W E HAV E OUR CLI ENTS’ TRUST ČPP is the fourth largest Czech general insurance company and it has long been among leaders in car insurance in the Czech market. Last month, it exceeded 1.2 million vehicles insured with third-party insurance. Despite this, the competition in the field is enormous. We discussed how to stay at the top and amongst the insurance elite in this country with Ing. František Vlnař, a member of the Board of Directors who is responsible for commerce. You have built your success on cars. How has the situation changed during the last 20 years that ČPP has been active in the market? If I were to compare the situation now and then, they are diametrically different. It was not easy to penetrate the market, which the international competition had entered in the 1990s. The turning point came in 2000 with the removal of the monopoly for third-party insurance. We were basically an unknown insurance company until that time. Nowadays, ČPP is a stable and strong institution and the third biggest player in the market. And we cover the full range of insurance products, including general and life insurance. How have you managed to overcome the competition? I would say that we have managed to do this very well. The insurance company has the trust of its clients and our success with cars has also enabled us to get ahead in other segments. We are not merely an insurance company for cars, but we have a portfolio of business insurance and we are acquiring an increasing market share in the insurance of citizen’s property and life insurance. We guarantee our clients high quality, perfect services ranging from the negotiation of the policy through to settling a claim for an insured event. Last year, we received insurance premiums at the amount of more than 8 billion crowns and we became the fastest growing insurance company in the top ten. What should people look for when choosing an insurance company for third-party insurance? They should definitely not decide on price alone, but should also take into account a number of other aspects. Mainly the range of assistance services, the amount of the agreed insurance limit and the benefits on offer. Our free limits for assistance services are amongst the highest on the market and ČPP not only provides them during an accident, but also if your car breaks down. It is necessary to realise that 80 per cent of the calls to the assistance service are due to a breakdown rather than an accident. The trend of recent years has been the interest of motorists in insuring themselves against other risks than the basic ones covered by third-party insurance. What are the insurance risks which drivers are most interested in? According to our internal statistics, we have seen the most interest in additional windscreen insurance, which approximately one quarter of our clients have. There is significant interest in the expanded assistance service which offers drivers higher free limits which they especially appreciate when travelling abroad. And the insurance of natural risks, i.e. cover for the damages from natural disasters or a crash with an animal, is in third place. I was pleased to see the success which our KLIKA offer of additional insurance had in our spring campaign. This involves a kind of small accident insurance which covers a relatively large part of the costs in the
case of any small-scale damage at a very good price. But this is just part of the overall offer of additional insurance which our clients can make use of. Are you offering anything new in additional insurance for vehicles? I would like to draw your attention to our current campaign with the motto “Keep calm, we won’t leave you without a car!”. We started the year well and after KLIKA we have come out with a new product starting with the letter “K”. And in this campaign we offer drivers new additional insurance against the theft of the entire vehicle called KLÍDEK. Existing and new clients can now conclude this new product in addition to their third-party insurance with a basic limit from just 300 crowns per insurance year. You are a socially responsible company. What interesting things have you supported recently? I am pleased to say that we have a strong tradition of company volunteering in our company. We have received the Volunteer of the Year award three times from the VIG Concern. Almost half our employees are involved in the internal Day of Social Activity program which has been up and running for six years. The expert jury at the Top Responsible Company competition has recently awarded us a silver certificate in the category of Most Engaged Employees. My colleagues from management and I try to set an example. For example, at the start of October, we assisted at the Children’s Home in Doksy. We “brought” the children a mini-concert by the group Chinaski, whom we are cooperating with this year. What is your goal for the near future? Where and how should ČPP develop? We cover the whole spectrum of products on the insurance market. The important thing for us is an individual approach to the provision of services to our clients and to all our agents. Everybody says that, but you often see that this isn’t really the case. I consider innovation to be the most important thing for maintaining and increasing market competitiveness. Quality, simplicity and product innovation in association with a developed distribution network create the best conditions for further increases in the numbers of our clients and the growth of the company.
Česká podnikatelská pojišťovna
ČPP is one of the ten largest insurance companies in the Czech Republic. It provides its clients with comprehensive services in the areas of life and general insurance. With more than 1.2 million insured vehicles, it is number three in the market for third-party insurance and the fourth largest general insurance company. ČPP administers more than 1.7 million insurance policies and its services are used by 1 million clients. ČPP is part of one of the largest European insurance groups, the Vienna Insurance Group.