Bring the obligation into the recommendation

A count of treatment episodes describes activity, not automatically distinct people or demand for an insurance product. I ask the commercial team to identify the population, source and limits of the evidence before connecting it to an expansion proposal. Affordability, product suitability, underwriting and service capability require their own assessment. My 2020 mistake was to let a larger activity count strengthen a recommendation it did not establish. I now want the route from observation to commitment visible, including the questions that a smaller discovery programme is intended to answer. That does not make the CEO the research methodologist or underwriting authority. It makes the enterprise sponsor accountable for using those conclusions honestly. A qualified finding can justify another question without being converted into a forecast of policies the company has not yet sold.

I do not treat the bank balance as a complete account of an insurer’s capacity to make a shareholder payment. Financial reporting, liabilities, liquidity timing, capital requirements and the applicable legal conditions need their respective professional assessments. My task is to ensure those assessments reach the board before I recommend a commitment. A larger visible balance may coexist with obligations that have not yet produced a cash outflow. Equally, deferring a proposal does not by itself establish insolvency or prove that every distribution would be inappropriate. I want the paper to distinguish what is known, what is being estimated and which decisions remain with the board. The CEO should be prepared to withhold a recommendation whose attractive headline has outrun the supporting account, without substituting personal confidence for financial or actuarial judgement.

A digital route can be useful without being sufficient for every policyholder or every service task. I ask operations to examine where a person needs assistance, what the alternative route provides and how the handover preserves privacy and responsibility. Completion in a selected demonstration is evidence about that exercise, not proof of universal capability. The enterprise decision concerns resources, channel choice and continuing service obligations; it should not force the customer to solve an internal cost problem alone. Claims and medical decisions remain with authorised professionals regardless of how the person contacts the insurer. I want the operating account to distinguish help using a channel from approval of a benefit. That lets the company improve digital service while keeping a realistic route for people whose circumstances or task make assistance necessary.

I hold both executive and statutory responsibilities, and I describe them separately. As CEO I coordinate the enterprise proposal and its execution. As an executive director I also participate in a collective decision whose evidence must remain open to challenge. Financial, actuarial, medical, risk and legal owners should be able to explain their conclusions without having them compressed into the wording most convenient for my recommendation. I want unresolved matters identified early enough to change the commitment, including its scale or timing. This does not mean every disagreement must disappear before a decision can be made. It means the board should understand the disagreement and its consequence. My own interests as an employee remain relevant, and an outside appointment would require a fresh assessment rather than assuming that current director service establishes independence elsewhere.