Transcription:
Patti Harman (00:06):
Hello and welcome to the DigIn Podcast. I'm your host Patti Harman, editor-in-chief of Digital Insurance. Technology has permeated every aspect of our daily lives, and for homeowners it's making huge inroads and helping them to protect their homes from common disasters like flooding or even electrical fires. It also allows insurers to develop a relationship with their customers before something awful happens, and it enables carriers to educate their customers on how to prepare for some common risks. Joining me today to share how Plymouth Rock Assurance is taking a proactive approach and helping their policy holders ensure they keep up with things like regular maintenance and repairs is Owen Williams, associate product manager at Plymouth Rock. Thank you so much for joining us today, Owen.
Owen Williams (00:57):
Hey, Patti, I'm thrilled that you're hosting me today. Thank you again.
Patti Harman (01:01):
Well, so let's start with you telling our listeners a little bit about your role at Plymouth Rock because I think it's extremely innovative and it creates that perfect blend between technology and practical application.
Owen Williams (01:14):
Yeah, so like you mentioned, I'm an associate product manager at Plymouth Rock, but I have a very unique focus where I am specifically focused on innovation strategy and vendor partnerships. So what are ways that we can find new ways to make it more valuable to be a Plymouth Rock policyholder, whether that's technological solutions or anything that we can think of.
Patti Harman (01:41):
And when we were talking about it, we talk about the use of technology and to me, this is just such a great way to implement that. So how has IoT technology changed over the last few years and how's Plymouth using it to help your policyholders then?
Owen Williams (01:59):
Yeah, I feel like it's very interesting, the landscape. I feel like IoT technology has been around for such a long time, but I feel like now we're in the era of implementation where the solutions have gotten refined enough that I think carriers are more comfortable rolling them out and doing deeper relationships with their vendors. So it's a very exciting time. I think one way that IOT technology has made a huge improvement is bundling a service component. So I feel like just taking that extra step beyond just alerting homeowners of risks and being able to have a frictionless way for them to take action, I think also has made a big difference in our adoption of some of these devices.
Patti Harman (02:43):
Are there certain types of technology that you're sharing with your policyholders then and maybe encouraging them to use in their homes?
Owen Williams (02:52):
Yes. We are actually starting to test the impact of water monitoring devices that are also bundled with free plumbing repair. And we're already seeing very high NPS scores from customers around 93 who engage with the service. And we are really excited that we have a positive proactive experience with policyholders instead of them just dealing with the carrier when just a claim pops up. I feel like it's a much more positive way to interact.
Patti Harman (03:22):
I live in a place and our building managers gave us water, I guess little trackers, to alert if there was a flood of some type. And I was like, oh, I was so glad that you're doing this. And they looked at me like I had two heads and I said, no, you need to understand I work in the insurance industry and I cover what's going on. I said, this is such a great way for you to use technology. So then the president of the homeowners association was like, oh good, I'm glad you approve. And then I thought I should stop talking. They're going to try to recruit me for something else. But
Owen Williams (03:56):
Yeah, that's hilarious. A small aha moment for me too was when I was at my mom's house for Thanksgiving and there was just a small leak underneath her sink and she was like, I don't know who to call or how to fix this or, so I'm just going to leave it. And I'm like, what, mom? No, you can't just leave a leak happening under the seat, under the sink. And it made me feel like, oh wow, a solution could really have an impact here. That just makes it super easy because a lot of times homeowners know that there's something that they should be doing, but the actual taking the next step can just be another barrier.
Patti Harman (04:31):
Well, and that's such a great segue into my next question because I know that Plymouth has a platform that helps homeowners track things like normal home maintenance and even assist them in finding vendors like you mentioned earlier. What other solutions are you thinking through then to help policyholders have a more proactive way to maintain their homes?
Owen Williams (04:52):
So we already do as much as we can to provide seasonal newsletters and tips to our policy holders on what sort of proactive measures they can take, especially as different seasons come upon us. We are piloting our testing ways that we can have homeowners actually have access to some sort of dashboard or tool to more smartly manage the maintenance of their home and also provide a way for them to find trusted vendors that can perform maintenance service. And our whole goal is that deferred maintenance can be an issue in terms of long-term loss ratio and homeowners don't want to defer maintenance either. If they can find the right fit, find the right price, find the right vendor, and so just I think that that's where we can step in and provide solutions and provide insights to policy holders so that they can make the most out of their home.
Patti Harman (05:48):
Well, and especially for first-time homeowners, you have no idea what you don't know. And so I would think that this would be just a huge way to help make them aware of these are the things you need to be looking for. That sort of thing. Are technologies like AI and IOT devices changing how carriers interact with the policyholders, you talked about the opportunity to educate them ahead of time, and it does seem like is it providing opportunities to educate policy holders then in terms of mitigating some of these common risks?
Owen Williams (06:25):
So I feel like with the AI component, we are definitely hyper-focused on different ways that we can leverage AI to interact with customers the way they want to be interacted with. And so just making sure that those solutions are in place. As far as these IoT devices, I feel like some IoT devices are purely focused on just monitoring and not helping, and I feel like that's where a recent evolution has happened where they're actually helping in a way that is beneficial to everyone because no one wants a claim. So I think the more that can be done to prevent that and then also provide great service when there is one, I think it's the best we can do.
Patti Harman (07:07):
I would totally agree with that. So we're going to take a short break now and we'll be back in just a few minutes. Welcome back to the DigIn podcast. We're chatting with Owen Williams, associate product manager for Plymouth Rock Assurance about various IoT technologies and how carriers are using them. So part of your job, Owen, is to identify and test some of the new technologies you're recommending to homeowners. What does that process look like and how long does it take to get to the point of recommending something to your policy holders?
Owen Williams (07:45):
It's certainly very chaotic and requires a lot of patience and testing, and my home itself is a guinea pig test subject, if you will. So I've had many, many devices just in a corner of my office over here. But yeah, I think that what's difficult about choosing the right technology or IoT solution is there are so many of them out there and you want them to be able to go the distance, especially if you are, whenever you provide a benefit to a policyholder, you want it to be a longstanding benefit, and so you need a partner that you can work with long term. You need a solution that will work for an extended period of time. And so I feel like you need to just find that balance of really taking appropriate risk where something will work well, but then also being okay just dropping something as soon as it might not make the distance, because each time you take on a project, it requires a lot of work, so you got to make sure you're choosing correctly, but I call it the power of the pass. There is power in passing stuff that might not be viable.
Patti Harman (08:55):
You also want to ensure that if you give it to your policyholders that they will actually use the technology too. I would think if it was too complicated or too difficult to hook up or whatever, they might not be quite as inclined to do that.
Owen Williams (09:09):
Yeah, I feel like to that point more specifically, you also want to take into account cost either for the carrier or for the policy holder, whether that cost is reasonable given the benefit. And so there's a lot of cost benefit analysis that goes into it. And then in addition, you want to make sure that the device or the solution reflects positively on you as a carrier. You don't want to lead a policy holder to a negative experience at all or negative solution, which is worse than not doing something.
Patti Harman (09:43):
So, how long do you test some of these technologies then? Are we talking weeks, months? How do you make that determination?
Owen Williams (09:51):
It really depends on the solution, but it can take anywhere from two months to a year and a half sometimes.
Patti Harman (10:02):
Oh wow.
Owen Williams (10:03):
Depending on how long of a time horizon you're looking at, how large of a cohort you're looking at and factors like that.
Patti Harman (10:11):
So what excites you the most about how technologies are changing the insurance space then? Because you kind of have a bird's eye view in terms of what's coming up on the horizon and what's out there.
Owen Williams (10:23):
Yeah, I think what excites me the most is how inexpensive a lot of very impactful solutions are. I feel like cost was a big barrier to a lot of solutions and I think we're seeing that come down to a very, very reasonable level now. And I think that's what's so exciting is that you can get that adoption that you couldn't get before for solutions that are beneficial to everyone.
Patti Harman (10:50):
So are you concerned about the rapid adoption of technology? We hear about this all the time, and is there anything that homeowners should keep in mind when they're using some of these technologies?
Owen Williams (11:03):
Yeah, I think it's a very interesting question and I think that for a homeowner it's helpful to be cognizant of the intentions of the carrier or the solution because you definitely don't, you want to be mindful of your digital footprint, that you're not giving away too much data or being overly monitored if you're not getting enough benefit out of it. So I think that's the one thing to look out for.
Patti Harman (11:32):
And I can understand that. I have a printer where they can monitor the usage of my toner and paper and everything. And so you're right about keeping an eye in terms of how much data that we're sharing through our technology. Are there any technologies you've seen or that you're watching that could have a really positive impact on mitigating some common household risks?
Owen Williams (11:59):
Yeah, I think one solution that came to mind is I feel like there could be more done in the cyber risk space. So I like to think of your home as also you have your digital home too. You have your devices, your bank accounts, all that stuff. And I feel like corporations do such a great job protecting their employees from cyber risk. What if there was a way to protect more average households in the same way that a corporation protects its it's employees and employers invest a lot of money in cyber risk management, and so I feel like there is opportunity there as far as a common household risk that I don't think really gets taken as seriously as it should.
Patti Harman (12:45):
That's true, especially when you have kids in the house and they don't understand that, oh, I shouldn't click on everything or I shouldn't go here. There's some places that I shouldn't go. And just how that kind of opens up the risk because everybody shares the same network and with people working from home, there's that blend between the personal and the professional I think sometimes too.
Owen Williams (13:07):
Yeah, and I feel with AI it's both good and bad in that the attack vectors increase because the tools are more accessible for better and for worse. So I feel like monitoring that digital footprint will over time become more and more important.
Patti Harman (13:23):
So we've covered a lot in the last couple of minutes. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you think our listeners should know about IoT technologies or that they should keep in mind as they're using them, that sort of thing?
Owen Williams (13:37):
I think the only thing is that a lot of these solutions are available to you as the average homeowner. So definitely do your own research and look for some products that are inexpensive to both install and also set up so that you can get the benefits of monitoring your water risk and other solutions like that. I mean, you don't have to wait for a carrier to help.
Patti Harman (14:02):
Where could people go to look for them? Like can I go to my local home store like a Lowe's or Home Depot or something like that to find them? Should I look online? Where are some of the best places to look for those types of solutions then?
Owen Williams (14:21):
I'll include some ideas in the show notes. I'll need to do some more research for that question. I don't want to lead people to a bad place, but find a lot of popular ones have their own website, so I think just ordering directly on their website is the best way to do it.
Patti Harman (14:35):
Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I was just trying to think of, if I'm looking for this technology, I just want to make sure that I went to places where it made sense. And you're right. Going to the company's website is probably the very best way to check them out and see what's going on. So thank you so much, Owen, for sharing your insights with our audience. Thank you for listening to the Dig in podcast. I produced this episode with audio production by Adnan Khan. Special thanks this week to Owen Williams of Plymouth Rock Assurance for joining us. Please rate us, review us and subscribe to our content at www.digin.com/subscribe. From Digital Insurance, I'm Patti Harman and thank you for listening.