In an ever-changing insurance industry, where operational efficiency, flexibility and cost control remain the watchwords, delegated management has become a pillar of the organization.
Whether it's health, personal protection, savings or retirement, no insurance segment is immune to this trend.
Yet, as offerings become more commonplace, customer journeys more complex and customer expectations higher, several key questions emerge: "To what extent do delegatees contribute to the customer experience in insurance?", "Are they still mere technical operators, or are they becoming real players in satisfaction and loyalty?"
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A market under pressure... and increasingly demanding customers
The insurance industry is facing increasing challenges to remain competitive and profitable, while meeting ever-increasing customer demands. To achieve this, insurance companies are having to rethink their organizations.
On the one hand, competition is intensifying with the emergence of insurtechs and online comparators. This pressure is forcing insurers to seek efficiency gains and economies of scale. On the other hand, customers are becoming more volatile. In France, "3-click cancellation" makes it easier to change insurers, reinforcing the need for a better insurance customer experience to build long-term loyalty.
Above all, policyholder expectations are evolving rapidly. They want instant answers, simplified procedures, intuitive interfaces and personalized services. Accustomed to a seamless customer experience in other sectors (banking, retail, travel...), they no longer accept friction or delays. The insurance industry must live up to these standards in terms of customer experience.
At the same time, new risks (climate, cyber-attacks, pandemics) are making management more complex, requiring specialized skills that are key to a successful insurance customer experience.
Delegated management: strategic leverage for transforming insurers
Against this backdrop, many insurers are choosing to delegate the management of part of their contracts to expert partners. This model enables them to optimize management costs and benefit from cutting-edge expertise, while at the same time improving the quality of service provided to policyholders.
Delegated management is thus becoming a key vector for improving the insurance customer experience. By entrusting certain activities to expert delegates, insurers gain agility, while guaranteeing rigorous process execution and a smoother customer relationship. smoother customer relations.
What's more, delegation offers invaluable operational flexibility: the delegatee can adapt the workforce to fluctuations in activity (seasonal peaks in underwriting, major weather-related claims, etc.) and absorb time-consuming tasks without the insurer having to add to its internal structure.
By absorbing time-consuming tasks and taking charge of part of the customer journey, delegated management companies play a direct role in improving customer satisfaction and modernizing the insured-insurer relationship.
A management delegate is a specialized player to whom an insurer, mutual insurer or provident institution entrusts the operational management of all or part of an insurance contract, within a formal contractual framework. The delegate acts on behalf of the client, without bearing the risk, but carrying out key technical tasks such as reimbursing benefits, daily allowances, affiliations and claims. Generally a white-label service, it is often invisible to the policyholder... but plays a decisive role in the insurance experience.
Overview of players in delegated insurance management
Pure players
managers
Key strengths :
- Cutting-edge expertise in insurance management
- Flexibility
- Strong technological orientation
Examples of players:
- COGEVIE
- iManagement
- ...
Distributors
managers
Key strengths :
- Complete mastery of the value chain (from distribution to management)
- Close proximity to the end-customer, making it easier to adapt customer paths
Examples of players:
- Generation
- Henner
- Diot-Siaci
- SPVie Gestion
- Gras Savoye / WTW
- Digital insure
- AON
- ...
Management insurers
on behalf of third parties
Key strengths :
- Financial strength
- Product mastery
- Robust infrastructure
Examples of players:
- Malakoff Humanis
- AG2R La Mondiale
- Klesia
Délégataire de gestion 3.0: from technical execution to augmented insurance customer experience
A role that has become strategic...especially for improving insurers' customer experience
Historically confined to technical and administrative tasks, delegates were seen above all as back-office operators, responsible for efficiently processing flows on behalf of the insurer.
But this vision has been shattered. In a context where customer loyalty is at stake in every interaction, service agents occupy a strategic position: on the front line at certain points of contact, they have become co-guarantors of the fluidity of the customer journey and the perceived quality of service.
They are now involved in close proximity to the end customer, sometimes even in the front office, through white-label services: multi-channel management, claims handling, digital support... They are becoming true co-actors in satisfaction, capable of strongly influencing the loyalty, image and perceived quality of the insurance brand.
To meet new challenges and stand out from the crowd, the best delegate operators are investing heavily
- In technologies: digital platforms, chatbots, automation, CRM shared with the insurer.
- In the UX and ergonomics of customer journeys, sometimes co-designed with service design experts.
- In relational omnipresence: 24-hour management, multilingual, with agents available on several channels.
- And above all, in the customer culture: ongoing training, management based on customer feedback, shared reporting with the insurer.
Please note: delegating management does not mean relinquishing responsibility!
The insurer remains responsible for the quality of service provided to the customer
Even in a delegated management model, the insurer remains committed to the end customer, and is ultimately responsible for the quality of the service provided.
Its role remains strategic and essential:
- Designing and supervising the offer: it is the insurer who defines the guarantees, bears the risk, and assumes legal responsibility for the contract.
- Selecting the right partner: as the guarantor of quality, the insurer chooses a reliable delegate who meets its requirements in terms of service, security and regulatory compliance.
- Ongoing monitoring and auditing: using KPIs, monitoring committees and regular audits, it monitors the quality of the service provided - and must be able to prove this to the ACPR.
- Encouraging partners to improve quality
- Preserve brand consistency: even when delegated, the policyholder experience must reflect the insurer's values, tone and standards.
- Managing sensitive claims: in the event of a dispute, the policyholder will always turn to the insurer.
In short: the insurer delegates execution, not ambition. It retains control of the promise made to the customer. The delegate, on the other hand, becomes the operational arm - expert, agile, but always under control. This tandem is the key to management delegation geared to customer satisfaction and relational excellence.
Concrete examples of "customer experience" insurance delegation models
Génération - specialist in group health and welfare management
Génération adopted an omnichannel strategy early on, combining innovative digital tools with high-quality human relations. Génération dematerialized the customer journey as early as the 2000s: launching its first website in 2001, followed by the first member mobile application in 2013, then in 2020 the launch of "Gwen", a virtual assistant available 24/7. In 2023, Génération deployed a new, even more comprehensive mobile application (PWA technology), to offer its policyholders a unified multiplatform interface (mobile, tablet, PC) with modernized ergonomics.
The application gives you access to 100% of the services available in the member's area: consult your reimbursements (with a dynamic view of your statements), send supporting documents by photographing them, instantly obtain your third-party payment certificate, estimate your future reimbursements, etc., all simply, quickly and securely.
Henner - international health insurance delegate
This health contract manager has developed high value-added services for policyholders that go beyond simple administrative management.
For example, Henner offers an international third-party payment system thanks to a vast network of healthcare partners around the world. This eliminates the need for policyholders traveling to many countries to pay in advance, considerably improving their experience in the event of a health claim abroad. By offering this ease of handling and negotiating controlled rates with medical providers, the delegate increases customer satisfaction while containing costs for the insurer.
Diot-Siaci - delegation of group insurance contracts
This major broker, which also acts as a delegate for company provident schemes, illustrates how an external manager can move beyond the role of executor to become a proactive advisor. Diot-Siaci uses the data at its disposal to analyze absenteeism within client companies and propose targeted support measures.
For example, by identifying an increase in work stoppages due to psychosocial risks, the delegate can suggest preventive workshops to the employer, or better ways of listening to employees. This approach, which goes beyond the strict insurance contract, contributes to improving the well-being of the insured (the employees covered) and, ultimately, the insurer's image with its corporate clients. In this way, the delegate is positioned as a partner in quality of life in the workplace, demonstrating its ability to influence the final customer experience (in this case, the insured employee beneficiary).
Société Générale Assurances & SPB - partners for innovative optical insurance
In 2022, Société Générale Assurances, in collaboration with SPB (a specialist in affinity insurance) and the Krys Group network of opticians, launched a comprehensive and innovative optical insurance offer explicitly aimed at improving the in-store customer experience. In concrete terms, this offer enables customers purchasing eyewear at Krys to benefit from breakage/theft/loss coverage managed by SPB, with simplified subscription at the time of purchase and a very rapid replacement service. The delegation model implemented integrates insurance directly into the purchasing process at the optician's (on-board insurance), sparing the customer any subsequent steps. The result is a much smoother process and greater customer satisfaction, thanks to the combination of Sogécap's insurance expertise, SPB's know-how in delegated management and the Krys network's proximity to customers.
This example illustrates how co-construction between insurer, delegatee and distributor can change the traditional model to better meet customers' expectations of simplicity and immediacy.
The regulatory aspects of delegated insurance management
A formal, documented contract
Precise delegation contract or mandate, specifying :
- entrusted acts,
- reporting obligations,
- service commitments,
- control and audit procedures.
An up-to-date delegation register
The organization must keep an exhaustive register of its delegations, including :
- the name of the delegate,
- the nature of the activities entrusted,
- whether they are critical or not.
A steering and control system
Continuous monitoring of service quality and associated risks:
- steering indicators (deadlines, quality, compliance),
- regular committees,
- on-site audits if necessary,
- incident management.
A preliminary criticality analysis
All delegations must be subject to a criticality analysis:
- If the activity is deemed critical or important (e.g.: healthcare benefits, IJ, claims), the steering requirements are reinforced.
- The organization must be able to take over the activity internally in the event of the delegatee's failure.
A demand for traceability and transparency
The organization must be able to demonstrate to the ACPR, at any time :
- that it remains in control of the delegated process,
- it has a clear vision of flows, lead times and quality delivered.
Delegation vs. outsourcing - a sometimes porous boundary
The terms "delegation" and "outsourcing are often used interchangeably. However, they do not cover the same realities, particularly in insurance, where the level of responsibility transferred is a key issue for the authorities (ACPR).
Scope of intervention / nature of operations
Delegated management
Back-office technical management: processing of benefits, work stoppages, pensions, affiliations, regularizations, claims.
Outsourcing
Front office operations (level 1 customer relations, hotline, email entry, etc.) and/or back office operations (scanning, archiving, data extraction, etc.).
Legal and regulatory framework
Delegated management
Framed by a mandate or delegation contract: the delegate acts on behalf of the insurer. The risk carrier - the delegating insurer - remains fully accountable to the ACPR, with the obligation to monitor, control, audit, trace and register delegations (Solvency II).
Outsourcing
Framed by a service contract (subcontracting): the service provider has no technical management autonomy. General obligation of security, confidentiality and compliance (notably RGPD), but no specific declaration to the ACPR (apart from aggregation of activity reports, notably complaints in the context of the QPC).
Relationship with the policyholder
Delegated management
The management delegate may act in his own name, co-branded, or act on behalf of the insurer (white label): this depends on the contract with the principal. Some delegatees refuse to use the white label to control their image and their promise. In all cases, the manager interacts directly with the policyholder to carry out the delegated acts (reimbursements, IJ, claims, etc.).
Outsourcing
The service provider is not positioned as an identifiable contact for the policyholder. It may operate a customer service or back-office, but never as an identified representative.
Types of players
Delegated management
Specialized players in insurance management :
- delegated managers (e.g. Génération, Henner, etc.)
- sometimes insurers or IPs offering third-party management.
Outsourcing
BPO or "logistics operators" (e.g. Tessi*, Docaposte, Concentrix, etc.).
* While delegated management has historically been the domain of specialist insurance companies, in recent years we have seen a trend among certain BPO service providers to move up the value chain and integrate more technical activities.
This is notably the case for Tessi, a major player in document and business process outsourcing, which in 2018 acquired Owliance, a French player in delegated health/provident management.
This operation enabled it to move from the status of a provider of administrative services to that of a global operator, capable of offering solutions ranging from document management to the complete management of insurance contracts.
Another structuring initiative is the creation of Gentto, a unique third-party management and services operator, born of a partnership between APICIL (insurer) and Docaposte (digital subsidiary of La Poste). This partnership illustrates a desire to combine insurance expertise with industrial processing expertise, in a BtoBtoC management approach with high CX requirements.
Conclusion
For a long time guided primarily by the imperatives of cost and technicality, delegated insurance management has begun its transformation to meet a new central challenge: that of the customer experience. The combined pressure of policyholders (now accustomed to rapid, personalized service) and an increasingly competitive environment is forcing the entire sector to integrate the customer experience dimension into every aspect of its business. Delegated management companies, on the front line at many points of contact, play a decisive role in this transformation.
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