Vienna Insurance Group expands digitalisation service for assistance
State-of-the-art proprietary software soon to be used in seven countries
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) currently uses one of the most modern software systems (EPAS) on the market for motor vehicle accidents and breakdowns. The in-house developed digital service tool software is available to the VIG companies in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania, and will soon also be available in the Baltic States.
Focus on digital supplementary services
Digitalisation and assistance are one of the main priorities of the VIG “Agenda 2020” management programme. VIG aims to create innovative services that provide additional benefits for customers. “To position ourselves in the new digital ecosystem of our customers, we are focusing on supplementary services that deliver added value in addition to our primary duty of risk protection. This includes establishing our own assistance companies and developing digital services, such as EPAS. The software provides an excellent example of the digital solutions that can be developed centrally by Vienna Insurance Group in cooperation with external partners, maintained locally, and used by more than one Group company in VIG’s countries”, explained Elisabeth Stadler, CEO of Vienna Insurance Group.
Agreed expansion in the Baltic States
Use of these modern services in the Baltic States has now been decided. Group company BTA will first introduce EPAS in Latvia in the first quarter of 2020, followed by Lithuania and Estonia. “Our assistance companies have already handled more than half a million assistance cases in the last two years. Expansion into the Baltic States is a further step towards our goal of expanding digital services and assistance internationally. We still see a great deal of potential in expanding digital supplementary services for our customers”, added Stadler.
Digital support in times of need
The car suddenly stops in the middle of a low-traffic country road. The customer dials the assistance number of his VIG Group company and receives a link to the assistance company by SMS. When the link is opened, the customer's location is determined and the nearest towing company is notified. The customer can track the arrival of the towing service via smartphone, where he sees who will come, when and with which vehicle (incl. licence number). The car will then be taken to the agreed repair shop and the customer does not have to worry about a thing. This is all based on the EPAS software that Vienna Insurance Group developed in-house with the assistance of an external IT provider. VIG has exclusive usage rights for the Group. VIG assistance companies can use the software to organise and provide digital services for customers, including the possibility of travel and household assistance.
