Article by Steve Williams, Sales Director, INSTANDA
At the AFM Conference 2025 in Manchester, mutual insurers came together to tackle a critical question: how can they honour their heritage while meeting the demands of a rapidly changing world? The theme, “Mutuals: The Original Modern,” captured the essence of this challenge. Mutuals have always been about community, shared purpose, and putting members first. But in today’s digital age, how do they translate those values into action?
The answer lies in embracing innovation that strengthens member relationships, not just systems. It’s about using technology to deliver the deeply personal, community-driven experiences that mutuals are renowned for, while also addressing the operational challenges that can hold them back. Here’s how mutuals can seize this moment.
Redesign for Members, Not Channels
For mutuals, experience is everything. Members are valued owners. Form a digital perspective, this means moving beyond channel-specific strategies and designing journeys that are truly member-owned. It's about building lifelong relationships rather than just processing transactions.
Imagine a seamless digital onboarding process that reflects the community and affinity mutuals are built on, or a digital service model that highlights all of the member benefits available and enables online access delivering the experience that members expect. Communications must also be reimagined with accessible formats, and a consistent tone across all touchpoints. Take income protection as an example. Too often, potential or existing members are declined coverage due to rigid underwriting processes. But what if, instead of a flat “No,” they were offered an alternative product better suited to their needs and level of risk, supporting them and their adviser with follow-on solutions?
Mutuals that prioritise member-centric design will deepen loyalty and reinforce the sense of belonging that defines their model.
Innovation with Purpose, Not Theatre
Existing systems are often a major barrier to innovation. They can be complex, inflexible and expensive to maintain, preventing mutuals from responding quickly to member needs. As one conference speaker noted, “System complexity is the ‘tax’ on innovation.”
Talks on ‘Generation Z’, intelligent operations, productive investment in AI , and modernising core systems emphasised pragmatic change: prove value quickly, remove friction and free teams to serve members better—while avoiding transformation fatigue.
The Bank of England’s recent PRA – FSA “Mutuals Landscape Report” echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of collaboration and shared services as a way for mutuals to achieve economies of scale, access specialist expertise, and reduce costs. The report also noted that while smaller mutuals can thrive independently, outsourcing certain functions or partnering with third-party providers can help mitigate challenges related to scale.
By simplifying administrative systems and giving business users more control, mutuals can gain the agility needed to thrive. This leads to a more efficient and effective use of funds, through accelerated product launches, lower operational costs, and the ability to provide a far more streamlined, personalised customer experience. Shifting from custom-coded platforms to configuration-driven systems simplifies technology stacks and reduces reliance on IT, freeing teams to focus on serving members.
Build Resilience into Daily Operations
Resilience is no longer just about financial strength; it's about being prepared for constant change. It encompasses operational readiness, technological robustness, and a healthy organisational culture. Discussions at the conference covered everything from regulatory expectations to climate risk and cybersecurity, with a clear message: resilience must be "always on."
For mutuals, this means embedding resilience into daily operations. Automating processes, codifying product rules, and maintaining testable continuity plans are now essential. More on this in just a moment, but technology plays a key role here, offering the foundation to build confidence and ensure future preparedness.
Partner Where It Accelerates Outcomes
Collaboration has always been a strength in the mutual sector. The AFM’s Collaboration Initiative demonstrates how working together on IT, legal services and investments helps mutuals scale capabilities without scaling costs. This is not just a cost-saving measure; it is a growth strategy.
Extending this logic to technology partnerships can accelerate outcomes and de-risk innovation. By partnering with the right providers, mutuals can access specialised solutions and expertise. This is particularly valuable for launching highly personalised niche products or member benefits where speed and precision are critical.
Understanding the INSTANDA Advantage
At INSTANDA, we help mutuals, like you, turn your ambitions into reality—quickly and effectively. Our platform enables you to act on these priorities.
Rapid configuration to move at member speed
Our intelligent no-code product and portal builder allows insurers to launch and iterate digital Life, Income Protection, and Health propositions in weeks, not quarters. This is ideal for piloting member-first features, benefits and pricing without heavy IT queues.
Seamless digital member experience, end-to-end
From quote and application to servicing and claims, INSTANDA powers web and advisor-assisted journeys. With fully configurable (no-code) built-in rules, forms and notifications, you deliver a true "member experience," rather than a customer UX veneer. This directly supports the focus on multi-generational engagement and member-centric operations.
A future-proof admin core
Because configuration, not custom code, drives products and workflows, you can adapt to regulatory changes, embed new disclosures, and integrate partners without core rewrites. It provides the operational backbone for the resilience spotlighted at the conference. The combination of ‘no code’ and a cloud-based system means that upgrades happen regularly and seamlessly – no more big, expensive upgrades every two or three years.
Agility for growth in the mutual model
Whether you’re launching niche propositions, expanding into adjacent protection lines, or collaborating with AFM peers, INSTANDA’s composable architecture helps you scale without scaling complexity. This matches the sector’s growth ambitions spotlighted in Manchester.
Where to Start: A Pragmatic Approach
The opportunities are clear, but action requires a focused plan. Here’s a pragmatic way to get started:
- Pick One Member Journey and Recreate It: Start with an impactful journey, such as income protection onboarding, and recreate it using configuration-first solutions. Set a 60 to 90-day target to deliver measurable outcomes, such as reduced processing times or improved customer satisfaction. This proves value quickly and builds momentum.
- Rationalise your Product Rules Engine: Simplify and centralise your product rules into a single source of truth. By giving product owners direct access, you empower them to make changes quickly, ensuring products stay aligned with member needs.
- Consider tweaks to your underwriting strategy: Rather than just ‘decline’ a marginal case, look at building in rules to suggest alternative products or exceptions. Being proactive at this critical point could keep the advisor engaged and willing to explore the options for the prospective member, without having to shop around (elsewhere!)
- Instrument Resilience into your Run State: Build SLAs, failure alerts, and audit trails into your operations from the start. This proactive approach ensures testable continuity.
- Pilot a Collaboration and Prove Its Value: Choose a shared service or partnership to pilot, such as a tracing solution or advisor enablement solution. Integrate it via APIs to demonstrate the speed and control that modern partnerships can offer.
Ready to Explore your Options?
We hope you found this article helpful and inspiring as you navigate the opportunities ahead.
We’d like to hear your thoughts and explore how we can collaborate to bring your vision to life. Whether it’s redefining a member journey, simplifying operations, or piloting a new initiative, let’s have a conversation about how we can help you achieve exceptional outcomes for your members. Get in touch with us today. Let’s make it happen!
