ALL-RUSSIAN INSURANCE ASSOCIATION

SERVICES AND FUNCTIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

Introduction.

This document outlines the current services provided by the All-Russian Insurance Association (ARIA) and the functions of those departments, which provide the services. A description of ARIA and its services are contained in the status quo report produced by the Tacis project/ (Appendix 1)

The document also describes services and functions that are in the process of being implemented as a result of technical support from the Tacis project ‘Advisory Services to the Russian Insurance Industry’, Component II (Institution Building). As part of this project, discussions have been held with other Insurance Associations in the European Union and based on these discussions, and on technical advice, the membership of ARIA has decided to expand the services provided in a number of areas described below.

It can be summarised that the nature and quantity of the services provided today and which ARIA plan to provide in the future derive from three main sources:

1ARIA’s constitution, which lists the services that ARIA will provide/ (Appendix 2)

2Decisions of the membership as expressed in resolutions passed at the Presidium of ARIA to provide further services;

3Information about membership services that are commonly provided by insurance associations. This information has been gained in part through consultation with Insurance Associations in Europe as part of the Tacis project “Services to the Russian Insurance Industry’.( Appendix 3).

The overall objective of the development plan is to identify the services that are to be provided and then to set out clearly the functions that are required efficiently and effectively to implement these services. A clear description of these functions will then be used to calculate the personnel and technical inputs needed by ARIA to satisfy the requirements of its members.

The main services

The main services of ARIA have been agreed as above and are as follows:

  • Representative: to represent the interests of ARIA members to Government and to other public bodies.
  • International: to represent the interests of Russian insurance companies internationally;
  • Informative: to promote the interests of its members amongst the public and to inform the public about the activity of the insurance industry.
  • Protective: to protect the interests of ARIA members against fraud and crime;
  • Specific insurance company services:to provide a number of specific services for individual companies or for groups of companies.
  • Regional:to provide services based on the specific needs of the regions of Russia.

The organisational structure of ARIA has been designed to carry out these services. Each of the services is the responsibility of a department, although some services are provided with the support of other departments. For example, the statistical collection and analysis department provides a specific service for insurance companies in providing date of value for their operations. This department also supports the informative service by producing industry wide data to inform the general public about the insurance industry.

The various services have certain common administrative needs. As a result, there is a department that provides support for all the service departments.

Representative services.

The need of the insurance industry to have a coherent and unified voice in legislative and regulatory decision making to insure that the interests of insurance companies are not neglected is a vital one in Russia today. Consultation with other Insurance Associations in Europe has confirmed that the representational function is always of great importance to the members of the association.

In ARIA, the President’s department has the responsibility for co-ordinating this service. Support for the president can be provided by a number of advisors and by other departments, depending on the issues that are of importance at the time.

It is vital that ARIA is able to provide legislators and Government officials with accurate information and can develop clear policy proposals based on the real needs of the membership. The President’s department must therefore be in a position to have access to all the data about the industry and also to communicate with the membership quickly and effectively when issues arise at Governmental level.

The President’s department consists of the President and his personal assistant. In addition there are a number of Presidential advisors who support the president, but who have other functions in addition.

Support is provided by advisors in the following areas:

  • International
  • Legal
  • Statistical
  • The Regions
  • PR and Press

International

ARIA provides services for its members by representing the combined interests of Russian insurance companies internationally. Its main contacts are other national insurance associations who themselves represent the interests of their own national markets in the international sphere. ARIA also works with other international organisations to further the interests of its members.

This service is the responsibility of the President’s department.

Informative services

Consultation with European colleagues has demonstrated that it is usual for Insurance industry associations to provide an information service for the General public about insurance or about specific issues relating to the conduct of insurance companies. ARIA is planning to expand this area with the support of the Tacis project by producing industry wide statistics and by providing material to support the introduction of compulsory motor Third Party Liability insurance.

This service is a responsibility of the Presidents department. It is the President’s responsibility to ensure that there is clear co-ordination between ARIA and the members on the information that is provide to the public. Advisors as noted above will therefore support the President.

In addition, the development of this service calls for an expansion of the designing and printing capacity of the association so that it can produce effective informational and promotional material that can be widely distributed either by ARIA itself or by its members.

Protective Services

Insurance companies throughout the world have discovered that they can protect themselves against certain fraudulent activities by common action. Often this common action is provided by the Industry Association or is co-ordinated by the Industry Association.

ARIA, following consultation with its members and with European colleagues has recently founded an organisation to combat insurance fraud and its development plan for this association to develop databases and other systems to combat fraud.

Support for this organisation is provided by a number of departments within ARIA at present, but it is proposed that further personnel and technical resources will be utilised in the future as the service increases.

Specific services for insurance companies.

ARIA, in common with many of its European colleague industry associations provides a number of services for individual insurance companies or for the insurance market as a whole. These services can be listed as follows:

  • The collection and analysis of statistics to assist insurance companies in marketing and tariff setting;
  • The development of education and training for insurance personnel;
  • Assisting insurance companies in their relations with the licensing and regulatory authorities;
  • Providing legal advice to insurance companies;
  • Developing standard industry wide insurance policy forms and contracts.

ARIA uses a number of experts to assist the association in these areas and these experts need technical support in different areas.

Regional services.

ARIA is expanding the services that it provides for insurance companies that are located or operate in the regions of Russia. ARIA is providing these services by the foundation of regional offices. These offices will provide a number of the services noted above at regional level (Representational, Information, Protective etc.). They will need to have close links with the central office and will also require stand-alone capability to be able to provide specifically regional services.

Central Administration.

The central administration of ARIA provides services fro the association itself and also provides support for many other departments that provide membership services. The main central services are as follows:

  • Membership records, recruiting and database.
  • Regular communication with the membership
  • Collection of membership subscriptions and accounting
  • General accounts department, salaries, expenses etc.

Other services provided centrally that require technical support are:

  • Printing
  • IT support