How an award-winning app became a game-changer during the Covid crisis

To enable businesses to call on risk engineering expertise instantly and effortlessly, we introduced Zurich Risk Advisor, an easy-to-use digital platform. Now, businesses can assess risks quickly and easily, with no expert knowledge or understanding of risk required. From fire and employers’ liability through to cyber risk, the assessment tool draws on Zurich’s tried and tested risk grading methodology to deliver tailored insights into site risks.

To start using the app, you don’t need to be a customer of Zurich, or work in any particular sector or even country. As Olivier Etienne, Risk Engineering Network Manager, says: “You can register for free in less than two minutes and then can start to carry out a snapshot of a particular risk at a site.”

All the user has to do is download an app, choose the peril they would like to assess and then answer a few ‘yes/no’ questions. The beauty of the app is its simplicity. Global insurance can be extremely complex, and technical, but the end user may have limited knowledge of the risks or cover. “We try and translate into very simple words the wide expertise our technical experts have, without compromising on the content,” explains Olivier. “The beauty of the risk snapshot is that when it’s done, it’s something that anyone can understand.”

Following a snapshot, the app suggests ways in which the user could mitigate risks or become compliant against certain industry standards. For instance, someone carrying out a fire peril assessment might receive a recommendation to fit sprinklers in certain locations across the site.

Made for remote working

Since its launch, the app had won a series of accolades across the insurance industry, ranging from the Winner of the Business Insurance 2020 Innovation Award through to the Swiss Insurance Innovation Award in 2016 and more. But a recent upgrade introduced in the year 2020 became a game-changer during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Remote Collaboration module enables customers to connect with one of Zurich’s 850 Risk Engineers around the world for a consultation at a time that suits them, using video streaming technology. The engineer can assess risks and make recommendations without visiting physically a site, saving time and making it easier for customers to receive bespoke advice wherever their operations were based.

“When Covid-19 started knocking on the door we were very lucky to already have that kind of remote collaboration built in,” explains Olivier. “We could switch from fully onsite assessment to fully remote, helping the customer keep on top of risk even when movement was extremely limited.”

In fact, customers are even able to call on risk engineering expertise if they have poor connectivity or inadequate WiFi. When streaming live video isn’t possible, a Risk Engineer can simply take photographs of a site from their own desktop. With zoom control and high resolution, the photographs give a Risk Engineer all the detail they need to give advice. Although the platform was never intended to be a substitute for a site visit and face-to-face conversation, its intuitive functionality makes it the next best thing.

That remote collaboration really came into its own during the difficult years of 2020 and 2021. Despite movement restrictions, enterprises were able to learn more about the perils they faced and understand what actions they might need to take. But customer feedback showed us that there was one piece of the jigsaw still to come, which was how this award-winning insurance tool became even better…