In this blog, Tom de Troch, Chief Executive Officer of FEDERALE Assurance-Verzekering (Belgium), shares insights into the organisation’s recent transformation and its renewed commitment to serving members in a rapidly evolving market. He outlines how restructuring into a single mutual entity is strengthening transparency, efficiency, and solvency, while supporting long-term growth, innovation, and an enhanced customer experience.
FEDERALE Assurance-Verzekering is a mutual insurer which was founded in 1911 by a group of building contractors. Today, the Belgian construction sector remains one of our most important target groups. We have been insuring contractors, business owners, and the self-employed, both professionally and also to meet their personal needs. Our offerings include specific insurance and services for businesses, including cover for liability, machinery, buildings, and vehicles, as well as for capital and that of a company. We also protect their staff against the consequences of accidents in the workplace.
Being there for our clients means more than just insuring their professional lives, which is why we have also developed a whole range of insurance cover for their private lives: car, home, family, and travel. We also insure their financial future and that of their children, with flexible savings and investment solutions. This allows our members to concentrate on what really matters to them: their business, their customers, and their families.
With a total market share for life and non-life insurance of 1.7% and a total consolidated balance sheet of EUR 4.2 billion in 2024, FEDERALE Assurance ranks among the top 15 insurers in Belgium. We employ just under 600 full-time team members.
Recently, we underwent a significant restructure, creating just one mutual company to encompass our three previously different companies. Given the current regulatory environment, the previous structure of FEDERALE Assurance-Verzekering, consisting of several companies, often added more complexity than the hoped for benefits and added value. Our aim was to simplify our structure and operations by grouping together our various entities. This will enable us to improve our internal efficiency and further improve the service we offer to our customers. This transaction also allows us to optimise our cost management and strengthen our solvency, which already exceeds legal requirements. An insurer’s financial solidity is, of course, crucial.
Combining our various companies into a single entity will also provide greater transparency for customers, partners, regulators, and others. Being a mutual is inherent in our DNA and, as such, we have no anonymous external shareholders to satisfy. This means we can concentrate entirely on our members’ needs and on the solutions and service we offer them: tailor-made solutions, value for money, a long-term relationship, and a quality customer experience, thereby ensuring customer satisfaction. We have also simplified the structure of FEDERALE Assurance-Verzekering to make it easier to understand and potentially more attractive to outside capital. Supporting our growth will guarantee our long-term future as a mutual.
The process of working with the Belgian supervisors on unifying our different companies took a year and a half. The operation had no tax objective, and we were able to demonstrate this. We explained our project, which was consistent with our DNA, to the supervisor and accepted his conditions: completion of a real estate own risk and solvency assessment. The administrative workload involved in compiling approval files was considerable. However, the customers and employees of FEDERALE Assurance-Verzekering were committed to the process because they saw the major issues at stake: sustainability, a competitive advantage, and the qualitative advantages that a mutual can offer its customers/members.
This transformation has also influenced our internal culture and leadership approach. The extensive work carried out as part of the transformation involved many departments in a collaborative, cross-business process. All staff were kept informed at every key stage of the process. The teams rallied round to bring this major project to fruition. You have to dare to change in order to move forward, and that’s what we’ve done as a business, together. This success has generated internal strength and confidence for the future.
The new structure facilitates better communication with our customers and provides more transparency. It also gives us greater flexibility in terms of cross-selling under the current GDPR legislation, allowing us to offer our customers a comprehensive, tailor-made solution. Additionally, it will further improve solvency, freeing up capital to continue investing in the quality of services we offer our customers.
Our ambition is to continue our growth, particularly by expanding our target groups (mainly B2B), to whom we will offer the same high-quality service and solutions as our existing customers. We will pay even greater attention to sustainability in general and for our life insurance products in particular. And, of course, we will embrace new technologies such as AI.
In practical terms, our new strategy means going more digital. But not only that… in terms of the quality of the customer experience, we want to be even faster, simpler, more understandable, and more accessible. So the human aspect is still very important.
We have a long-term relationship with a very large proportion of our member/customers: many of them have been customers for several generations! This shows that they are satisfied with the solutions and service we provide. Over the long term, it also helps to build a relationship of trust. We need to maintain this level of satisfaction, and that means responding even more effectively and responsively to their needs. For example, we are optimising our processes to instantly deliver administrative documents, such as digital certificates for ten-year liability insurance.
To be clear, digital and human go hand in hand. Digital technology is mainly used in our back office. In customer relations, the digital dimension complements direct, face-to-face human contact. Digital channels are available for consulting, getting information, asking questions, and finding out about existing solutions. But our staff are always on hand to provide more specific advice and offer tailor-made solutions that meet our customers’ real needs.
Looking to the future, we believe being part of the ICMIF global network can support our journey in several ways. Firstly, by inspiring us on how to communicate the advantages that a mutual insurer can offer its customers/members to younger people, those who are just starting out in life. Exchanging experiences with other member companies is also always rewarding. And, lastly, lobbying remains crucial to ensure that the interests of mutual insurers are upheld as legislation continues to evolve.
