An historic deal signed in 2015 with renowned finance specialists, Mutual & Federal Insurance Company Limited has ensured that South African short-term insurance experts, QUICKSURE have the perfect foundations for further market growth in the coming years.
A WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
With offices in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, comprising a workforce of more than 130 employees, the Company’s expertise in the underwriting management domain spans across its two divisions – QUICKSURE (Pty) Ltd and QUICKSURE Commercial (pty) Ltd – thus catering for both personal lines insurance and commercial and business insurance simultaneously.
While this has been the core business strategy of the Company since its inception, the backing of Mutual & Federal has given QUICKSURE the scope to now capitalise on the philosophies and experience that have already brought the Group such a positive name in the industry.
With a market share exceeding 22 percent, “our mission is to be the preferred partner to both brokers and insurers by creating an environment that is competitive for policyholders, yet sustainable for insurers”, notes Chief Executive Officer, Shaheen Rajab. “QUICKSURE performs all of the functions of an insurer with the backup of our insurance partners, Santam Ltd and Mutual & Federal Insurance Company Limited, and our highly innovative and flexible product range covers almost every aspect of the short-term insurance business.”
Ultimately delivering an exemplary service and value to all stakeholders, its personal line portfolio bridges buildings, house contents, risk management, motor, watercraft, personal liability and personal accident; complementing a commercial line remit that ensures that no sector is left underserved.
Agriculture, general enterprise, engineering, transport, marine, construction and a market-leading motorcycle underwriting service at competitive premiums epitomise the dedication that QUICKSURE shows to its clientele across the board.
“We are passionate about and committed to our partners, as well as their clients, and are totally focused on their every need,” Rajab emphasises. “Since our establishment we have built a reputation for excellence as well as reliable, trustworthy relationships with our insurers, brokers and their clients.”
Customised services
Founded by John Edward Bunting in 1990 as a brokerage firm with facilities in place to work alongside Mutual & Federal, the formulation of QUICKSURE CC as an underwriting management agency in 1994 signalled the first significant stage of its evolution.
Rajab continues: “In 1998, QUICKSURE CC was transformed into QUICKSURE (Pty) Ltd and in 1999; QUICKSURE Commercial (Pty) Ltd was established to expand the commercial product offering of the Group.”
Expanding and diversifying its operations in the intervening years, its efforts were recognised in 2012 when receiving a Silver Arrow award in the national survey on underwriting managers in South Africa for ‘General Commercial and Domestic’; an accolade compounded two years later when receiving both Diamond and Silver Awards across commercial and domestic and personal lines respectively.
Developing and time again up to the present day, QUICKSURE’s entrepreneurial nature and subsequent ability to make quick decisions in a sector often challenging to navigate has ensured that it remains ahead of the industry curve with a continuous stream of new products and services being unveiled.
“QUICKSURE has launched a mobile application (‘Mobi App’) for our ‘Your QUICKSURE’ clients,” Rajab offers as an example. “ It is designed for policyholders to access an array of customised services, which include but are not limited to a panic button with access to 24-hour emergency services; access to emergency location-based services such as nearby hospitals and police stations; a claim-lodging facility with the ability to upload incident-specific images; the ability to request an alteration or a copy of your policy schedule; travel services, a VIP concierge desk and discounted offers from more than 300 retail partners; and up-to-the-minute news, weather and traffic reports.”
Such introductions to the market are always revealed off the back of substantial research and development, as well as close collaboration with its partners to ensure that the clients’ short-term insurance needs are always fulfilled in line with the modern climate.
Competitive edge
Facilitating the various updates, upgrades, launches and technological advancements is a plethora of investments and strategies going on behind the scenes to give the Company the best platform possible to go out and do what it does best.
Substantial capital expenditures have been made in recent years to that end, especially around internal IT platforms to aid efficiencies and security among its own administrative systems. The QUICKSURE IT platform subsequently allows the Company to stay online around the clock to deal more speedily with brokers’ requests or queries.
However, as is the case for any successful business; it is the people within the organisation that continue to drive QUICKSURE forward.
“Ongoing staff training – internally and externally – is always maintained to ensure our ability to respond to clients’ needs,” Rajab says. “QUICKSURE is FAIS compliant and we ensure that all our staff members are equipped with the necessary training and expertise to perform their duties.”
In line with its wider corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments, this workforce is also made up primarily of local employees; an ethos which also extends into its supply chain decisions and its external charity works which is set to be ramped up even further over the next couple of years.
Rajab continues: “Our belief is that charity begins at home and in view of this we have a strong focus on looking after our staff first. Having said that, we are currently investigating certain charities that we may want to get involved with for the 2017-2018 financial year.”
Over that same timespan, QUICKSURE intends to attain a national footprint with branch offices in the Western and Eastern Capes, as well as in Free State, North West Province, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Other goals include streamlining all operations in accordance with TCF (treating customers fairly) incentives to achieve ultimate customer satisfaction; which will in turn increase its broker base to more than 2,000 across the country.
He concludes: “What sets us apart is the fact that we are very technology focused to deliver better service. Having said that, QUICKSURE still retains the ‘personal touch’ when it comes to its clients.
“QUICKSURE is ultimately focused on delivering competitive products which provides a competitive edge for our broker base.”
