Uncovering opportunities in the insurance value chain

Marketing, sales and distribution

As McKenzie M. Slaughter, founder and CEO of Prohaus Group and Telly V. Onu, impact ecosystem innovator and managing partner at Prohaus Group explain in The InsurTech Book, the distribution model is moving online, market boundaries are blurring and B2B and B2C products have the ability to cross borders

New business underwriting

Slaughter and Onu explain that new pricing models are based on new value configurations, such as peer-to-peer sharing.

Policy and claims management

Digital claims handling, including automated assessments and fraud detection and online/ self-servicing of claims are all opportunities that InsurTech can offer in transforming data, say Slaughter and Onu.

Customer service

Technology, such as AI, is being applied to either assist customers in contextualising data in a manner the customer can understand in real time.

Product design, development and management

This allows insurance companies to repackage existing products that could be on-demand or modular and deliver them using online and mobile channels or in a different manner.

InsurTech players that are revolutionising the insurance market and everyday life for consumers

Haven Life: Haven Life is backed and wholly owned by MassMutual. It allows consumers to buy term life insurance online.
Ladder US:digital life insurer Ladder, offers direct-to-consumer and term life insurance online. Ladder launched its fully-digital life insurance solution in California on January 10, 2017, and has since expanded to nearly every state across the US.
Lemonade: Lemonade is a property and casualty insurance company that is transforming the insurance business model. By injecting technology into the industry, Lemonade says it is creating an insurance experience that is fast, affordable and hassle-free.
Anorak: is a smart data company, with a vision to build the world’s smartest independent insurance adviser. The company launched in 2017 and was co-founded by David Vanek, CEO and Vincent Durnez, CTO. Anorak is backed by Kamet Ventures, a €100m InsurTech incubator funded by
Neos: A connected home insurance provider that aims to use technology to prevent claims.
Laka: A cycling insurance provider that utilizes a pooling technique to reduce costs for customers.
Digital Fineprint: Utilizes data analytics to improve customer targeting.
CoverBuilder: targets the emerging insurance space created by the sharing economy. It has launched a new Home Hosting product specifically targeted at individuals who host guests at their property via home-sharing platforms such as AirBnB, covering property and possessions against damage, theft, and vandalism by short-term guests.
Honcho: The UK’s first online reverse auction marketplace for financial services, honcho, which recently secured £830,000 of investment, is undergoing a new stage of growth and has received formal authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

global InsurTech information

UK

London-based InsurTech start-up, Anorak, has partnered with financial API provider, TrueLayer, to enable one of the first application of PSD2 rules in the life insurance market.

Germany

1980-2017: Premiums have risen from $38bn -$108bn.

$200bn in annual revenue is still in the hands of the incumbents.

Turkey

Seen a rise of 47% in FinTech investment in 2016.

81% of the vehicles, but only 31% of homes are insured for compulsory earthquake insurance category.

Latin America

The life insurance protection gap is estimated at $7trn (SIGMA – World Insurance 2015).

Most are uninsured – consumer insurance represents less than 3% of the average GDP across the region.

Brazil leads having had the first digital brokers since 2012.

Zurich Insurance Group agreed in March 2018 to acquire Cover-More Group’s specialist travel insurance and assistance solutions businesses in 19 markets across Latin America.

China

A global insurance leader where 92% of insurance sales are online.

A pioneer in cyber insurance – and leading the way in regulation.

USA

JLT Specialty USA, the US subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, has partnered with InsurTech player Altumai to assess how wearable technology can reduce worker compensation risk and reduce worker injuries in the food/agriculture industry.

Insurance broker Marsh recently launched Marsh Digital Labs within its broader digital, data, and analytics organisation to power next-gen insurance products and distribution channels.

InsurTech start-up, Ladder, recently raised $10M in strategic investment from major insurance players: Allianz Life Ventures and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

Africa

Life Insurance International announced in December 2017 that Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, made a $96.6m investment in BIMA, a mobile insurance startup that serves low-income customers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Australia

CommInsure has launched a new digital service in collaboration with UnderwriteMe Australia to make it easier and simpler for customers and their advisers to apply for life insurance.