Zurich Financial Services Australia has appointed Matt Paterson as chief claims officer (CCO) for Australia and New Zealand, a newly created position within the company. Based in Sydney, Paterson will assume the role on June 13, 2023.

Paterson will report directly to CEO Justin Delaney and will be responsible for overseeing all claims teams and functions across Zurich's retail life, group life, and general insurance business segments.

“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," Delaney said.

Delaney highlighted the significance of providing a “positive and efficient” claims experience.

“Bringing our claims teams together into one collective function provides a unique opportunity to integrate and scale our claims management and service delivery functions,” Delaney said. “More importantly, 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 previously served as the group chief operations officer for nib, where he managed operational contact centres and claims functions across the group. He has 20 years of experience in customer service, financial services, telecommunications, and consulting.

Throughout his career, Paterson has received accolades such as the AFR Boss 'Young Executive of the Year' in 2009 and the Customer Service Institute of Australia 'Leader of the Year' in 2007.

The appointment comes in the wake of regulatory changes, with claims handling and settling now being recognized as a fully regulated activity under the Corporations Act 2001.

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