has recently enhanced the content of its
existing knowledge center to address
what it has seen to be the most common
insurance questions asked by prospects
and customers.
Ongoing Innovation
Innovative examples of mobility in
insurance can be found elsewhere in
the industry, here and abroad. This
includes using mobile-native capabilities to redefine the way insurance is
done—not just usage-based insurance,
but also new ways of purchasing, such as
micro-insurance or hourly insurance for
automobiles.
UK-based startup Cuvva, which
launched in October 2015, provides
truly short-term car insurance—for as
little as an hour. Customers download
the Cuvva app, provide credit card and
drivers’ license details, and upload a
photo of the front of the vehicle they
want to insure to capture license plate
information.
Swiss “mobile-first” digital insurance
broker Knip transacts exclusively through
a mobile app. The Knip app consolidates
a user’s existing insurance policies into a
single dashboard, analyzes coverage, and
provides recommendations on how to
improve protection or save costs. Knip
gains business not only through new policy purchases, but also by requiring users
to complete a broker-of-record change
when registering existing insurance policies with the app.
Mobile is also transforming processes
beyond policy purchase and management, such as claims, by utilizing capabilities of mobile devices. Early adopters
of mobile in claims allowed customers
to upload pictures of damaged vehicles
and property from smartphones. Today,
more companies are looking to video and
videoconferencing.
For instance, in late 2015, claims
management firm Cunningham Lindsey
began using Symbility’s Video Connect
service, which allows loss adjusters to
collaborate in real time with policyhold-
ers and direct them in capturing video
evidence for loss evaluation and estimat-
ing using their smartphone or tablet.
“We are committed to bringing our
clients and their policyholders a suite of
services that are fast, accurate and consistent,” says David Guaragna, Cunningham
Lindsey vice president. He reports tests
show significant improvement in claim
cycle time.
Mobility and Multichannel
The lesson for insurers is transactional capabilities, while necessary,
are not where the value of mobility
lies. Relationship-building is critical.
Additionally, in a world of changing—
and often unpredictable—consumer
expectations, mobile needs to be
an available and integrated channel
capability.
“Carriers have to be in every channel,”
says Gewirtzman. “You don’t know when
or where the customer is actually going to
buy, so you have to be there, and you have
to establish a trust-based relationship. It’s
not a multichannel strategy, it’s an omni-
channel strategy.”
“Mobile is definitely table stakes, but
we are not yet at the point where carriers
are effectively using it in building relation-
ships,” Breading maintains. “That is the
next big thing that will happen due to the
continued development of the Internet of
Things, connected vehicles and homes,
and the evolution of wearable devices.
Instead of having a few touch points a year,
insurers can interact on a daily basis. There
is a huge opportunity to get mobile out in
front of their three main audiences—cus-
tomers, producers, and employees.”
How well an insurer capitalizes on
that opportunity will separate the winners
from the losers in the mobile world.
“Expectations have changed,” Walsh says.
“Insurers haven’t gone backwards, it’s just
the world has gone forward and they need
to keep up.” ITA
“We are not yet at the point where
carriers are effectively using it in
building relationships. That is the next
big thing that will happen due to the
continued development of the Internet of
Things, connected vehicles and homes,
and the evolution of wearable devices.”
Mark Breading, Strategy Meets Action
