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“Talking to our customers in the industry, we are seeing a significant slowdown in construction and there has been a ‘tightening’ in the industries servicing the sector including crane hire industry.
“Increasing interest rates, increasing costs of labour and building materials have taken a heavy toll on the sector both across Australia and New Zealand. However, an economic slowdown creates opportunities to allow business owners to start working on their business, as opposed to working in their business, and start making the necessary changes now to prepare for the next upturn. We’ve all seen this cycle; a downturn is followed by an upturn and we need to prepare ourselves now for the upturn,” said George.
According to George, crane businesses are already implementing plans in preparation for the expected busier times.
“A lot of customers have welcomed the downturn and taken the opportunity to refocus, reinvest both in people and training as well as appropriate equipment in preparation for the next upturn.
“‘Smart’ businesses are focused on increasing efficiencies by implementing technology, particularly in the administration space and that includes the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We know of crane hire businesses, mobile plant and construction equipment suppliers which are taking strong positions in terms of implementing this leading edge technology. We are doing the same at UAA,” said George.
Image: UAA
George explains where the investment has been for UAA and how customers will benefit when the economy begins to heat up over the next 12 months.
“During the last 12 months we have invested in additional people to ensure we continue to provide the best level of service, particularly in claims and in our underwriting capabilities as well.
“The last 12 to 18 months have seen a significant increase in claims and we have heavily invested in people and systems to help manage claims. We understand we need greater efficiencies and more resources to ensure that we provide the best service and the best assistance we possibly can to customers in their ‘hour of need’.
“Ultimately, claims are where we deliver on our promise and what we are offering and uphold our reputation. We’ve done the same in the underwriting space. Over the years we have seen an increase in machinery assets coming onto schedules which has required an increase in underwriting capabilities to ensure we are providing the best coverage in the tailored packages we are offering our customers.
“We are heavily invested in our people and clearly understanding the roles and responsibilities of each of our roles is a priority. But more important is the ever-growing need and requirement of compliance and regulatory expectations, particularly in the insurance and financial sectors.
“We have realised a growing headcount would not be sustainable into the future and more recently have embarked on implementing various technologies that will help with the data entry and administration side of the business as well making a contribution to compliance and regulatory expectations,” said George.
UAA is investing in a new computer operating system which will provide more efficient methods of underwriting and managing claims.
“We are investing AI for some of the menial, non-technical tasks that can create extraordinary amounts of bottlenecks in our processes in our systems. Utilising technology assists in ensuring we are compliant and assist with the tasks that don’t require human intervention. “UAA has also been investing in changing the way we operate and work within our offices. We recently underwent an upgrade in our office refurbishments and we’ve introduced a modern office environment featuring standup desks. We’ve done away with handheld telephones and our telecommunications are electronic through VoIP and the internet,” said George.
Over the last six months UAA has been restructuring its Executive Team, he adds. “We have sound foundations but it has been timely to redesign the architecture, employing key professionals to ensure a sustainable and growing future in our ever changing industry of construction and insurance, an opportunity to work on the business now for the future needs of our customers and making it easier and efficient to work with each other.”
“Following the acquisition and merger with Mecon Insurance, we have been redefining roles and responsibilities and resetting our purpose, our vision and our values. Our strategy between now and 2030 will be to ensure sustainable growth
and strength, but most importantly, as an insurance organisation, we want to help our customers achieve the same objectives by managing the ever-increasing costs. We are examining and implementing strategies to reduce our own increasing costs, so that way we can ensure a sustainable future for us and our customers and technology is going to play a big part in that,” said George.
UAA is examining overseas opportunities and planning to revamp its policy wordings for greater ease of understanding, said George.
“We have been investigating opportunities with overseas market and we are in the process of launching into North America and Canada during the later part of next year. Another key project is a complete revamp of our policy wordings where we will bring the policy wording into the current era of language and a much easier flow, as opposed to the old English language that often exists in many insurance policies. This will make the intention of our policies a lot clearer and more concise, and detail what the coverage entails,” he said.
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