Automotive Vap Solutions (AVS) and GENRIC Insurance Company celebrate five years of successful partnership, building up one of the most comprehensive niche insurance offerings for the automotive market. In 2017, Automotive Vap Solutions founder and CEO Francois Haasbroek partnered with GENRIC Insurance as the underwriting partner for his business, offering a range of value-added niche insurance solutions from tyre-and-rim warranty to mechanical warranty insurance, service and maintenance warranty, to exterior maintenance plans for cars, motorbikes, and caravans.
“The past five years have not been without challenges, especially considering the massive economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years. Part of our ability as a specialist niche insurance business to push through even challenging times lies in a lot of hard work and determination, a phenomenal team of colleagues, product and distribution innovation, a focus on our core business, and a true partnership in all that we approach. Having the backing and support of a partner like GENRIC Insurance goes a very long way in providing the systems, processes, technical support, compliance, and financial backing that our business needed to make it in a highly competitive insurance market,” explains Francois Haasbroek, CEO of Automotive VAP Solutions, which he founded in 2013.
The right insurance partner has been a key factor in AVS’s growth over the last 5 years
As an underwriting management agency (UMA), partnering with GENRIC Insurance and also having them as a shareholder has played a key role in the evolution and growth of the AVS business. GENRIC Insurance Company is well known in the industry for successfully launching multiple non-life insurance products through its partner-focused model with UMAs, brokers, and insuretech businesses.
MC Du Toit, CEO of GENRIC Insurance explains: “With the onerous capital and regulatory requirements, technology, and expertise demands needed to take an insurance product or business to market, many innovative solutions simply don’t see the light of day, and that really is to the detriment of an industry that is in desperate need of niche insurance solutions to meet the changing needs of consumers. GENRIC is able to provide the risk financing facilities, tech platforms and administrative support required, with fewer barriers and lower costs than if an insurance entrepreneur were to embark on establishing a license of their own. We see it as our role as GENRIC to provide the structured processes and operational alignments in an incubative approach that facilitates the success of our business partners, while allowing them to retain their innovative, entrepreneurial mindset needed in a highly regulated and competitive industry. I believe that while there are many disruptive forces in the insurance market, they equally bring many new opportunities to the fore – opportunities that are best leveraged in a collaborative partnership approach.
“GENRIC’s partnership model is designed to promote ownership retention, allowing the entrepreneurs behind great insurance businesses to leverage our existing frameworks while focussing on their specialist, expert skills that differentiated their products and solutions in the first place. AVS has been very successful in establishing the brand on a national scale amongst its dealership partners and the wider consumer market. For AVS, it means being a well-known and trusted brand in every motor dealership. Strong processes and resources, and expanding underwriting, consultation, sales, and claims teams mean that AVS is well-positioned as an insurance product provider of choice for dealerships and anyone in need of specialized automotive risk solutions,” adds MC.
Francois adds: “Our aim is to remain focused on our core business and markets while looking for innovative ways to meet changing needs, and market and distribution pressures. We know that past successes don’t always guarantee future success in today’s evolving risk landscape. This is why we continue to innovate our business model and solutions, and the backing of a partner like GENERIC means we’re strongly equipped to take on the evolving risk challenges. GENRIC embraces the many benefits that UMAs like AVS – a model that is unique to the South African market – bring to insurance consumers, notably superior product knowledge, speed, innovation, and customer-centricity. >From my perspective, being able to do this while retaining entrepreneurial drive and independence without the distraction or red tape of large corporate environments and bureaucracy has been a big factor in our successful partnership,” concludes Francois.