Allianz demands: Repair instead of replacing

Allianz demands: Repair instead of replacing

Allianz sees sustainable claims management as an important lever that could significantly reduce CO2 emissions. “It is of the utmost importance to use resource-saving options for repairs instead of using new spare parts,” said Klaus-Peter Röhler, member of the board of Allianz SE, on the occasion of the 10th Allianz Autotag, which was dedicated to the topic of “Sustainable Car Insurance”. The discussions, as part of the international event hosted by Allianz, focused on how electromobility can be promoted as an important lever for decarbonization on both the product and service side, and how CO2 emissions can be reduced through sustainable claims management.

Most automobile collision damage is small to medium-sized damage, primarily affecting the exterior parts of the vehicle. There are environmentally friendly repair options for these. Manufacturing a new part has a significantly higher carbon footprint than repairing it. “If insurers increase repair rates in Europe by just two percentage points per year, our experts calculate that almost 30,000 tons of CO2 emissions can be avoided, which corresponds to the annual energy consumption of around 5,100 households,” explained Röhler. “This example supports our proposal to increase the proportion of green, environmentally friendly repairs in the future.” Another lever for more sustainable claims management is the uniform certification of workshops on the European markets according to sustainability criteria. “The alliance would like to work with other players in the automotive industry to create uniform standards across Europe,” announced Röhler. This is the only way to consciously incorporate compliance with sustainability criteria into the selection of a workshop.

“Without the consistent expansion of electromobility, the EU’s ambitious goals cannot be achieved,” emphasizes Christoph Marek, Board Member for Insurance Technology at Allianz Austria. "In order to make electromobility suitable for the masses, all market participants must create customer-friendly solutions. These include, among other things, faster expansion of the charging infrastructure, competitive prices and useful services related to electric vehicles," says Marek. To promote the decarbonization of insurance portfolios, Allianz co-founded the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) in collaboration with the United Nations. This is intended to help Europe become climate neutral by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. The plan for the coming year is to set up a digital platform on the topic of electromobility in collaboration with recognized experts and brands. Their offering ranges from information on topics such as range or charging stations to services such as a battery check before buying/selling a used electric vehicle, wallbox installation with on-site check and a charging card at favorable conditions. This also includes suitable insurance products for electric vehicles. This platform is scheduled to launch in Germany at the beginning of 2023 and will be rolled out to numerous other markets over the course of the year.