Insurance Times Advent Calendar: Jon Walker

For the festive period and continuing every day until Christmas Eve, Insurance Times speaks to a selection of industry personalities about what they’d like to find under the tree for 2024.  

What was your insurance industry highlight of 2023?

This might be one people aren’t expecting – Consumer Duty. This focuses on the one thing that is most important and common to all of us – our customers – and holding us to account for delivering positive outcomes and value.

Consumer Duty has enabled Axa to further build on the work we have already done to deliver exceptional customer service. This was reinforced by the gold award we received this year from Investor in Customers, their highest recognition for businesses.

We also retained our number one position in the Insurance Times Top 50 Insurers 2023 report, an accolade that we are extremely proud.

What is your Christmas message for your insurance colleagues?

At Christmas we should all be thinking about spreading a bit of kindness and I think this can apply to our colleagues across the insurance business too. Insurers and brokers work closely for the benefit of their customers and these relationships should be based on mutual respect and collaboration.

2023 was a tough year for everyone. In 2024 I’d like to see the true spirit of collaboration to tackle the challenges that we all face and explore solutions that will benefit everyone. Whether it’s digitisation, hybrid working or talent acquisition – working together will help us find the answer.

What do you hope to find under the industry’s Christmas tree for 2024?

The best gift we could receive for 2024 is market stability. There is already cause for optimism, with market pricing helping to address unprecedented claims inflation, ensuring collective sector capacity.

Underinsurance has been a big challenge for the industry in 2023 and it’s crucial that we maintain strong communication with our customers so they are kept fully updated and can make informed choices.

Broker merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will continue to mature, driving better customer outcomes. We will also see new business models and an increased use of data and artificial intelligence (AI), creating more competition and raising the bar further.