Renzo Calda

CEO of MAPFRE PERU
We will move toward a more sensitive, more sustainable and less consumerist society

The Peruvian Government decreed a nationwide quarantine on March 16, ahead of practically all the countries in the region, when very few cases had been detected. The country had barely 250 ICU beds and, for this reason, had no option but to strive to flatten the infection curve at all costs.

Peru is considered the second best country in the region in dealing with the crisis. However, a tremendous impact is feared, due to the poor medical infrastructure, the widespread informal economy and the complexity of reaching the entire population given the lack of logistical resources.

As Renzo Calda, CEO of MAPFRE PERU explains, “Once the move to teleworking had been accomplished, we focused on the deployment and dissemination of prevention measures and the new customer service channels (a new client app and the recently launched corporate WhatsApp). The flow of new portfolio operations and management actions dropped dramatically at the start of the quarantine, while the opposite occurred regarding direct benefits to our policyholders. Our medical services experienced a significant upturn in the early days before they finally migrated to the telemedicine model. This increased their daily responses eightfold and entailed a tremendous effort to recruit and train new doctors, call center staff, and drugstore and pharmacy personnel. Funeral services have undoubtedly suffered the greatest stress in this period, as it proved necessary to implement strict biological safety protocols, while supporting an alarmingly progressive increase in services. We called up a group of our reserve funeral service personnel and rented cold chambers in anticipation of saturation problems at the crematories.

In MAPFRE PERU, before the emergency was even declared, we started adopting measures to assist clients, distributors and collaborators

Once this adaptation phase to the new situation was completed, we focused on sales drives to preserve our portfolio. Payment deadlines and coverage periods have been extended, and significant complementary services offered.”

Renzo Calda concludes by adding: “There is no doubt that this pandemic will mark a turning point in the habits and consumption of modern society. What we have experienced shows us that we will move toward a more sensitive, more sustainable and less consumerist society. In this new context, the risk threshold assumed by the population will fall, with society tending to be more cautious, and PREVENTION is precisely at the heart of our industry. Insurance will be key to providing stability to society and, in particular, health, life, savings and investment insurance will come to the fore.

At MAPFRE PERU we know this and are ready to start this exciting new stage by applying all the progress made, making the most of our wisely accelerated digitization process.” After the tempest, fair weather will follow! If we want to enjoy it, we must set out to sea now!