The Insurance industry is going through massive changing times. The present and next years are going to change the entire industry as we know it.
This big and critical industry is now tech-driven disruption in the insurance industry continues at pace, and we’re now entering a new phase — the adaptation of underlying business models.
That’s leading to ongoing changes in the distribution segment of the industry, but more excitingly, we are starting to see movement in the fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management. It is now easier than ever to find the best car insurance companies with a few simple steps using an online service like autoinsurance.org.
A new report from Business Insider Intelligence, briefly review major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year. The report and research will then examine how startups and legacy players across the insurance value chain are using technology to develop new business models that cut costs or boost revenue, and, in some cases, both. Additionally, we will provide our take on the future of insurance as insurtech continues to proliferate.
As the industry grows and goes through dirsrupt tere are some of the key takeaways:
Foundational Tech special IOT, Blockchain and AI are taking over. Special Blockchain and driven technologies hold the key to the future of the insurance industry. Funding also is flowing into the industry startups and helping them scale, while legacy players have moved beyond initial experiments and are starting to implement new technology throughout their businesses.
Distribution, the area of the insurance value chain that was first to be disrupted, continues to evolve.
The fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management — are starting to experience true disruption, while innovation in reinsurance has also continued at pace.
Insurtechs are using new business models that are enabled by a variety of technologies. In particular, they’re using automation, data analytics, connected devices, and machine learning to build holistic policies for consumers that can be switched on and off on-demand.
Legacy insurers, as opposed to brokers, now have the most to lose — but those that move swiftly still have time to ensure they stay in the game.
- Munich Re Buys IoT Middleware Startup, Relayr, In Deal Worth $300M
Berlin-based Internet of Things (IoT) startup Relayr, whose middleware platform is geared towards helping industrial companies unlock data insights from their existing machinery and production line kit by linking Internet-connected sensors and edge devices to platform controls, has been acquired by insurance group Munich Re in a deal which values the company at $300 million. - 15 Emerging Risks Worth Watching That Are Not Cyber
When insurance experts are asked what they see as the most important emerging risk for the property/casualty insurance industry, their consensus is cyber in some form.
While cyber obviously poses tremendous risks, some experts are also eyeing a variety of other emerging risks. - Zurich Insurance Begins Competition to Find Cutting-Edge InsurTech Startups
The Swiss insurer launched what it is calling the Zurich Innovation World Championship, billing it as a global competition where the winners gain the chance to use their products for Zurich customers in selected countries. Startups with established products and services are eligible to apply by the Sept. 30, 2018 deadline. - Lloyds Launches Insurtech Accelerator
Lloyd’s of London has launched Lloyd’s Lab, an insurtech accelerator program. The Lab runs from October 8 to December 12, culminating in a demo day. Ten companies were selected from 200 total applications and 20 finalists. - Suddenly Driverless Cars Hit Bumps
Anyone insuring automobiles is paying a lot of attention to the development of ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and of fully autonomous vehicles.
Many of the underlying technologies used in ADAS (e.g. cameras, radar, lidar, AI) will also be used in fully autonomous vehicles. - Clal Insurance Invest In Pagaya
Tel-Aviv-based Pagaya, a company that manages institutional assets using machine learning and big data, has raised a $14m Series B round co-led by Oak HC/FT and Harvey Golub, former Chairman and CEO of American Express. - Hiscox Partners With US Insurtechs For Claims Handling
Global specialist insurer Hiscox is introducing a customer messaging solution from Boston, Massachusetts-based insurtech firm Hi Marley for AI-powered claims handling communications. - Softbank To Invest $100m In Chinese Insurtech JV
Japanese multinational SoftBank, one of the most prolific fintech investors, is set to spend $100m on a joint venture with Chinese digital insurer ZhongAn Online. The investment will be made via SoftBank’s Vision Fund which has used some of its $100bn of capital to acquire stakes in tech firms such as Uber and Indian digital payments firm Paytm. According to a report in the Financial Times, the new JV is designed to expand the technology side of CHongAn’s business. - Blockchain Technology Holds The Key To The Future of The Insurance Industry
There are certain problematic patterns recurring across industries that exist as a byproduct of the technologies used. Issues such as high counterparty risk, low interoperability between parties’ data and lack of transparency have time and time again resulted in disastrous consequences. - Kingstone Taps Insurtech Roost For Home Telematics
New York-based multi-line regional property and casualty insurer Kingstone has partnered with California-based home telematics company Roost. With this strategic partnership, Kingstone aims to increase policyholder engagement as well as reduce claims costs. The Company will begin a pilot programme to offer Roostøs Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector or a Roost Smart Battery solutions to select new policyholders. - US InsurTech Start-Up Financials Under Scrutiny
The venture-backed full-stack US InsurTech start-ups continued to gain in the second quarter through rapid premium growth and moderately lower underwriting losses. They have yet to show the ability to win at a sword fight, battle of wits, ROUS attack, or to generate a sustainable loss ratio under 100%. - Starling Bank Announces New Partnership With Insurtech Anorak
UK challenger bank Starling Bank announced on Monday it has formed a partnership with insurtech startup Anorak. According to Starling Bank, Anorak is now set to provide impartial life insurance advice through the Starling Marketplace. - Eagleview Selects Precisionhawk Drone Tech For Roof Inspection
PrecisionHawk Inc. a leading provider of drone technology for the enterprise, today announced a partnership with EagleView, a leading provider of aerial imagery and data analytics for government, insurance and commercial sectors. Through this partnership with PrecisionHawk, EagleView will collect at-scale insurance claims imagery via drones by leveraging PrecisionHawk’s global network of drone pilots, Droners.io. - Digital Insurance Solutions Are “Just In Time” For Disruption Challenges
The insurance industry is obsessed with the idea of time. Insurers sell time-based products that prove their value over time. When consumers and business owners seek coverage, they are thinking in terms of time — envisioning security through the lens of a timeline. - Getsafe’s Digital Broker Unit Sold To Verivox
For Getsafe’s CEO and founder, Christian Wiens, selling the profitable business unit was not an easy step to take, but a great opportunity to better focus on the company’s mission. Wiens declared, “We felt it became very hard and limited to further improve the customer experience by just re-selling traditional policies from established insurance carriers as a broker. - New Insurance Offering For UK Light Aircraft Owners To Take Off
“While customers have been able to purchase on-demand home, travel, and car insurance, aircraft owners have been unable to benefit from this trend until now.” This is where international insurance underwriting and services business Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) is aiming to get ahead – introducing what is described as a ‘market-first’ proposition for the light aircraft market in the UK. - SCOR Announces Executive Shake-Up
It looks like SCOR, which ranked fifth in A.M. Best’s freshly released list of top 50 global reinsurers, is going to make news all week. In the span of a few days, the major reinsurance firm has revealed a takeover rejection; denied a claim it was in discussions with a rival; and now announced some big changes in its property and casualty operations. - PICC Taps VeChain And DNV GL To Develop Blockchain Insurance Solutions
People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) has teamed up with blockchain platform VeChain and risk management firm DNV GL in order to create blockchain insurance. PICC said that insurance firms currently use legacy claim management systems, resulting in inefficient data collection and verification processes as well as price increases for policyowners. - “Ecosystems” – Is It Just a Buzzword?
‘Ecosystems’ is in danger to evolve into a buzzword. The term is often misused; almost everything seems to be an ecosystem nowadays. On the other hand, it would be a mistake to paint ecosystems as just the next hype. - HelloGold Is Supplying US $2M Worth of Gold For Insurtech Heluss
The Southeast Asian fintech investment platform will be the supplier and custodian of gold for blockchain-based insurance firm Heluss. HelloGold, the Malaysian company that provides easy access to invest in Gold, has officially partnered with Heluss and agreed to provide the insurtech company with US$ 2 million worth of gold.
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