INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Analysis of Canadian Insurance Industry

Table of Contents

Insurance Industry1

Qualitative trends1

Quantitative trends2

Role of technology in the insurance industry2

Major players in the industry3

Competition3

Position on the Tangibility Spectrum4

Customer expectations of service in this industry4

Bundle of benefits5

Performance of firms in the insurance industry6

Service quality dimensions7

Performance Comparison8

Service Delivery Process and customer's involvement8

References9

Analysis of Canadian Insurance Industry

Insurance Industry

The industry that we have chosen is the insurance industry. It is one of the most developing industries in Canada, due to the fact that our daily life activities and needs are growing and getting more complex with time. As a result, more insurance needs are emerging. The insurance industry is highly regulated through Canada. However, the requirements that companies need to go by could differ from one province to another (Bernier, 2007). The insurance industry is very versatile and plays a pivotal role in the economic performance of a nation. It is mostly a service industry as it offers a variety of services to customers.

Qualitative trends

The insurance industry as a whole has been providing strong support to the Canadian economy in that it assumes risk inherent in many personal and business activities. Hence, it makes it easier for the policymakers to plan for the future and ensures financial stability. The qualitative trend in the insurance industry includes an improvement in the quality of service. Looking at the performance of the insurance industry in the year 2010, we can see that the performance has improved considerably (Bernier, 2007). This improvement in performance is seen in both live and non-live sectors of the economy. The non-live insurance industry comprises of property and casualty insurance industry and does not cover life and health insurance, although a few industry players are selling accident and sickness insurance as a small proportion of their portfolio. With the inclusion in the number of players in the Canadian market, more and more companies are moving towards corporate social responsibilities in an attempt to give back to the community they operate in. The increase in competition, in the sector, has also led to the improvement in quality and reduction in insurance cost for the buyers.

Quantitative trends

The quantitative highlights for the insurance industry are given in the table below:

Figure 1: Canadian Insurance Industry

Role of technology in the insurance industry

In order to gain market share and achieve growth and profitability targets, the insurance industry is switching to technology based ways of interaction with clients. The insurance industry lags behind technology as used by the financial industry. The players in the industry should strive for automation efficiency, whereby they are able to give their customers the best rates suited to their exclusive coverage needs. To address this issue and provide customers with speedy service, the insurance industry in general has taken several steps on a company. The major players in the market are making use of handheld devices to improve upon their value proposition (Harchaoui, 2006). With customer facing applications, the velocity of the business has accelerated an immense ...