Insurance Technology Trends for 2014 – Our Predictions

Happy New Year to our readers. We wish you a happy and prosperous trip through 2014. With that in mind we’ve put together a list of technology trends that we think insurers and brokers should be keeping a close eye on as the year progresses.

Insurance Gets into the Cloud

The “cloud” is simply a fancy word for putting your computer resources and data on distributed server platforms online. It offers the benefits of easy scalability (both up and down) as well as greater levels of security in the case of data loss.

Insurers looking to make the most of their IT investments really have no choice but to start investing in cloud platforms. Buying and maintaining your own hardware is going to become increasingly more expensive than using the cloud intelligently and the more money you are spending, the less you’re making – it really is that simple.

Insurance Core Systems become Increasingly Flexible

With cloud adoption at the forefront, there’s no surprise that brokers and insurers are going to be able to focus on adaptive core systems which improve the customer experience. There will be ever increasing access to high-quality data which makes risk calculation easier and easier throughout 2014 (see our next point for reasons why) and that means there’s no excuse for insurers not to have the right systems in place to make use of that data.

Mobile platforms in particular need to be catered for as the point of purchase is likely to come off the PC and onto the phone in 2014.

Trust and Privacy become Key in the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Data, data and more data is what 2014 will bring canny insurers. We’ve looked at telematics, dentistry, health insurance and more over the last year. This year, the investment and success of insurance technology solutions is likely to sky-rocket. Devices like Google Glass offer glimpses of how insurers can learn from new technology.

However, given the furor over Edward Snowden’s leaks this last year; we also expect consumers to begin demanding concrete assurances over data privacy. They may not mind sharing their health data with their health insurance provider. They probably don’t want the NSA (the American National Security Agency) or M15 working over that data working out the best way to neutralize them if they become a threat to the working of government.

Once again the cloud offers insurers the means to effectively anonymize a lot of data and leave it stored in silos which will not compromise the insured party. It’s absolutely essential that insurers play to this concern in 2014 and show the public that they represent their interests as an insured party securely and safely.

Safety and Security Insurance

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