid-december 2013 and February 2014 amounted to approximately 157m. There were just over 30,000 claims in this period with approximately 70% of the claims by number and cost resulting from the storms in February, which climaxed with Storm Darwin on 12th February. Insurers rose to the logistical challenge of dealing with 30,000 claims in such a short period of time and worked hard to ensure that policyholders claims were handled quickly.