The USD 5 Trillion global insurance market1 is in the midst of a game-changing course correction that
will re-define 'business as usual.'
A 'digital first' urgency is sweeping
across the landscape, driven by a
new generation of consumers,
data, automation and Artificial
Intelligence (AI).
Let's take a look at the top trends
that are shaping the insurance
industry and how digital
technologies are driving
irreversible change.
1. New Models, Personalized Products
The digital economy will make
usage-based, on-demand and
'all-in-one' insurance lifestyle
products more relevant. Customers
will prefer personalized insurance
covers instead of the one-size-fits-all
products currently available.
Today, more than 80 percent of the
premiums collected by insurers is
lost to distribution costs. Digital
models will make intermediaries in the insurance value chain - marked by their excessive dependence on
human effort - obsolete.
Flexible coverage options, micro
insurance and peer-to-peer
insurance will become viable
options in the long run. Reinsurers
will provide risk capital directly to
digital brands, and regulatory
frameworks will accommodate
shorter value chains.
Lifestyle apps will re-imagine the insurer-insured relationships.
Application Programming
Interfaces (APIs) will enable the
creation of insights-driven offerings
as they integrate data from multiple
sources. Deeper understanding of
customer behaviors will lead to
more accurate risk assessments,
personalized premiums and value
on a sustainable basis for better
customer experience and brand
loyalty, plus reduced false claims.
2. AI & Automation for Faster Claims
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
and AI will occupy center stage in
insurance, driven by newer data channels, better data processing
capabilities and advancements in
AI algorithms. For example,
InsurTech company Lemonade's
business model deploys AI and
behavioral economics as its core
elements. While AI eliminates
brokers and paperwork, its
behavioral economics capabilities minimize fraud - leading to
reduced time, effort and costs.
Another InsurTech firm Tyche has
deployed an AI-infused claim
likelihood model in underwriting to
accurately determine the risks and
achieve higher profitability.
Bots will become mainstream in
both the front and back-office to
automate policy servicing and
claims management for faster
and more personalized customer
service. For example, a leading
U.S. auto insurer's virtual assistant
answers customer queries on
policies and payments.
Lemonade's claims bot Jim
assesses and pays out property claims in just three seconds.
Automated insurance agent SPIXII
interacts with customers through a mobile app and other messenger
platforms to help in the purchase
of the right policies.
AI and automation will profoundly
impact and improve business
outcomes in customer experience,
cost optimization, operational
efficiencies, market
competitiveness and newer
business models.
3. Advanced Analytics & Proactiveness
Premiums will become highly
personalized, enabled by new
sources of tech-enabled data such
as Internet of Things, mobile-enabled
InsurTech apps and
wearables. With the connected
devices market poised to grow
strongly in the next five years,
Property and Casualty (P&C)
insurers will be able to extract
real-time and accurate data on the
loss exposure of individual consumers. This will help them
proactively respond with timely and
highly personalized interventions.
A Europe-based insurance
company's partnership with
Panasonic is a good example.
Panasonic's sensors provide
mobile alerts to both the insurer
and its customers for quick and
informed mitigation of issues.
Drone and imaging technology
will increasingly enable insurers
to obtain high-definition images
for remote and accurate property
estimations and analysis. A few
leading U.S. auto insurers
deployed drones to assess
Hurricane Harvey's damages.
An Australian insurance company
was able to settle 90 percent of
big loss claims within 90 days by deploying drones.2
Additionally, insights will be built
through data set relationships to
create deeper granularity in individual risk profiles and protect
insurers from emerging risk
exposures. For example, a
U.K.-based insurance company
leverages predictive analytics
to model complex customer
behavior, achieve enhanced
pricing accuracy and significantly
reduce decision time. A U.S.
insurer deploys a telematics
device to provide drivers
real-time feedback to encourage
safe-driving. This has helped
customers save up to 40 percent on insurance premiums.3
Advanced analytics will be deployed
to dynamically segment users and
needs, model behaviors and
identify exceptions, adjust policy
prices, optimize business
strategies, and identify new
growth opportunities. Scale can
be further incorporated through
automation, AI and machine
learning to transform insurers
into active risk managers.
4. InsurTech Partnerships
InsurTech firms have been showing
significant growth in the areas of
auto, home ownership and cyber
insurance. Such strong growth will
stimulate traditional insurers to
either acquire technology
capabilities or partner with
InsurTech companies. With an
increasing demand for innovative
products and services from
millennials, such collaboration will
become a critical imperative.
Overall, it will be a win-win
situation — traditional insurers
will benefit from faster results in
establishing a tech culture and
InsurTech companies will get
access to larger customer bases,
funding and domain expertise.
It will give rise to newer models
and revenue streams for higher profitability and reduced
operational costs. Customer
experiences will be enhanced with
value-added offerings.
5. Mainstreaming Blockchain
The need for huge volumes of
customer data to be processed
in real time by different
insurance functions calls for
easy and secure transfer of data
across organizations and their
diverse stakeholders.
Blockchain technology provides
the advantage of secure data
management across multiple
interfaces and stakeholders
without loss of integrity. From
identity management and
underwriting to claims processing,
fraud management and reliable
data availability, the technology offers reduced operational costs.
Decentralized Autonomous
Organizations (DAOs) and
smart contracts are additional
benefits that blockchain can offer
in policy management.
Interestingly, more than 38
insurance and reinsurance
companies have embarked on an
initiative called the B3i to explore
blockchain applications in
insurance. The beta version of
a blockchain-based insurance
solution is expected to be
deployed in 2018.
The above trends indicate that new
value worth billions of dollars can
be created for the insurance
industry. The key is to understand
how and when to tap into this
potential leveraging existing and
new technologies.
Click here to view the infographic
References:
1. https://www.businessinsider.in/the-insurtech-report-how-financial-technology-firms-are-helping-and-disrupting-the-nearly-5-trillion-insuranceindustry/articleshow/60258913.cms
2. https://www.itnews.com.au/news/qbe-deploys-drones-to-assess-insurance-claims-452739
3. https://www.nationwide.com/smartride.jsp