Sustainable insurance operations

The Sampo Group Code of Conduct sets the guidelines for sustainable insurance operations in Sampo Group. The Code of Conduct states that Sampo Group should strive to act in the interests of its customers, providing products and services that are fair, comprehensible, and designed to help meet the evolving needs of customers. The aim is to take ESG considerations, including climate change, into account in the product and service offering and insurance underwriting. In addition to the Code of Conduct, each Group company has adopted supplementary and more detailed policies, guidelines, and processes for their own purposes. 

Sustainability is an integral part of Sampo Group’s core business. In terms of insurance operations this means, for example, that Sampo Group  

• integrates ESG considerations into insurance underwriting (e.g. expectations for corporate clients to respect international norms and standards as defined by the UN Global Compact, integration of sustainability considerations into underwriting principles and/or other relevant policies).  
• provides loss prevention services (e.g. risk management services).
• handles claims in a sustainable way.
• develops products and services in accordance with relevant legal requirements (e.g. the EU Taxonomy). 

Integration of ESG into underwriting

Sampo Group has integrated sustainability into its underwriting standards and into the existing customer due diligence process for corporate clients. Underwriting policies include expectations on corporate clients to respect international norms and standards on human rights, labour rights, the environment, and anti-corruption, as defined by the UN Global Compact.  

Sampo Group uses research and gradings from external service providers to analyse whether corporate clients respect the UN Global Compact. If clients do not meet expectations, a further assessment will be conducted.  The assessment is made, for example, based on the service provider’s research, other relevant data (e.g. publicly available information), and internal analysis.  

In case of a verified violation or unsatisfactory performance, Sampo Group enters into a dialogue with the client. Sampo Group can, for example, insure the client but set the company under observation; grant conditional approval for an insurance, but require the company to take action; or decide not to offer insurance for the client or renew an already existing insurance contract. If the client does not take any corrective actions, Sampo Group will consider additional steps, including termination of the customer relationship.  

Relevant employees receive training, for example, on the principles of the Global Compact, norm-based research, and the company’s ESG framework.  

Loss prevention services

Sampo Group investigates how it can help and contribute to sustainability issues, including climate change, in dialogue with its customers. This means that the company’s places a lot of emphasis on loss prevention. Below are some examples of Sampo Group’s loss prevention activities.  

Property

If offers its major corporate clients (companies with business operations all over the world and more than 500 employees) advanced risk management services, in which a comprehensive approach is taken to understand their specific insurance and risk management requirements. If has its own property risk engineers and access to an external risk engineering network. Within a normal year, If’s property risk engineers spend more than 1,300 days providing risk management services on site to the company’s corporate customers.  

In addition, If has approximately 360,000 SME clients, of which 25 per cent own buildings that are insured with If. If’s priority is to make sure that as many customers as possible have fire alarms and sprinklers installed. To help its customers to avoid claims, If not only focuses on the fire-prone segments but also provides loss prevention services that can prevent several different types of damage.  

Together with its partner Anticimex, If offers house assessments to private customers who own their own house and have insurance policies with top coverage. The house assessment provides the customer with a report that helps them both plan the maintenance of the property and minimise the risk of unpleasant surprises. Customers can get a house assessment done every fourth year.

Mobility  

Coaching and incentivising drivers to improve their habits has been identified as the area within automotive insurance with the greatest potential for making a difference. If and Hastings are working to incentivise drivers to adopt safer habits. Usage Based Insurance (UBI) programmes utilising data from cars and smartphones enable If and Hastings to identify the potential for improvement for each individual driver, and even offer the right incentives to improve driving behaviour. With UBI products If and Hastings also want to help customers improve their driving habits. Safer driving is more sustainable, both by avoiding accidents and because safe driving habits are also more efficient, resulting in less unnecessary fuel consumption.

If supports the better utilisation of the Nordic car fleet by means of its customised insurance offerings to the sharing economy and new mobility providers. These shared cars enable thousands of customers to not own their own cars, which reduces the number of unnecessary trips and even the need for parking spaces in urban areas. It also reduces the number of cars in traffic, which is beneficial from a road safety perspective. Because the cars are distributed throughout the city where people live, the collection and return of the vehicles is also efficient.  

If collaborates closely with its automotive partners to improve vehicle design by providing feedback on the effect of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). If leverages its large market presence and the quality of claims data with its partners’ data about what their cars are capable of, which enables If to understand the extent to which the safety systems work as intended.

Sustainable claims handling

Sampo Group wants to offer its customers easy and fair claims handling. The aim is for customers to receive compensation quickly, efficiently, with great service, and according to the terms of the policy. Sampo Group uses different kinds of analyses to assess whether customers are satisfied with claims handling. In addition, the company aims to continuously improve its solutions, processes, communications, and advice related to the topic.

Due to a large number of claims each year, errors in claims handling cannot be completely avoided. When Sampo Group becomes aware of an error, it is fixed as quickly as possible. To minimise the number of errors, claims handling is continuously monitored, for example, through internal controls, dialogue with employees, and feedback from customers.

Development of sustainable products and services

Sampo Group integrates the EU Taxonomy Regulation into its business strategy and product development processes while monitoring the market expectations and customer needs in this area. In the coming years, Sampo Group aims to increase the share of Taxonomy-aligned underwriting activities in its insurance portfolio.  

Every year, Sampo Group analyses to what extent its underwriting and investment activities are Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy-aligned according to the EU Taxonomy. This information is reported as part of Sampo Group’s annual sustainability reporting.