Insurance companies Swiss Re CEO sees "trust deficit" after killing in the USA
The murder of a US health insurance boss and sympathy for the crime are signs of problems for some insurers, according to Swiss Re CEO Andreas Berger. He told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper that claims processing has the greatest leverage when it comes to customer satisfaction.
15.12.2024, 12:03
SDA
"No matter which perspective you take, this situation in the USA is tragic. The cynical reactions show that there is a trust deficit," said the German manager, who has been CEO of Swiss Re since April.
The murder of the head of the US health insurance group Unitedhealthcare, Brian Thompson, on the street in New York on December 4 triggered a debate in the USA about the insurance business, among other things. Numerous people expressed sympathy for the crime on social media. There are indications that the arrested suspect, Luigi Mangione, may have acted out of anger at the behavior of health insurers in the USA.
Berger called for the issue to be taken seriously in the industry. "The purpose of insurance is to help people at the moment they need it." If claims are processed quickly and people are helped back on their feet quickly, "then there will be no negative customer reviews". It must be clear what to expect in the event of a claim.
"If I realized that an insurance company was not trustworthy with its products and did not deliver the promised services, then I would have concerns," said Berger. As a reinsurer, Swiss Re insures portfolios and therefore often does not see what happens in individual cases and processes.
