The Truro-based company has spent the money on implementing a new insurance policy administration system, deploying a new IT infrastructure and upgrading its telephony.
Cornish Mutual’s Member services team and local insurance Inspectors have been trained on the more modern, intuitive system and the company has employed three new IT professionals to support and develop its operations, ensure business continuity and help make the necessary transition.
Using the latest technology will allow the company, which has over 23,000 Members across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset, to be more flexible and self-sufficient in designing and offering new products and services in the future.
Redruth-based Piran Technologies Limited was employed by Cornish Mutual to provide the new secure and robust IT infrastructure. Following a rigorous tender process, specialist supplier Transactor Global Solutions Limited was used for its policy administration system, which helps Cornish Mutual to guide Members through the insurance buying process.
Peter Beaumont, Finance Director at Cornish Mutual, said: “This investment in our new IT infrastructure and Transactor software means that we are now able to provide the right platforms to improve our overall service to Members. Our previous policy system was based on old ‘green screen’ technology and we were limited in our ability to make changes and integrate with other systems. By moving to more up-to-date technology, we are able to take a lot more control over the services we offer. We are improving the Member experience and better protecting secure data.”
He added: “When a Member telephones Cornish Mutual, what they are after is pretty simple – a quick answer and a person on the end of the phone who can help them. We recognise that some of our Members prefer to contact our team directly, without going through the main number, although this does make it harder to manage calls, we support this as part of our commitment to personal service. We have made a number of changes to shorten average telephone waiting times and thus reduce the number of calls we do not answer in time.
“Technology improvements have not only helped us track and manage incoming calls better, but also predict call patterns and match the availability of advisors to our busiest times. We now have a call-back option in place if a Member wants us to ring them back. We are learning how we can improve all the time, but we have made an exciting leap forward in our service provision.”
Mark Wright, Managing Director of Piran Technologies, commented: “Our mission is to provide our customers with cost-effective secure IT systems with the potential to increase business productivity and environmental sustainability. We are proud to be able to offer these services to a progressive, forward thinking local company like Cornish Mutual. They have embraced innovative and flexible systems that provide extremely high security principles, without compromising the ability to grow and maintain highly available services for their customer services.”
Peter Beaumont added: “As well as ticking all the boxes, both Piran Technologies and Transactor Global Solutions understood our mutual business model and have proved to be very cost-effective. Insurance is a fast-moving industry and we needed to be more responsive and remain ahead of the game when it comes to meeting the changing needs of our Members. It is really exciting to see the opportunities opening up to us to improve the quality of a service we are already very proud of.”
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