Download the full report on the CRO Forum website.

The FIT draws on the experience gained with the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) that first transformed net-zero insurance from theory into practice. A group of 19 insurers and reinsurers have joined the initiative.

The FIT is chaired by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It will engage with insurance regulators and supervisors, net-zero standard-setters and initiatives, and the scientific and academic community, among others.

NN Group has joined FIT as a founding member because we believe collaboration and knowledge sharing with key players in the international (re)insurance market continues to be essential for the financial industry to reach its net-zero targets. NN Group aims to reach net-zero with our insurance underwriting portfolios by 2050 and we published our first intermediate targets in July 2023.

Priorities for the FIT:

• Advancing frameworks for net-zero insurance metrics and voluntary targets, and developing new net-zero insurance concepts                     
• Developing a net-zero transition plan framework for insurance market participants
• Engaging with the real economy on the development of net-zero transition plans by corporates across different sectors                        
• Tackling challenges and opportunities to develop insurance solutions and taxonomies that support the net-zero transition

With FIT replacing NZIA, we continue to share the goal to tackle climate change and the problems it raises for the insurance market.

Read more information on the FIT : https://www.unepfi.org/forum-for-insurance-transition-to-net-zero/

There are approximately 1.8 million working women¹ in the Netherlands going through menopause, of which 90% indicate they do not know where to go with their questions and symptoms. NN's new Dutch platform Vi is determined to change that, with an app designed to support working women manage their symptoms, find information and connect to qualified experts.  

Tackling taboos 
The menopause has traditionally been seen as a private matter or ‘a women’s issue’ and is not a topic which is often discussed openly or which has been taken into account in working practices. This has resulted in a lack of knowledge and awareness about the physical and emotional changes that women experience during this natural stage in life.  

Vi aims to support women to access proper care, which in turn can reduce the potential impact on their life and career. The platform enables women to monitor and track their physical and emotional symptoms. It also offers workshops for employers and employees, coaching, as well as access to medical specialists.  

Marleen ten Damme, founder of Vi, explains their mission: ‘Tackling the menopause taboo is our starting point for Vi. We’re really happy that conversations about menopause have developed over the course of the last year. It’s time to support women and employers with the right services to bring this change to action. We aim to bring understanding and awareness about this phase through personalised and data-driven insights. Every woman experiences the menopause in her own unique way. That's why our services are designed so that each woman can examine her own situation and receive advice that truly suits her.’   

Available now for employers 
Vi was launched in August 2023 for its first pilot users and is now an independent entity, available for employers and their employees as of January 2024. The platform has been created by NN Ventures, the corporate venture builder of NN Group. Their aim is to create new business models that are independent but complementary to existing products, mostly in the life insurance and pensions space. NN will take a minority stake in Vi as co-founder. 

Jeroen Meijers, Head of NN Ventures, says: ‘Female health has been under-invested, and it has a direct impact not only for women but the companies they work for. NN sees this important issue in society, and we are in a good position as a business to invest in Vi as a solution.’ 

You can learn more about Vi at www.vihealth.nl.

_{¹ Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid. Werken tijdens de overgang, 2022, page 2.}  

Insurance Innovators Summit brings together the incumbents and disruptors setting the innovation agenda within the insurance industry. Attendees discuss the most critical issues facing the industry today, such as disruptions in distribution, evolutions in AI, gamification and Web3.

Chief Customer & Commerce Officer, Lieke Luttmer, joined a panel discussion on ‘Putting customer needs first'. Lieke spoke about the role of people and culture challenge in digital transformation, the importance of transparency and “test & learn” culture, and what being a truly customer-centric insurer means.

Also at the event, NN Group's Chief Analytics Officer Tjerrie Smit took part in a fireside chat on ‘Next stage automation'. Tjerrie discussed how generative AI (GenAI) is transforming our day-to-day work and the wider industry, how to create a culture of innovation, and how NN applies GenAI to deliver an excellent experience for customers.

NN Group uses AI across our business units in support of both personal efficiency for our colleagues and in serving our customers. For example, our Fraud Risk Model (FRM) identifies various levels of potential risk for our teams to investigate, and we use ChatGPT to automatically generate summaries of customer service calls, saving valuable time on manual creation.

Read more about how NN uses AI.

The CRO Forum brings together a group of European chief risk officers (CROs) from insurance companies who share ideas and benchmark risk management practices. The Emerging Risk Initiative identifies and communicates emerging risks that may have significant impacts on the industry within the next ten years. NN Group is chair of the Emerging Risk Initiative in 2023, leading knowledge exchange and coordinating publication of the annual Emerging Risk Radar.

New risks for 2023

The new risks added to the Radar in 2023 are Energy Storage Systems, in the context of the green energy transition and attempts to decrease fossil fuel dependencies; Data Ethics, with growing customer awareness and the increased integration of technology into everyday life raising questions about equal access to digital resources, data security and ethics; and New Insurance Competition, as the traditional role of insurers is impacted by value chain disintermediation, embedded insurance products and services offerings, and Big Tech companies. The report also assesses and updates major trends, which largely remain unchanged compared to 2022.

Ivo Roest, manager Enterprise Risk & Integration at NN Group: ‘Emerging risks consist of new or developing risks as well as existing risks that are difficult to measure. They are relevant for the insurance industry because they can accumulate over time and they can be difficult to link to a specific cause. By monitoring emerging risks through the Risk Radar, we can develop products and services that help our customers to insure themselves against new risks.’

Download the full report on the CRO Forum website.

Potential for new ventures 

NN Group launched its corporate venture builder NN Ventures in April 2023, to use its existing innovation resources to (co)fund the exploration and development of a small number of new insurtech propositions up to the first significant round of investment (known as Series A). These ventures are designed to operate independently but are complementary to current NN products, therefore helping us to stay relevant for our customers and meet future needs. 

Jeroen Meijers, Head of NN Ventures, reflected on the findings of the report during a panel session at ITC DIA Europe on 29 June. Jeroen said: ‘We've been partnering with insurtechs for many years and tested many ideas, and we've found that the strength comes from leveraging the assets of both the entrepreneurs and the corporate, such as the customer base and distribution capabilities...We've transformed our innovation unit to a venture builder, where we leverage our company's assets from the outset to work on specific themes with a strong business case that solve real problems for our customers.’ 

More key trends in the report 

The report also explains that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are making an impact across different areas such as claims automation, marketing, contract and policy management. Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, also open new doors, although it is still unknown which processes will be most affected by them. The most immediate use cases for these AI tools are customer-facing processes (lead generation opportunities, enhanced agents, customer portal, etc.). These applications can also be useful in claims automation and fraud detection, which are some of the ways we use AI at NN.

Insurance plays a key role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation, the most serious global risks today. When it comes to other emerging risks, such as cyber protection, cyber insurance was found to be a crucial factor in the cybersecurity ecosystem and an opportunity for insurtech startups. 

Read more about NN Ventures. 

NN's ambition is to be an industry leader known for customer engagement, talented people and contribution to society. In his session, Tjeerd shared that technology is key to delivering on this vision and it has the potential to solve many challenges in the insurance industry. For example, NN uses ChatGPT to generate summaries of customer service calls, which are usually created manually. By automating this process, our colleagues only need to perform a check, saving them time to focus on helping our customers.  

Another way we are using AI is in fraud risk detection, where our Fraud Risk Model (FRM) identifies various levels of potential risk for our colleagues to investigate. Finally, our Bodily Injury claims division uses machine learning to support claim handlers with lump-sum reserve estimations, as well as ChatGPT to summarise incoming emails, saving essential time on administration. 

Despite the opportunities presented by such technologies, their risks are undeniable, and as such must be addressed with a strong ethical framework. NN has established an ethical framework to put necessary safeguards in place, and uses a closed ChatGPT environment solely for NN colleagues. 

NN is committed to sustainable and ethical use of technology, maintaining the trust of our customers throughout almost 180 years. We believe that with the combination of humans and technology, we can build better decision making and customer experience. 

Read more about customers and distribution. 

By operating as a true venturing organisation, NN can scale its services further and move ahead in securing its future position in insurance, banking and beyond. At the same time, NN will be able to provide the governance structure and entrepreneurial mindset necessary to launch new products and services into the market, both for NN and other potential customers. 

Jeroen Meijers, Head of NN Ventures, says: ‘Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people and contribution to society. As customer needs evolve, we aim to stay relevant through our innovative and complementary and or new products and services. By leveraging assets like our customer base, distribution and underwriting capabilities, we can ensure our ventures are strategically relevant for NN as well as driving significant impact as a standalone proposition.’ 

In 2023, NN Ventures will focus on developing products for the pension market (under the theme Care-free Retirement) and in embedded insurance, which enables customers to purchase insurance products via a third-party platform. 

Pet insurance by OHRA

Pets are important members of many families, so when they fall ill you want them to have the best medical care. In many countries, medical costs for animals can quickly become expensive. But in the Netherlands, the OHRA pet insurance can help to keep these costs predictable.

Innovate to compensate

Traditionally, customers submit their claim through an online portal where an automatised system handles the claim, based on the information received from the customer. During the Covid-19 pandemic many families adopted a pet, resulting in a growth of OHRA pet insurance policies and claims, almost double the amount in 2022.

To avoid an increase in processing costs, we needed to increase the number of claims processed automatically. We did this using optical character recognition(OCR) technology, which makes it possible to read the invoice regardless the design of the invoice or the quality of the photo, through computer vision. For OHRA customers this means that they only need to submit an image of their invoice and no longer have to fill in a form.

Results show that our customers appreciate this innovation. The customer effort score (CES) -a metric we use to measure a product’s ease of use for customers - decreased to 1.2 (2020: 2.2) showing customers find it much easier to submit their claim. In addition, customer satisfaction rose to 9.2 (2020: 7.4). The innovation has also helped us to become more efficient: the straight through process (STP ) - meaning the claim gets processed without human intervention - increased to 60% (2020: 35%).

Overall, this innovation has improved the customer journey of OHRA pet insurance to become one of the best in class of all OHRA products.

Read more about OHRA’s pet insurance on their website.

This is why our Non-life business recently conducted a pilot with 65 recycling companies in the Netherlands to investigate how this sector can be better insured. Our team visited participating companies to investigate possible conditions for insurance. As a result of the pilot around half of the cases were judged eligible for insurance, one quarter required further investigation, and the remainder were considered to be ineligible due to business operations. Going forward, we aim to continue the pilot policy as regular policy, to offer the same fair conditions to more companies that are supporting the sustainable transition.

Two participating companies told us:

‘This recycling company is my retirement. If it is not insured and if something happens to the company, it would a major problem.’

‘My recycling company is insured in Germany at the moment. But I can’t read the policy conditions. So I don’t know whether I am properly insured.’

The pilot underscores how we as a financial institution can play a role in addressing climate change through our products and services. Other examples include our Gezond Wonen (Healthy Living) platform and energy-efficiency service Woonnu.

Besides working towards the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement for 2050, we have also set our own, interim climate goals for 2025 and 2030. These involves limiting emissions as a result of both our own business operations and the investments we make. By 2025, we want to reduce the emissions of our corporate investment portfolio by 25 percent and by 45 percent by 2030, compared to 2019. For our business activities, we will reduce emissions by at least 35 percent by 2025 and 70 percent by 2030. We are investing an additional EUR 6 billion in climate solutions until 2030, for example through sustainable products and services.

Read more about how we are taking climate action through our investments, insurance and banking activities, and business operations.

What was the reason for Nationale-Nederlanden to offer cyber insurance? 

‘Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. This can represent a challenge for an SME, who often do not have the resources of a large corporate to protect themselves against this relatively new and difficult theme. Considering our role in society, we want to respond to this by sharing our knowledge and data with our advisors. The goal is to help the advisor so that they can point out the risks to their clients, advise them on prevention and protect them against the consequences of a cyber attack.’  

How did this proposition come about and scale up? 

‘We actually have two propositions. The first is focused on cybersecurity prevention through Perfect Day, an initiative of Nationale-Nederlanden. In response to developments in the cyber market, this proposition was developed by NN's central innovation team, the Strategic Transformation Office. They explore and create new concepts and services for our customers. Perfect Day makes an inventory of the cyber risks of a company through a scan and continuous monitoring. After that, the entrepreneur receives continuous guidance to help them get and keep the security in order.  

‘In addition to cyber security prevention, we also offer cyber insurance. This insurance protects SMEs against the high costs that can arise in all sorts of cyber attacks, such as a ransomware attack. Cyber insurance covers the costs that follow an attack, such as legal costs, fines, hardware replacements and others. In addition, we actively assist the company if an attack occurs. To make this possible, we work together with Hiscox. Hiscox is an international niche insurer that specialises in cyber insurance, among other things.’ 

Why do we partner with Hiscox and Perfect Day? 

‘Perfect Day has several cyber specialists who can guide and serve advisors and customers to arrange the basic hygiene for cyber, thus supporting prevention. Offering insurance requires deep expertise of the subject in order to make a good assessment of the risk. That is why we work together with Hiscox for cyber insurance, who are also the risk bearer. 

‘The combination of these two components and collaborations makes our proposition strong. Prevention is always better than cure, but it is still nice to know that you can count on your insurer if things do go wrong.’ 

What does the current cyber campaign in the Netherlands focus on? 

‘The campaign focuses mainly on our advisor and their business clients. Only one in eight companies has digital security in order, and two thirds of cyber attacks are aimed at SMEs. That's why awareness is super important. The advisor plays an important role in making the entrepreneur more cyber-aware: where should an SME and a self-employed person start protecting the company? From experience we know that the intermediary wants more substantive knowledge about the coverage and conditions. The focus of the campaign is therefore on education about cyber risks and on our total solution, namely prevention and insurance. We call this the security package Security Pakket.’ 

How do you see the future of the cyber insurance market? 

‘The market is growing enormously and in the time to come it is expected that the growth per year will be 20-30%. The call for good services and insurance will only increase. As a result, I expect that there will be more and more parties becoming active in this. The increasing parties will also likely to lead to more standardisation in cyber services and insurance. 

‘At the same time, it is also an exciting market, especially when it comes to insuring risks. The developments are incredibly fast and, with that, the risks are also increasing. I think that in the future insurers will only proceed to insurance if there will also be a good scan of the risks of the company in advance. That is why I am pleased that we already have a proposition for this.’ 

We offer on-demand rental insurance for peer-to-peer campervan sharing via our partner Indie Campers, Europe's largest motorhome rental platform. Both owners and renters are protected against third-party liability, financial loss and roadside assistance during the rental period. This provides peace of mind for both the owner and renter. In an effort to reduce their climate impact, Indie Campers also offers a ‘reforesting’ carbon offsetting scheme. 

In recent months we have expanded our coverage to France and Germany. Together with Spain, we now cover the three biggest camper destinations in Europe, as well as the Netherlands and Belgium. We will soon expand further across Europe, into Italy and Austria. 

Trend towards embedded insurance 

Technology, digitisation, the shift to a platform economy and the use of data have a growing impact on our everyday lives. Embedded insurance, where services are distributed via third-party platforms, is widely considered part of the future of insurance distribution. At NN, we explore such models as part of our innovation portfolio. Through partnerships such as Indie Campers, we can offer our insurance products directly to customers at a convenient point in their purchasing process. For example, our e-bike product is sold through 27 partners across Europe. Via the distributors’ platforms and retail shops, we offer customers protection against theft, damage and roadside breakdown for their new bicycle.  

What are the trends emerging and disrupting the insurance sector, and how are companies adapting their businesses to stay relevant? All this and more are explored in the State of European Insurtech 2022 report, published today by market intelligence platform Dealroom and Mundi Ventures and co-sponsored by NN Group and Spanish insurance company Mapfre. 

The report covers current industry trends, emerging and potential disruptions, venturing reports as well as case studies of successful insurtech and fintech startups. NN, as a partner of Mundi Ventures and a company in (digital) transformation, is featured in the report via interviews with NN Group Management Board member Tjeerd Bosklopper and Head of the Strategic Transformation Office, Jeroen Meijers. 

Tjeerd Bosklopper: ‘Today, digital transformation is key for insurers and it is without doubt also high on the agenda at NN Group. Digital interaction has become more widespread in insurance, but much is still needed in processes like pricing, underwriting and claims. There is a huge data availability, but how to actually use these data to make core processes truly digital is still a work in progress.’ 

The report was released on 29 June at the Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) conference in Amsterdam, and the insights were discussed during a roundtable discussion. 

Insurtech funding has slightly cooled off, but early innovation is stronger than ever

The report shows that insurance funding has slightly cooled off, mostly at late stage, but there is a USD 6 trillion opportunity to unlock and the insurtech sector is still heavily underfunded, compared to areas of similar potential such as fintech, health, and mobility. 

Jeroen Meijers: ‘Everything in NN Group’s purpose starts and ends with customers: we help people care for what matters most to them. Technological advancements and new business models may be uncertain, but what is certain is our commitment towards customers.’

You can access the full report here: https://dealroom.co/reports/the-state-of-european-insurtech-2022 

As part of NN Group, mortgage and consumer credit provider Nationale-Nederlanden Bank, helps nearly one million Dutch customers every day to take care of what matters most to them. A recent online survey completed by almost 40,000 has shown that there is room for improvement in the air quality of many homes in the Netherlands. This check is part of our Gezond Wonen (healthy living) platform. With this platform, we aim to raise awareness about a healthy indoor climate. In this interview Sitske Mauritsz, Director of Mortgages and Consumer Credit at Nationale-Nederlanden Bank, tells us more.

1. What is the platform about?

'Nationale-Nederlanden Bank launched the platform in October 2021. There you can find tips and information on how to improve the air quality in your home. You will also find the online check, which we developed together with TNO. This check has now been completed almost 40,000 times. The results show that in 79% of cases, improvements are possible when it comes to healthy air in the home. Healthy air in the home starts with awareness: discovering what can be improved. More knowledge also leads to more action. We would like to help improve the air quality in an easy way. It doesn't have to be drastic or costly right away: whether it’s using your extractor hood well, extra ventilation while sleeping or better filters in the ventilation system, the sum of those small improvements already helps.'

2. Why did NN develop this?

'We want to help our customers have the home of their dreams’. A home is a place where you feel good and can live a healthy life, and the indoor climate in your home has a major influence on this. Another survey we conducted among more than 1,000 consumers showed that almost half have never thought about the air quality in their homes. Knowledge about the health effects of, for example, cooking on gas and the CO2 concentration in the bedroom, is limited. We aim to raise awareness about the importance of a healthy indoor climate and therefore started the online platform in collaboration with TNO. With this we give Dutch people insight and offer practical solutions to improve the air quality in the home. We see that there is a lot of interest in making the home more sustainable and that people are looking for information. For example, insulation is becoming especially important now that the energy price is rising rapidly. But if you are going to insulate, it is also important to ventilate well. So that your home is not only sustainable, but also healthy.'

3. You have won the Golden Lotus Award 2022; what kind of prize is this?

'The Golden Lotus Awards are presented every year by the Dutch trade magazine InFinance. Traditionally, financial advisory firms in the Netherlands determine the winners and express their appreciation for the performance, products and services of their business partners. This year we won an award for the Gezond Wonen platform in the category Innovation Service. For me and the entire team that has worked on the platform, this is recognition that advisors also underline the importance of a healthy indoor climate for their clients. We are extremely proud of this.'

4. What role can advisors play in this?

'Just as with making the home more sustainable, the advisor can also offer added value in making the home healthier. It is important to also point out the importance of a good indoor climate to customers who want to make their home more sustainable or renovated. It is not only about energy saving but also about health. Even better, making the house more sustainable offers an excellent opportunity to improve the indoor climate compared to what it was. '

5. How will NN follow up on this?

'We believe that creating a healthy and sustainable living environment is necessary for a future-proof housing market. Nationale-Nederlanden Bank has therefore committed itself to the objective of making the housing stock in the Netherlands energy-efficient and healthy. For example, we have joined various initiatives with the aim of transferring knowledge, creating awareness and supporting innovations in the field of healthy and sustainable living. For example, we are a partner of Gezond Binnen (Healthy Indoor), actively work together with TNO and have also entered into a partnership with The Green Village (TU Delft). In addition, we will offer Dutch people support in various ways in making their homes more sustainable: by providing insight into making their home greener and more energy efficient, helping with financing, and sharing concrete tips and information. '

At NN, we want to be known for our customer engagement. We want to offer solutions that create long-term value, and use our data and digital capabilities to further enhance customer experience.

As a result, we invest in new technology to drive data-driven decision making. For example, our data science guild (a community of colleagues who develop their shared craft to the highest-possible level) ensures our capabilities are at their best, and we apply data and AI to improve customer experience and process efficiency.

AI is a powerful tool that can be used to measure interactions, troubleshoot problems, and enhance digital channels. Ultimately this enables us to better understand and meet our customers' needs.

Piloting new technologies

NN has recently been piloting a new Azure OpenAI service, which can be used to optimise our processes that involve unstructured text. By better understanding the context of unstructured text, we can further increase the efficiency and accuracy of our insurance and banking processes through automation. For example, by summarising customer conversations or claim-related situations, we can automate and therefore handle claims faster. The technology is also effective with the Dutch language, which is not the case for many new technologies. The optimal use for Dutch text offers many automation opportunities for NN and other Dutch-based corporates.

This case was mentioned during the 2022 edition of Build, Microsoft's conference for developers, on 24 May.

When was the last time you really listened to someone? Nationale-Nederlanden’s recent online branding campaign in the Netherlands is about the power of listening. Because when we listen to each other, we discover what truly matters. And what matters to our customers, matters to us.

It pays to really listen

With the campaign, Nationale-Nederlanden shows that it wants to help people care for what matters most to them. Such as family and friends, and those who are close to us. The campaign reinforces how meaningful it can be to really listen through the stories of a mother and daughter, Salimah and Lois (video below), and a couple, Dillan and Keesje.

Tools to become a better listener

Nationale-Nederlanden has teamed up with Corine Jansen, a Dutch listening expert, to offer tools to help people become better listeners. Corine Jansen will share her tips in an inspiring and informative listening webinar and in two articles (listening begins with the choice to listen and listening connects) on the Nationale-Nederlanden website.

The campaign started on Monday, 23 August, and will run until Thursday, 30 September, on online channels such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google Display.

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. The past months have convinced many that good health is what matters most in our lives. That is why NN Slovakia offers our customers free premium medical benefits, aimed at preventing disease and protecting health. 

As of 1 August 2020, every life insurance and pension customer of NN Slovakia is able to use premium medical benefits for free. The benefits are provided by Diagnose.me, an external partner service. New NN customers are automatically entitled to receive these benefits. The premium medical benefits include three unique healthcare services:

NN customers may raise questions related to their health and treatment to a specialised medical professional by phone, including consultations with doctors and coaches in the fields of mental health and nutrition.

NN customers have priority appointments for MRI examinations, for which Slovak patients usually have to wait for quite a while.

NN customers can consult a different specialist for a second medical opinion for a stated diagnosis (also a Diagnose.me service), which has proven to reduce the risk of an incorrect diagnosis or ineffective treatment. The client may have their diagnosis or treatment verified by an international specialist.

As a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic, many people in Slovakia are suffering from negative post-Covid conditions or respiratory problems. Therefore in 2021, we added an additional premium benefit: a consultation with a pneumologist and online Covid-19 advisory service.

Customers have responded positively to the medical benefits since the launch in August 2020. More than 1,500 customers have already taken advantage of the offered benefits during the first six months, while hundreds are joining each month.

Communication about the premium benefits through NN Slovakia’s marketing campaign brought significant positive results on brand consideration (‘Would your consider NN’s insurance if you are interested in buying one at the moment?’) and our Net Promoter Scores:

NN Slovakia’s brand consideration increased by 5% after introducing premium medical benefits (up to 19% in Q4 2020, source: NN Group Global Brand Health Monitor).

For life-insurance customers and specifically those who are aware of the new premium benefits, brand consideration rose to 30.6%.

Direct impact of the new benefits is also visible when comparing NPS-r scores: customers who are aware of benefits had an NPS-r score +24, while those who are not aware scored NPS-r +3.

NN Slovakia is positive about the added value of these premium benefits for customers. We trust this will strengthen our relationship and contribute positively to customer satisfaction.

At NN, we see our customers as the starting point of everything we do. Driving the future of customer experience helps us to truly engage with our customers on the things that matter to them.​​​​​​

Key to this is meeting customers on the channels they use; this means meeting our customers where they are. In today’s world, many of these channels are customer engagement platforms. To be successful we need to have more than just great products and services; our customers also expect digital convenience. For NN, this means we optimise every detail of the customer journey – becoming a partner in life for our customers.

What is a customer engagement platform?

‘A platform is a digital environment where you can buy the products you want, quickly and without any hassle, fully meeting personal needs. Thanks to their digital nature, platforms bring together multiple companies and players that collaborate and offer a superior customer experience.’ Matthijs Tanis, Transformation and Partnerships Manager, NN Group.

Engagement platforms at NN

Digital convenience and having a strong customer relationship are the foundation of customer engagement platforms. At NN, we have started our journey of building engagement platforms around key areas such as Carefree Retirement and Self-care.

Carefree Retirement – Netherlands

Carefree Retirement is about independence, financial security and life purpose. Enjoying this time without stress means more than a financially sound pension. As we aim to be an active participant in Carefree Retirement platforms, we recently launched several initiatives in the Netherlands.

Kwiek supports people aged 65 years and over to find a job and fight loneliness. In this way, the platform helps people stay relevant, socially active and in good financial health. 

Zorggenoot is a service that helps informal caregivers understand how to navigate the complicated landscape of arranging care for their dear ones.

NN invested in social start-up Klup which connects like-minded people and stimulates an active life among those aged 50 and over.

Self-care – International Insurance

Self-care is about gaining timely access to quality healthcare. In our international business units we have initiated a proposition around this theme.

Health Companion is a platform being developed with colleagues in Poland and Turkey that empowers people to look after their family’s health. By providing access to quality healthcare, by making seeing a doctor easier and quicker, and by helping customers live a healthier life.

Business-to-business (B2B)

For our business clients, an engagement platform serves as an ecosystem of relevant content and services. We are exploring the areas of employee well-being and business continuity.

In the Netherlands, HCS is a one-stop service provider for employers and employees that brings together services over the full employability chain. New well-being services and a platform are being developed to support employees of SMEs in their mental and physical well-being and to support employers in increasing employee engagement and productivity.

We launched Cyberwacht, which offers an emergency hotline for SMEs, freelancers and consumers who have been hacked, to help them minimise the impact. Several organisations have started using this service for their customers.

NN Orange Risk is a new flagship life insurance proposition from NN Czech Republic. The new proposition is the result of a year-long effort, following from the acquisition and integration of Aegon Czech Republic, and is top of its class in transparency, customer suitability and value. NN Czech Republic launched the proposition in July to brokers, and will offer it through tied agents and a bancassurance partner later in the year.

NN Orange Risk is a standard term risk product offering a variety of coverages and options for discounts. What sets it apart is the variability and quality of coverage, and the innovative approach in underwriting and digital administration. This includes the prolongation of the adult maturity age to 80 and juvenile maturity to 26, the innovation of many of its riders (e.g. disability, critical illnesses), and, for example, the introduction of the new and sought-after coverage for long-term care.

A product for long-term care coverage

‘Long-term care coverage is still pretty much non-existent on the market. When a customer loses the ability to work, let’s say, due to illness or disability, it does not necessarily mean that he or she can’t do their shopping or make themselves a cup of tea. But customers who require long-term care are unable to take care of themselves and need someone’s help, part-time or full-time, depending on the severity. As their family members are often already stretched, such a situation can become an issue. We have decided to address it by offering this product,’ said Michal Korejs, Head of Product Development at NN Czech Republic.

Another aspect that differentiates NN Orange is a new approach in underwriting.

‘We re-assessed the activity risk groups, underwriting limits, waiting periods, and we are clear about pre-existing conditions in our terms and conditions. We decided to aim for underwriting excellence that would enable us to tailor insurance to individual needs and lifestyles of present-day clients, transparently and at a favourable cost. We, as a company, make sure that the underwriting questionnaire is well structured and precise, we certainly do not want to transfer this responsibility to the customer,’ added Michal Korejs.

A value proposition featuring the best of both worlds

Following the acquisition of Aegon’s Life Insurance business in the Czech Republic in August 2018, NN Czech then began an ambitious integration effort. From this new foundation comes NN Orange Risk, in which NN Czech Republic has combined the best of both worlds to create its technological and innovative approach and customer focus. NN Orange Risk is therefore an insurance product defined by customer friendliness in terms of administration and follow-up servicing, leveraging features such as digital document signing and simple SMS authorisations.