Mercedes-Benz Financial Services South Africa (MBFSSA) launches superior home insurance products for its discerning customers
Why would a vehicle finance company offer household insurance? “Customer convenience, better cost options and, of course, a better support service in times of need,” is the quick response from Mike Honiball, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (Pty) Ltd (MBFS).
“MBFS is constantly looking for ways and means to expand customer experience and convenience while purchasing a Mercedes-Benz product, through added ‘peace-of-mind’ vehicle insurance. It was a logical expansion of our highly popular vehicle insurance products, ExecuProtect and ValueProtect, that we decided to extend our offering to cover household insurance as well,” explains Honiball.
“The new home insurance products, which we dubbed ‘ExecuHome and ValueHome’ adds lots of value to the existing motor range of insurance products, by providing a one-stop service solution with excellent benefits to our customer base. This is another example of our continuous effort to diversify and modify our insurance products and offerings in accordance with out strategy – the best or nothing,” says Honiball. “Basically our customers asked for this ‘extension’ to our existing motor insurance options; we listened, and gave them what they wanted.”
In years past, MBFS only offered customers comprehensive motor insurance, but customers indicated that they wished to insure their home contents, other motor vehicles and all other personal assets in the same policy as their vehicles, thus saving on premiums, policy fees and with the added benefit of a one-stop service solution, all with one debit order.
After extensive research MBFS settled on two home insurance product options; both are underwritten by Alexander Forbes Insurance, with the motor products underwritten by both Alexander Forbes Insurance as well as Regent Insurance.
As per the ValueProtect motor insurance product, the idea was to offer similar benefits compared to that found in the general marketplace at a slightly reduced premium compared to the ExecuHome product. The strategy with ExecuHome on the other hand was to offer the motor insurance benefits of ExecuProtect combined with a home product that offers superior benefits on an all-risks basis to the customer interested in household insurance.
“With both these products customers have the ease of insuring all their motor and non-motor assets under one policy, that not only offers a great convenience to the customer, but also assists us in building long-term relationships with our valuable customers”, says Honiball.
To differentiate the ExecuHome product we included the option to cover vehicle tyres against damage from road hazards, stolen ID document cover, upgrading of alarm systems following a break-in and even the cost of tracing water leaks at home, to name a few.
“Even though we ventured into this new insurance segment with Alexander Forbes Insurance, our primary product still remains the motor insurance which features some significant and unique benefits to Mercedes-Benz owners.”
The aim with the motor products has always been to offer Mercedes-Benz vehicle owners an insurance product that guarantees repairs at all times in accordance with the manufacturer specifications of Mercedes-Benz South Africa and to uphold the MobiloDrive Maintenance Plan and Manufacturer Warranty.
Honiball noted, “The overall feedback from our newly acquired home insurance customers and our retail partners are very positive, and confirms that we have the right products for our niche market."
Customers interested in obtaining a quote on any of the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services products, can approach their closest Mercedes-Benz dealership.