Shaping the future of insurance

The future of insurance is here, and insurers can no longer wait on the sidelines. They must get in the game of who will win the hearts and wallets of tomorrow’s insurance customers. Your competitors give consumers frictionless buying experiences. For insurers to keep pace, they must use technology to increase digital maturity across the customer journey and value chain.

But technology alone won’t drive sustainable competitive advantages. Partnerships, people, products and processes will factor heavily into four themes that will shape the future of insurance.

Insurance companies will focus on solutions, not products, to stay relevant

Your customers’ lives are complex and so too are their risk-hedging needs. Hedging is all about loss protection, and your customers’ loss protection needs are as unique as their personalities. Insurers must deploy technology to leverage data and analytics to know their customers better. If you can’t build these capabilities internally, technology vendors offer solutions that will allow you to shift from a siloed operating framework to a customer-centric one. This shift will provide the comprehensive insights needed to get customers the right coverage at the right limits. But don’t forget that your agency partners will also be critical across the customer lifecycle – so you must invest in agency technology that elevates agency experience, too.

Insurers will offer dynamically priced products to drive business efficiency

Connected insurance is coming. According to our survey data, consumers are increasingly interested in sharing data for discounts. Although it’s still early days, sensor-based insurance will transform how you service and engage with your customers. Though adoption is only about 6 per cent in auto (the most ‘mature’ market), these products personalise coverage and help you manage risk. It’s a win-win for both insurers and customers, particularly those customers who are hyper-focused on managing their finances. Connected insurance, in the form of pay-per-use insurance, can help them do just that.

Insurance companies will form new partnerships to create value and drive growth

With many insurance markets constrained by waning demand, insurers are looking for growth in new markets. New distribution arrangements are expected to increase as both insurers and their ecosystem partners remove friction from their customers’ buying journeys. Think about Ford’s and Tesla’s moves into auto insurance and Amazon’s move to sell small business insurance. The industry giants already have customer relationships they can leverage to help insurers extend their reach into new channels.

Insurers will create new business models and explore new revenue opportunities

As insurers position for growth, partnerships can help you extend your products and services into new markets. But revenue growth can also come from the monetisation of your core capabilities. In the future, insurers will explore ways to diversify their businesses and capitalise on what they do best. You must first determine what your core competencies are and if there is a need for them. Insurance technology (insurtech) vendors extend their products and services through APIs. Why can’t you?

The insurance value chain is decoupling, and vertical integration is breaking apart. To participate, you must plan how you will integrate into and not isolate your core competencies from an expanded ecosystem of service providers (i.e., lead generators, comparison marketplaces, agency advisers, claims processors and engagement platforms). You must deploy technology to scale these competencies and create value for your customers, prospects, intermediaries and investors alike.

The future of insurance is exciting

There is new energy coming into the sector from emerging technology and its enabling capabilities. Insurtechs and ecosystem orchestrators are seeing this as an opportunity and must now engage with the growing consumer appetite for digital experiences. Insurers that can invest in innovation across the value chain and customer lifecycle will benefit from improved customer experience, which, in turn, will drive revenue and profit.

by Jeffery Williams, Senior Analyst, Forrester