Zurich has appointed Matt Paterson to the newly created role of Chief Claims Officer (CCO), Australia and New Zealand.
Paterson will be based in Sydney and report directly to Chief Executive Officer Justin Delaney. In his new role, Paterson will have enterprise-wide responsibility for all claims teams and functions across Zurich’s Retail Life, Group Life and General Insurance business segments.
Delaney commented on the hire, “I am delighted to have an executive of Matt’s caliber and experience join Zurich. As the only major composite – life and general – insurer in the market, this appointment represents an important structural change to our team and our business more broadly.”
Most recently, Paterson was Group Chief Operations Officer for nib and brings over 20 years’ experience across customer service, financial services, telecommunications and consulting. Among his career accomplishments, he has been awarded AFR Boss’s ‘Young Executive of the Year in 2009 and the Customer Service Institute of Australia ‘Leader of the Year’ in 2007.
The new role reflects the changing landscape of the insurance industry, with claims handling and settling now a fully regulated activity and included in the definition of a ‘financial service’ under the Corporations Act 2001.
Delaney added, “With representation on our senior leadership team, claims will have even greater visibility and focus to deliver improved experiences and efficiency for our individual and commercial customers.”
Paterson stared in the role on June 13th.
