How the insurance sector is adapting to the new reality

Nobody will contradict the following: it’s been a tumultuous period. Similarly to virtually all industries, it hasn’t been easy for the insurance sector either. However, as the world's second-largest reinsurer Swiss Re foresees it, 'global insurance premium volumes will recover to pre COVID-19 crisis levels in 2021'. And that’s surely a positive prospect. Because although, a lot of businesses across industries have suffered from the past months’ economic decline, insurance companies have been somewhat spared. On the flip side, while e-commerce has been the solution for many retail companies to try and redress the balance, most insurance companies on the other hand haven’t been able to fall into such a digital safety net. So, how does the situation look exactly?

Up until now, many insurance companies have still heavily relied on in-person interactions to create customer value. So, the restriction of those oh so precious physical encounters following the sanitary crisis has left them quite high and dry. Crisis or not, that’s yet another red flag that the insurance sector urgently needs to reinvent itself. It has to embrace the new digital reality and customer expectations that have changed as a result. Considering a context where digital is the place where those expectations can be met and exceeded, insurance companies now have considerable opportunities to stand out. Are you wondering how your peers are adapting to a changing context and spearheading new initiatives to reverse the trend? Read on!

Get rid of blind spots

When it comes to insurance products, there often tend to be areas that are covered way too rarely. Namely, not knowing whether your customer is sufficiently insured. Or maybe even too much. The Ghent-based InsurTech company WeGroup has developed a solution that allows to ‘increase sales and portfolio quality by analyzing customer needs and predicting their exposure to risk, while simultaneously reducing overhead costs thanks to a high level of process automation’. For insurance companies, such a solution makes communication with all stakeholders seamless and offers great visibility, especially for competitive products. Insurance brokers can easily identify upsell and/or cross-sell opportunities. As for end customers, they benefit from more transparent and relevant information.

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Go out of your way

The insurance sector is known to be quite a static industry. The core offering didn’t change much for years and that’s exactly why a profound shift is happening at the moment. Extending your scope of action can prove to uncover many opportunities for you as well as for your customers.Take the example of Partenamut, the Belgian mutual insurance player for Wallonia and Brussels. Two years ago, they launched Vitalité, an app to coach their members and help them reach their personal goals related to health, physical movement and personal development. By tapping into wellness, insurance companies can extract user data to continuously offer relevant and tailored products and services to their clients. Beyond that, they also create a tremendous client experience that is based on real added value compared to what clients are so often used to receiving.

Incentivize your clients

Loyalty programs and reward systems are not new. In the insurance sector, however, they are creating a small revolution. One of the pioneers in the field is Discovery. Some years ago, the South African insurance service provider launched its unique loyalty program for the insurance sector, coïncidentally called Vitality. The program works through a system of points gathered by doing regular (global and specific) health check-ups, going on weekly runs or eating well. Once a member reaches a sufficient amount of points, they can exchange them for rewards such as coffee, concert tickets, Uber rides or plane tickets. With over 10 million members worldwide to this date, Vitality undoubtedly seduces. Such a program provides considerable benefits for both insurance companies and clients who can reclaim a more central position in their risk and health management.