Insurance Times Advent Calendar: Ola Jacob

Every day for the festive period and continuing every day until Christmas Eve, Insurance Times speaks to industry personalities for a jolly look back at the year and what they are hoping for in 2024. 

What was your insurance industry highlight of 2023?

A multi-million dollar claims payment occurred in just 15 days this year for a hospitality business. Quite simply, it is a magical claims story with a real impact.

If they had an indemnity policy, they would have received next to nothing, because there was no real physical damage. But with a parametric policy in place, all their intangible losses, like access repairs, forced shutdowns, pauses in revenue and employee salary disruption, were sorted immediately.

The client even saw an improvement in revenue performance compared to their local competitors.

Needless to say, the client was over the moon. Not only did they experience a swift recovery, but their stock price also soared.

What is your Christmas message for your insurance colleagues?

When we describe what we do for society and business without using the word “insurance,” it sounds like we work for a charity –  maybe try this after the Christmas turkey!

So, let us be proud of what we do and remember to do our best to bring positivity to our beautiful business.

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

A magic potion that sparks more innovative applications of parametric coverage and inspires genius in 2024, bringing all the expertise from the market together.