The partnership between the Company and the network of agents regarding economic, management and regulatory subjects has been renewed

Verona, 16 October 2018.

Cattolica Assicurazioni and the Company Agents Groups have signed a “system agreement” that marks a new course in the business relations between the Company and the agents. The agreement, signed yesterday by the Cattolica Group and the Cattolica Agents, Duomo, UniOne, GA-Fata and Assocap Group, namely unanimously by all the representatives of the agents, will go into effect 1 January 2019.

The agreement is aimed at “creating a system”, namely to create a truly proactive partnership between the Company and the network of agents, by encompassing economic, management and regulatory subjects. The agreement is in fact based on four pillars - Regulatory-Supplemental, Economic, Partnership, Data and Digital - and is established on the new IDD and GDPR regulatory base which modified the framework of the relations between Company, the distributors and the clients, raising the protection of the final consumer to the maximum level.

The agreement is the result of an efficient path which required, during the negotiations, commitment and understanding of the respective positions and convergence towards common objectives. The document is the expression of the requirements and interests of the Company and the 930 agencies which, even though of different origins, today are all part of one of the leading Insurance Group operating in Italy.

The regulatory-supplemental pillar confirms one of the principles, moreover already included in the previous agreement, of centrality of the agent and focuses the attention on the continuity of the agency. In particular, we tried to protect the generational passage from father to son, knowing that this aspect represents value in the relations with the territory.

The economic pillar rewards with additional economic elements the ability to generate value and better service to the customer by the agency. This is a particularly significant point since it is consistent with the principle of “profitable growth”, which together with innovation & data management and technical excellence, is one of the three pillars of the Cattolica Group’s 2018-2020 Business Plan presented by the Chief Executive Office, Alberto Minali, in January 2018.

The application of the principles of the economic agreements focuses on generating a significant increase in agency revenues, also in the management of the claims, in order to ensure operational stability and continuity.

In the third pillar, dedicated to the partnership between the Company and the agents, we reiterate the fundamental role of the training for the professional growth of agents, applicant agents and partners of the agencies and we confirm, with further impetus, the continuation of the investment in the Agent Profession and Executive Agents Masters, now consolidated and already considered a principle of excellence on the Italian insurance stage.

Consistent with the spirit of Cattolica, traditionally focused on its people. We included in the system agreement the creation of a fund for the agencies, agents or their relatives affected by serious disasters

Lastly, the fourth and last pillar on Data and Digital: the possibility was shared with the agents of assuming the role of co-controllers or independent controllers of the processing of the personal data of the customer regulating the sharing of the data and the exchange of the Company-agents flows for the joint development of the customer. Because of the complexity of the subject, this point of the agreement required an in-depth study of the current Directives and the European Regulation regarding the Protection of Data (GDPR), through the establishment of a dedicated work group.

Marco Lamola, Distribution and Marketing Director of Cattolica Assicurazioni, stated:

“Months ago, we undertook a virtuous path of synthesis and synergy with the representatives of the deeply different and stratified agencies. We enriched our positions and now can converge towards a common and challenging future.
One of the fundamental points of the current system agreement is that of having agreed on a way to measure the agency performance through technical indicators created together, uniquely used within the company and transparent vis-a-vis the network. This new approach opens for us a healthy and meritocratic relationship with the professionals who work every day for Cattolica in the country and allows us to schedule the future with our agents starting from a greater awareness of the common objectives”.

In the photo, from the left: Danilo Battaglia (GAA Duomo), Renato Sparti (GAA Unione), Roberto Zambelli (GA Fata), Marco Lamola (Cattolica Director of Distribution and Marketing), Fabrizio Fabris (GAA Cattolica) e Diego Milani (Assocap).