Industry Trends

Touchless digital insurance, for years a mirage somewhere in the future for the insurance industry, is here to stay thanks to Covid-19. High-growth breakout successes of the past few years such as Lemonade, Hippo, Next, Root and–if I may be bold, my company Neptune–highlight how innovation in the use of data can change every aspect of the insurance supply chain.

Most all players in the insurance sector are digitising – some more seamlessly than others. This phygital (meeting of the physical and digital worlds) trend is becoming omnipotent, with a blend of automation and human expertise now the norm.

Trevor Carvey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) of newly launched P&C reinsurer Conduit Re, has said that he expects 2021 to mark a “generational transformation” in the way the re/insurance industry operates.

Johanna Von Geyr, partner and EMEA lead banking, financial services & insurance at ISG, explains why insurance firms need to adopt open data.

Clearcover has raised $200 million in fresh capital as part of a late-stage financing round led by Eldridge, the investment firm helmed by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly, the digital car-insurance startup will announce on Tuesday.

Over the past ten years, the world has become increasingly on-demand in order to cater to the preferences of Gen-Zs and millennials. The on-demand generation refers to being able to order things easily and quickly as the need for them arises. Examples of on-demand services that are currently dominating the world including Uber (rides), Airbnb (housing), and Instacart (groceries).

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the threat and likelihood of cyber security breaches for organizations, Munich Re’s 2020 cyber risk report found. Despite the growing risk of cyber attacks, its insurance coverage products and services are still failing to catch up.

The insurance industry isn’t exactly synonymous with “cutting edge,” but that’s changing thanks to modern technology. Insurtech is completely upending the way the insurance companies operate and how consumers access coverage.

New generally available release includes features that provide major quality of distributor performance improvements for carriers looking to optimize and expand distribution channels.

Astorya.io, which aims to serve as the search engine for Insurance and Banking technologies, has published a blog post, titled InsurTech Europe: 10 Years Of InsurTech In Europe Analyzed Through 800+ Startups (based on data from astorya.io).

The insurance industry has been in the midst of digital transformation in recent years – but experts say this technological shift has been accelerated by the need to address the unprecedented challenges brought about by the pandemic.

The future of insurance is here. Insurers can no longer wait on the sidelines. They must get in the game. What game you ask? The game of who will win the hearts and wallets of tomorrow’s insurance customer.

From the SolarWinds breach to the recent Microsoft Exchange server breach, 2021 is already shaping up to be a landmark year in cybersecurity.

The pandemic has facilitated the digital transformation of the global economy, and the insurance industry may be the next major market that’s ripe for disruption.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many companies across all markets reevaluate what it takes to survive and grow during this global crisis. In the Insurance industry those tools are innovation and M&A activity.

Recently, there has been a seismic shift in the C-suite with most the likes of the CFO and CIO, among others, taking on much more strategic roles in the business. One roll though, that has largely remained unchanged for decades is that of the Chief Underwriting Officer.

Auto insurers are redefining themselves as mobility companies and in the future will be seeking to own the mobility experience using a vast mobility ecosystem, ideally building those ecosystems around their brands.

The pandemic has obliterated any lingering doubts that operating digitally is the only way to do and to stay in business—it’s ‘go digital’ or stare at that wall until the unthinkable happens.

Insurance aggregator GramCover provides affordable, customised, and well-rounded insurance products designed for agriculture and rural India. Founded in 2016, the agri insurance startup aims to become the centre of all risk and insurance in villages, ‘gai se gaadi tak’.

What’s to be seen is whether there will be savings in terms of moving to a microservices architecture vis-à-vis when compared to legacy. Microservices with analytics will be the next normal for any life insurance company.

Data and analytics firm GlobalData expects COVID-19 to be far and away the most important theme for the insurance industry in 2021, but that sustainability will continue to be an essential long-term issue.

Insurance providers have long struggled to incentivize behaviors that minimize risk — and thus save everyone money. In the past ten years, however, insights from behavioral science have given providers a new framework for encouraging healthy behaviors. Connected devices can translate those behaviors into cost savings.

“Specific and deep.” That is the type of service brokers need to be providing their clients in the cyber insurance spaces, says Shannan Fort, partner, financial lines, cyber at McGill and Partners. To be successful, brokers need to clearly understand their role and have a firm grasp on the remit of their responsibilities.

From flooding to social unrest, we offer our international experts’ predictions on the opportunities and challenges that the property insurance market may face in the coming year and beyond.

Many advisers insist that innovation leading to faster underwriting is the key to growing the individual protection market because online shopping generally has driven a customer demand for instant gratification and a personalised experience.

What are the main Insurtech disruption trends of 2021? In this article four of the UK’s leading insurtechs discuss the decline of traditional insurance and the rise of disruptive innovation in the sector

In Europe and across the world, there’s hope that life will start to return to normal this year. But although people may begin to work, socialise and travel as we used to, the way we purchase insurance – and indeed what we want from our insurers – will never be the same.

Looking ahead, insurance regulators should be more likely to allow more significant technical advancement and use in the insurance industry since, during the pandemic, many innovations were allowed and successfully used.

Insurers in 2021 will be doubling down on streamlining, reinforcing their core businesses and updating technology, and M&A will help them get there as it did in 2020, according to a new Bain & Company report.

Interoperability and Compatibility With insurance agencies resorting to the use of digital tools, insurers must maintain a common data environment and set protocols to achieve interoperability and compatibility across all systems.

Last year, Getsafe launched in the UK – marking the start of the company’s expansion into new markets. Despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic, Getsafe pushed on with its agenda, including gaining $30 million in new funding and beginning partnerships with leading price comparison websites. It’s time to look back on 2020.

Managing general agencies (MGAs) in Canada are currently engaging in very little mergers and acquisitions activity among themselves because the market is still growing organically and is less mature than in other countries, the managing director of the national MGA trade association told Canadian Underwriter recently.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt by the insurance industry and its customers well into 2021 as consumers and businesses continue to face economic challenges, according to a new survey by consumer credit reporting firm TransUnion.

The desire to travel is strong. While lockdowns, travel restrictions and ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks have seriously hampered our wanderlust in 2020, vaccinations give us some optimism for travel in 2021.

With automated claims processing, the turnaround time for settlement will be measured in minutes rather than days or weeks.

Newly enfranchised consumers want to stay empowered, and chatbots have been around for a while, so could this be their moment?