INNOVATIVE IT INSURANCE SERVICES IN A CONSERVATIVE INDUSTRY?
While insurance is not known as an extremely innovative or exciting industry, new technology has created a platform for a number of exciting insurance information technology (IT) services for both consumers and insurance providers. Here we provide an overview of the top 5 innovative IT insurance services.
# 1: PAY WHILE YOU DRIVE
Pay-to-drive insurance calculates premiums based on a person’s driving profile, rewarding safe driving while tracking and increasing premiums on dangerous driving styles. Drivers who accelerate constantly, brake suddenly, or drive in adverse weather conditions (eg, snow, rain) pay higher premiums than those who follow the rules of the road. A “black box” device installed in the car tracks the key parameters of the trip and transfers the data to the insurance company, which then regulates the premium rate.
Some insurance companies already offer simplified versions of Pay-as-you-drive solutions:
- Aviva
- Hollard
- Allianz Lloyd Adriatico
Companies like Accenture are intensively investigating this issue to be able to offer new solutions.
# 2: SOCIAL BENCHMARKING
Online insurance quote platforms, such as Kanetix, offer access to a limited number of insurance providers, allowing consumers to analyze only a subset of prices, which are based on data from the insurance provider.
The Social Benchmarking of Insurance Premiums provides independent consumer-generated data across all insurance providers. As consumers share information about their insurance spending, they can access the collective experience of other consumers, identifying if they are paying too much and who offers the best prices for their peers with a similar insurance profile.
An example of such a service is the InsurEye peer comparison tool, which covers not only the information on expenses of online insurance products (20% -30% of the total market), but also the insurance offered directly by insurers, brokers and agents.
# 3: ONLINE POLICY MANAGEMENT
Online banking has become the norm, but online insurance management? Financial management tools for personal banking and other online IT services are available free to helpful consumers. Finally, the insurance industry has started to close the gap. Now, many insurance providers offer online and mobile tools to help consumers manage their policies and provide customer support. One example is TD Insurance, which offers an online service that allows customers to do many tasks on their own, eliminating the need to call a service line. Examples of such tasks are:
- Modify contact information
- Modify a car policy
- Modify a housing policy
- Modify a payment plan
- File a claim
Several insurance providers in both Canada and the United States offer these types of tools for their clients, for example TD Insurance, Nationwide, USAA, and more.
# 4: MOBILE DEVICE CLAIMS
Collisions do not happen while you are sitting at home in front of the computer. Instead, many insurance companies have developed solutions to help clients deal with collision and claim situations on their mobile devices. The typical mobile application example offers customers many useful functionalities that reduce headaches in the event of an accident. A typical set of features for an IT solution of this type includes:
- List of tips in case of accident
- Capture all required accident information (including photos)
- Find / request towing service
- Find a repair shop
- Start a claim process
- Check the status of the claim
- Find an insurance agent
These apps are usually free and users can start using them directly after downloading them from an app store. Especially helpful is the ability to take a photograph of an accident to document exactly what happened and to estimate the potential level of damage.
# 5: AWARD FROM A REMOTE
If you’ve ever been in a car accident, you surely know the variety of emotions you experience: fear for your own health and for those in the car, concerns about the financial impact on future insurance premiums, not being sure what do and in what order, deal with the police, towing services, another car driver, etc.
Some companies, for example RBC Insurance, have so-called Road Angels, insurance experts who physically come to the scene of the accident to help the client.
Instead of sending an agent to the scene, IT insurance services could provide long-distance assistance via video. Modern smartphones are capable of transmitting two-way video, making it possible to show an insurance expert what has happened while at the same time making the customer feel more secure.
Video conferencing providers like Skype already offer these technical features, and Apple has FaceTime, a new video chat for its iPhone users. It is likely only a matter of time before this technology results in a mature IT insurance service.
