January 21, 2025
The Innovation Ambassadors programme, which includes 11 winners among 84 innovative projects submitted by 24 entities around the world in 2024, shows that innovation is everywhere at BNP Paribas Cardif! Find out how BNP Paribas Cardif's impact programme in France has made insurance more accessible to people living with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).
Introduce yourself briefly: country, division, main tasks, personal interests outside the company (e.g., leisure and hobbies)
My name is Céline Scazzola. After gaining experience in various subsidiaries and commercial divisions within the BNP Paribas Group, I am currently part of the Impact Department under the leadership of Nathalie Doré, Director of Impact & Innovation. For the past four years, I have been supporting different core business lines in France in rolling out initiatives designed to have a positive impact. These initiatives mainly focus on savings, CPI (Creditor Protection Insurance), and protection schemes, covering topics such as product innovation/improvement, customer journeys and services, as well as certain procedural aspects.
As a coordinator, I assist, support and help embed Impact into core business activities. My role is incredibly cross-functional, and I collaborate with nearly everyone on a daily basis! The Marketing teams are my closest allies, along with the Asset Management Department, Actuarial Affairs, and Customer Division. These groups sit on the business CSR committees, and I genuinely enjoy our regular interactions.
On a personal note, I love live performances (theatre and concerts), Pilates, skiing and restoring vintage chairs.
Tell us about your project: its main focus, what is is about, how it came about, and what it will bring to BNP Paribas Cardif
In our efforts to improve access to insurance for our customers in France—whether it’s Creditor Protection Insurance or protection schemes—we’ve been addressing impaired health risk coverage for over 15 years. This work has involved focusing on a range of conditions, including asthma, paraplegia, tetraplegia, Parkinson’s disease and, more recently, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).
For each condition, we take a deep dive: What are its defining characteristics? What are the latest treatment options? The main goal is to offer customers affected by these conditions fairer pricing that reflects their actual circumstances, with fewer extra premiums and exclusions.
In France, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) affect more than 300,000 people. Globally, these conditions are on the rise, as shown in the prevalence data below:
Source :Fiche "Maladies inflammatoires chroniques de l'intestin" I L'Assurance Maladie (ameli.fr), 2022
This project on IBD was born from a meeting between Sigrid Motillon (Actuarial affairs, France), Pierre-Emmanuel Coville (Customer Division, France), and Professor Matthieu Allez, Head of the Gastroenterology Department at Hôpital Saint-Louis. The meeting took place in April 2019 during the annual event for the association of medical advisors in personal insurance, where Professor Allez was giving a lecture.
An initial conversation with the Professor confirmed that this condition would affect an increasing number of people in the future. At the same time, significant medical advances, particularly in treatment options, were emerging. This prompted us to initiate work to update our knowledge and approach to this condition.
Innovation #1: Benefit from the real-time expertise of a specialist in pathology
The partnership with Professor Matthieu Allez has enabled the development of an innovative risk assessment, taking into account real-time clinical data, including the effectiveness of the very latest treatments or therapies arising from recent medical advancements. This information is highly valuable and complements the statistical studies conducted over several years.
Innovation #2: Development of a specific questionnaire addressing lifestyle habits
Beyond the latest medical breakthroughs, Professor Allez’s expertise has also made it possible to consider how individuals live with the illness, for instance, in terms of physical or professional activities. How does the person manage their illness? Have they found a balance between personal life and work life? And so on. We are able to offer coverage and premium quotation that are better suited to the actual situation of individuals affected by these conditions, particularly since some people can lead a normal life despite having a severe form of the illness.
This approach allows us to enhance our insurance offerings by providing more comprehensive coverage, meaning without exclusions, and by cancelling or reducing extra premiums. All these improvements make insurance more accessible and inclusive for our customers. As a result, our policyholders are better protected and can, for example, pursue their professional projects or acquire real estate.
Results observed
The initial results observed are very positive and confirm our expectations. As an example: across the BNP Paribas branch network, we offered comprehensive creditor insurance with no exclusions for over 90% of customers, a level nearly twice as high as before. In two-thirds of cases, the offer was made under standard conditions without a surcharge, again double the previous rate.
The first study allowed a before/after comparison of 140 cases involving individuals with IBD. The application of the new pricing structure significantly increases the acceptance of insurance at the standard rate (without exclusions or surcharges), rising from 12% to 47% of cases. Furthermore, the remaining surcharges are lower, thus enabling acceptance without exclusions. The initial figures obtained since the launch confirm this trend.
What did you find most striking/surprising during this project (perhaps you have an anecdote to tell us)?
These are tasks that require collaboration with medical experts for each of the relevant conditions, which is unusual in our profession. In fact, it’s very interesting to listen to the podcast with Professor Allez, where he mentions that he was initially apprehensive about working with an insurer, fearing it would hinder some of his patients' ability to access property. He quickly realised, however, that it would actually help increase access.
The desire to improve things for our customers is the driving force behind our pursuit of innovation. These projects can be lengthy, so it’s important to stay on course while keeping in mind the goal of improving our products.And as part of our ongoing efforts, since December 1st 2024, 9 out of 10 people treated for HIV can now access Creditor Protection Insurance with no surcharge or exclusions at BNP Paribas Cardif.
What advice would you give to employees who also want to innovate?
Innovation can take many forms and cannot be achieved alone, especially in a large group like ours. We must listen to everyone’s ideas and seize the opportunities that align with BNP Paribas Cardif. It’s a team effort that is we carry out together and that lets us move mountains!
In the field of impaired health risk coverage, ideas can come from various sources: the medical advisor at BNP Paribas Cardif, actuarial affairs, employees through reading or knowledge of conditions…It is up to us to find the specialists for the conditions we plan to target. In my view, we'll have reached a level of maturity that means that the specialists themselves approach us, asking us to focus on their specific condition.