The Chronicle: Issue 2015-34, August 11, 2015


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

Is the Telematics Plateau Coming Early?
We've followed Telematics/Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) for some time now. There has been significant progress, and there is an assumption that it will have a 25% market share over time. Of late, however, some folks are suggesting that UBI could plateau early just as other forces start to shape the next generation of automobile insurance.

The way automobile insurance is rated and priced pleases almost no one – except journalists (who find every quote fodder for another column on how bad things are). So anything that makes the process simpler, more transparent and tied to common principles should help.

On the surface, telematics-enabled UBI fits that bill. With a UBI infrastructure, we could rely on algorithms to manage rates and premiums, and focus on important things like improving service and claims handling. But data management is a critical success factor. The tools are well within reach. However, it seems that insurers are not taking advantage of them.

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Business of Insurance

SMA: Will Emerging Technologies and Innovation Transform the Insurance Customer Experience?
The world is abuzz with the potential of a new wave of emerging technologies to transform business, society, and our daily lives. Every day there are new developments in wearables, drones, autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and a host of other technologies. It is important to ask how all of these emerging technologies are impacting insurance. Will the insurance industry look much different three years from now? Five years? Ten years?

LIMRA and the Society of Actuaries announce strategic research partnership
LIMRA and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) has announced the formation of a research partnership, formalizing the ongoing relationship between the two organizations. Since 1995, LIMRA and the SOA have been providing the life insurance industry with policyholder behavior experience research.

The Co-operators welcomes newest member, L'Alliance des caisses populaires de l'Ontario
The Co-operators is pleased to introduce L'Alliance des caisses populaires de l'Ontario as its newest member organization. The board of directors approved its membership, effective October 1, 2015, at which time the Canadian insurance and financial services co-operative will have 43 members, including co-operatives, credit union centrals and representative farm organizations.

Technology

Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies identifies the computing innovations that organizations should monitor
The journey to digital business continues as the key theme of Gartner, Inc.'s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2015. New to the Hype Cycle this year is the emergence of technologies that support what Gartner defines as digital humanism – the notion that people are the central focus in the manifestation of digital businesses and digital workplaces. This special report illustrates the market excitement, maturity and benefit of more than 2,000 technologies.

Accenture launches second Digital Insurance Solution Center in North America
Accenture has announced the launch of its second Digital Insurance Solution Center (DISC) in North America located in Chicago, joining the U.K. center that was launched in 2014. DISC is an innovation hub that showcases "art of the possible" solutions and Internet of Things devices, and allows clients to test digital insurance products and solutions through proof of concept pilots to validate offerings that can help solve for the business challenges of today and tomorrow.

Xpertdoc selected by PMA Companies to modernize and streamline billing processes
Xpertdoc Technologies Inc., a Microsoft Gold Partner and leader in document generation and customer communications solutions, today announced that PMA Companies will be utilizing their product to modernize and streamline PMA's billing processes. PMA is leveraging Xpertdoc's CCM platform and award-winning document technology to convert their existing billing communications, providing them with enhanced creation, management and delivery capabilities all within the functionality of the Microsoft Word platform.

Lloyd's: Drone industry growth threatened by cyber, human error and privacy concerns
The drones sector is a dynamic and important component of the global aviation industry, with global expenditure on acquisition expected to double to $91bn in the ten years to 2024. However, concerns around safety, security and surveillance need to be considered by manufacturers and users of this technology, says Lloyd's new report, Drones Take Flight.

Policy Management

Guidewire Software announces Guidewire InsuranceCloud Solutions partner program
Guidewire Software, Inc., a provider of software products to Property/Casualty insurers, has announced the launch of the Guidewire InsuranceCloud™ Solutions partner program. Under the new program, select Guidewire PartnerConnect™ Consulting partners will deliver cloud solutions that combine Guidewire products with their own differentiated content and services, and complementary third-party systems for Property/Casualty insurers in a hosted environment. Partners participating in the program will deploy and maintain Guidewire software, along with the other third-party products that round out their respective offerings.

Distribution

kasina: mistaken assumptions hampering many asset managers in RIA channel
kasina, a DST company providing data-driven insights and distribution solutions to financial companies around the world, today released its report on asset managers' distribution efforts with Registered Investment Advisors. Based on a survey of 150 RIAs and interviews with selected asset management distribution executives, the study challenges common misconceptions many asset managers face when selling to RIAs. The report offers strategic and tactical recommendations for firms seeking to deepen their relationships with RIAs and optimize their customer journey.

IAT Insurance Group chooses e-SignLive E-Signatures to digitize and accelerate business
e-SignLive™ by Silanis, the e-signature choice for business, has announced that TransGuard Insurance Company of America, Inc., and Occidental Fire & Casualty Company of North Carolina, both members of the IAT Insurance Group, have integrated e-SignLive e-signatures. The insurers opted to integrate e-signature technology to improve their internal processes and ease of doing business for independent agents, while also delivering a better experience to the customer.

Claims

Towers Watson: Insurers' claim operations facing challenges to attract, retain top talent
More than three-quarters (76%) of claim officers at U.S. property & casualty insurance companies say attracting and retaining top talent is their primary business challenge, according to global professional services company Towers Watson's P&C Claim Officer Survey. The survey looked at some of the key issues facing the claim industry today, plus technology's impact on claim adjudication, with a focus on metrics, data, analytics and applications.

Consumer Information

Kanetix: Majority of Canadian drivers confess to bad behaviour behind the wheel
A new survey from Kanetix.ca finds that more than 75 per cent of Canadians admit to bad driving behavior, with speeding being the most confessed bad habit. While Canadians show marginal improvements, bad driving behaviours remain largely unchanged from three years ago. The only habit that saw a significant drop was the use of profanity out of frustration with traffic or delays.

Square One warns of the insurance implications of renting part of a home
Over the past 6 months, Square One Insurance has talked to over 4,000 house owners across Canada and has found over 14% of them rent out a portion of their home to non-family members. BC has the highest rate at 25% while the Prairie Provinces have the lowest at 5%. This could be a basement suite in the home, or a garage converted to a laneway home. Vancouver-based Square One says that while mortgage-helpers are well, helpful, there are implications to a home insurance policy that they need to be aware of.

National Safety Council: U.S. on pace for deadliest driving year since 2007
The National Safety Council estimates traffic deaths are 14 percent higher through the first six months of 2015 than they were during the same period in 2014, and serious injuries are 30 percent higher. From January to June, nearly 19,000 people died in traffic crashes across the U.S., and more than 2.2 million were seriously injured, putting the country on pace for its deadliest driving year since 2007.


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