Digital Transformation

About four in 10 executives cited technology as their company’s greatest challenge, twice as many as in 2019, according to a new survey from LIMRA and Boston Consulting Group.

Insurance blockchain working group The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative has partnered with Trustlayer to build out an insurance verification proof of concept.

Deciding which transformation initiatives to tackle first should involve a careful examination of the dysfunction, importance and level of change resistance expected among stakeholders of any process that may be impacted.

The number of cyber insurance claims AGCS has seen has increased in the past few years, following along with general cyber risk trends. In 2020, the company received more than 1,000 in total, compared to 80 in 2016. This trend has continued into 2021.

Digital Insurance spoke with Maroun Mourad, president of global underwriting and leader of the life unit at Verisk about life insurance technology and what’s ahead for the industry.

Insurers should enhance the capabilities and broaden the roles of claims professionals to reap the benefits of advanced tools while maintaining personal engagement at moments that matter.

The company said it has taken a majority stake in Cardif Pinnacle, a pet insurance-focused subsidiary of BNP Paribas SA, and is buying Chicago-based Figo Pet Insurance LLC, beginning a series of investments in the sector. The prices weren’t disclosed.

In other news: Algorithm calculates number of good health years; Hiro rebrands to Locket; Alliant launches diversity initiative.

The P&C industry has been on an automation path for many years. When the pandemic hit, it became a catalyst for accelerating automation and digital transformation.

“A New Idea: Insurers Creating Ecosystems Delivering Value to The Policyholders,” a session during InsureTech Connect 2021 focused on the current changes occurring to accelerate solutions for consumers.

With so many touchpoints across the insurance industry, and so many potential use cases, there is a lot of room for innovation — and there is a lot of room for failure. As an early adopter of AI technology, Harmon shares some of his key insights.

Digital Insurance spoke with Angela Orbann, vice president of property, PI product management at Travelers about how technology can optimize a home insurance policy and how artificial intelligence and satellite imagery is helping insurers.

What’s driving your digital claims transformation program: COVID? Competition? Or cost? Whatever the answer, we could be in danger of leaving the customer out of the equation in the rush to digitize and automate insurance processes. It could be time to take a more user-centric approach, reimagine the customer journey and find out what customers actually want.

In other news: Allstate closes $400M sale of New York life, annuity business; USAA partners with Blink by Chubb; Zurich North America implements Chisel AI.

Haven Technologies will make the platform behind MassMutal’s Haven Life available as a software-as-a-service insurtech.

The Palo Alto, California-based company is now valued at $900 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Recent EY research confirms how the pandemic fundamentally changed consumer needs, how they plan to increase their financial security, and what insurers can do to seize the opportunity.

Australian insurance startup Cover Genius Pty Ltd. boosted its valuation to A$1 billion ($729 million), after raising A$100 million from investors including G Squared and Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings Inc.

The past 18 months have uncovered a vulnerability in the insurance industry, as companies have struggled to maintain consistency in their processes in the face of remote working. Communication processes, in particular, have suffered and as a result, traditional insurers now face the real risk of losing customers to insurtechs and other more technologically advanced companies.