The SMA research report The Next-Gen Insurer: Fueled by Innovation identified the major influencers within and outside the industry that are reshaping the business of insurance. It cautioned that if insurers chose to ignore, or even put off, the inevitable need to change along with the rest of the world, they would be taking a chance and creating risk for the survival of their businesses. Well, as it turns out, ignoring it is no longer an option.
The new SMA research report, The Changing Auto Insurance Landscape: Influencers Driving Disruption and Change, underscores that disruption to the auto insurance industry is inescapable. Multiple influencers have converged, primarily from outside the industry, and are in the early stages of transforming the automobile industry and subsequently the auto insurance business. The new examples like driverless/autonomous vehicles, the connected car, car apps and shared transportation are disrupting traditional business, risk, product, pricing and customer assumptions while setting off the first wave of a broader disruption that will challenge the industry. Together, they reveal a growing wave of disruption in the auto insurance segment. This was emphasized by the announcements made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in early January 2015.
Insurers reward customers with discounts for multiple auto policies, offer discounts for pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) or pay-how-you-drive (PHYD) programs and offer more discounts for additional coverage such as homeowners, umbrella, or others. The same is true for commercial insurance – business owners will look for a package of insurance that includes bundled discounts.
But consider what Mark Fields, Ford's CEO, noted to the media at the 2015 CES show. Fields sees Ford as a mobility company rather than an automotive company, delivering a wide array of services and experiences via the auto instead of the mobile phone. This reimagined business model will have rippling effects across other industries, including insurance.
So how will insurance see itself going forward? How will insurance reimagine itself? The impact will drive insurers to think bigger and reimagine their businesses as they ride this wave of change toward becoming a Next-Gen Insurer.
The transformational potential of each influencer individually is great, but when combined they are game-changing. Each is individually beginning to disrupt insurance in varying degrees by redefining or reducing risk; redefining vehicle needs and uses; creating product and service needs; and affecting traditional revenue, pricing and operational models. Even more importantly, influencers are reshaping customer expectations by providing new experiences to create, retain and grow customer relationships and loyalty. Here are some potential implications for insurance:
- Will insurance models move away from the driver to the vehicle or manufacturer?
- What new services can be provided based on connected car or smartphone applications to engage with customers differently?
- Will auto driver usage data come from Google, Apple and auto manufacturers rather than traditional industry data providers? Will this new data redefine risk, pricing and underwriting models?
- Will insurers need to rethink partnership strategies to deliver new services?
- How will risk models and ultimately pricing models be affected?
- How will these affect operational, unit cost, revenue and profitability models?
