Capricorn Mutual (Australia), a leading provider of discretionary risk protection products for the automotive aftermarket industry, reached a critical point in its business development as rapid growth demanded a more advanced claims management system. Through exchanges with three fellow mutual insurers from across ICMIF’s global network in 2023, Capricorn was able to learn from the experiences with claims systems and workflows of these other companies. These collaborations provided valuable insights to support Capricorn’s strategic review of its claims system, ensuring it could continue delivering excellent service to its members while supporting its future growth.
Formed in 2003 exclusively for members of Capricorn Society, a cooperative who supports over 30,000 automotive businesses in Australia and New Zealand, Capricorn Mutual is a discretionary mutual established to provide its members and their associates a competitive alternative to insurance, offering market leading protections tailored to the motor trade industry.
Unlike an insurance company, Capricorn Mutual operates as a non-profit entity solely for the benefit of its members. As a discretionary mutual, the Board of Capricorn Mutual exercises a number of discretions including membership admittance, scope of protections and claims decisions.
Over the past decade, Capricorn’s business has expanded significantly, now serving nearly a quarter of all businesses in its sector across Australia and New Zealand. The company exceeded AUD 100 million (USD 65 million) in mutual protection revenue in 2022 for the first time in its 20-year history, and reported more than AUD 140 million (USD 95 million) in gross revenue in FY 2024.
The challenge
As Capricorn’s membership base and service offerings have grown, so too has the need for more robust operational systems.
To meet its projected growth, the company identified that its claims management system would require significant development. The current system was not equipped to handle the increased volume and complexity of claims that Capricorn anticipated in the coming years, so it required an upgraded system that could scale alongside the business.
Recognising the challenges of upgrading a claims system to support such growth, Capricorn initiated a strategic review to explore potential system and process solutions. A key part of this review involved the potential to connect with other insurers, with a similar mutual structure, to learn from their experiences with claims systems and workflows.
Members involved
The connection experience
In July 2023, Capricorn reached out to ICMIF, explaining a desire to meet with mutuals of similar size or slightly larger, operating in non-competing markets, to share information about claims management systems. Given that Capricorn operates exclusively in the automotive aftermarket industry in Australia and New Zealand, it was well-positioned to engage in open, collaborative discussions with peers from other parts of the world.
Capricorn’s goal was to gain insight into claims systems that had proven effective for other mutual insurers. These insights would be instrumental in guiding its decision-making process as it searched for a system that could support not only current operations but also its future growth trajectory.
ICMIF identified three mutual insurers from Canada (Promutuel), Denmark (LB Group) and Sweden (Dina Försäkring). Each organisation has a similar scale and business profile to Capricorn, and were all recognised for their excellence in claims service.
All three organisations were willing to share their experiences with Capricorn, and three separate virtual meetings were scheduled.
Key insights and learnings
Capricorn gained invaluable insights from its discussions with the three mutual companies. These exchanges covered a wide range of topics relevant to the claims management system transformation, including:
- Vendor and system selection: Understanding the criteria and decision-making processes used by each mutual in selecting the right claims system for their business.
- Implementation strategies: Best practices for managing the rollout of new systems, including governance, training, and phased implementation to minimise disruption.
- Workflow management and reporting: Insights into how automation, especially through robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI), was being used to streamline claims workflows and improve reporting accuracy.
- Innovation: Exploration of emerging technologies, such as AI, and their potential to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of claims processing.
Outcomes
The exchange with fellow ICMIF members addressed all the critical discussion points Capricorn had aimed for, providing key input into its ongoing claims system transformation journey.
The insights gained then equipped the organisation with a clearer understanding of what to expect during system selection and implementation, reinforcing its confidence in its strategic decisions. With a broader understanding of the technological and operational strategies available, it has significantly helped the organisation shape its own approach to upgrading its claims management system.
