The prevailing narrative is innovation in insurance just got a big boost as insurers tooled up a remote workforce and rapidly implemented new ways of engaging with customers. They got a startling reminder of the benefits of digital: the more digital a business was, the easier it managed the consequences of Covid-19.
You would think, emboldened by this experience, insurers and brokers would start accelerating overdue transformation projects and push on towards being truly digital, with insurtech riding on those coat tails. It would be nice to think so, but I am not so sure.
Robin Merttens InsTech London
Merteens goes on to say:
"There are several innovation sweet spots and the themes active investors, insurers and reinsurers are doubling down on. Digital health, where businesses can use technology to provide better, quicker and cheaper frontline health services, is most certainly one.
The same dynamic is also at play for digital delivery in the non-life insurance sector. Here, for obvious reasons, there is a new focus on digitising areas such as claims notifications, risk assessments and surveys.
No-code platforms is another, which have been used successfully in other sectors and are now being applied to insurance. These provide the scalability and flexibility many businesses need, enabling them to rapidly implement, configure and change their own software to keep pace with constantly evolving customer demands (the democratisation of code).
Investors are also looking at resilience solutions, where the re-examination of the protection model finds ways to keep better tabs on our financial, physical and mental health and develop a product set that better protects the customer."
Finally, driven partly by the business interruption drama, there has also been an interest over the past six months in parametric insurance solutions, where the payment of a fixed sum is triggered by a specific event.
Mertens ends with a call to arms like King Henry V at Agincourt
"So, wherever you play – insurer, an investor, a start-up or Big Tech company – there are fewer but bigger insurtech opportunities to hunt down and greater rewards for those who succeed. While the original expression “fortune favours the brave” applied to military strategy, it is as apt today as it ever was on the insurance innovation battlefield. "
See the full article which first appeared in Insurance Day.
There remain huge opportunities for technology-based companies across the insurance ecosystem, but few are able or willing to pursue them in the present environment. Read Robin Merttens’ latest article for Insurance Day below. You can find a link to the original article and a downloadable PDF version at the bottom of the page.
https://www.instech.london/insight/next-stage-not-end-insurtech-promise
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