Insurer technology projects that deal with digital are fundamentally about the access and flow of information through the insurance value chain, from carriers to agents and policyholders or reinsurers. These efforts can range from channel enablement to user experience improvements. Digital remains a key area of focus for insurers looking for ways to increase efficiency and improve agent and policyholder experience.
Aite-Novarica’s 11th annual Insurance Technology Impact Case Study Reports highlight 65 examples of insurer IT initiatives that have created real impact on insurers’ business, premium, and profitability. This year’s report on digital initiatives features 23 case studies that provide concrete examples of insurers using technology to sell more, manage risk better, or reduce operating costs.
Each case study outlines the business need, project team, project phases and timeline, tools and technology used, challenges and success factors, as well as business impact delivered.
Life/annuity/benefits insurers focus on digital experience.
Digital capabilities have been an area of strong focus for life insurers for several years. The COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns further highlighted the aspects of the life insurance sales process that were not completely digitized. Life insurers have invested accordingly.
The 2022 Life Digital case studies reflect the importance of enabling digital sales and creating polished digital user experiences. Major themes include digital customer engagement, streamlined digital direct sales (via a new brand identity), and digital customer journeys.
This year’s life insurer winner, Sun Life, built an impressive digital engagement app for ongoing customers. Life insurance is traditionally a very low-touch product, but Sun Life demonstrates the benefits carriers gain from investing in its policyholder relationships.
Large property/casualty insurers focus on digital connectivity.
Digital connectivity for sales and customer support is a major 2022 priority for property/casualty insurers. According to Aite-Novarica’s 2022 Property/Casualty Insurer IT Budgets and Projects report, 50% of large property/casualty carriers were planning agent portal investment, and 70% of these carriers were planning customer portal investments.
Case studies touch on distributor ease of doing business (e.g., new business applications, digital platforms for agents), improved availability of rating and pricing results, and increased investment in digital claims experience.
Everest Re won this year’s large property/casualty insurer award with a web-based user interface that allows actuaries to deliver pricing results from pricing models and determine rates and ROE impact in real time. As this case study demonstrates, digital projects that support sales efforts also enable internal resources to act efficiently.
Midsize property/casualty insurers focus on user experience.
The main area of focus for midsize property/casualty insurers in 2022 is digital experience for both agents and policyholders. Case studies include agent marketplaces, portals, and a lead-generation application, as well as initiatives to enable new communications channels and digital payment capabilities.
This year’s winner, Pie Insurance, continues a long tradition of insurers that have had success implementing digital portals for online sales. While digital experiences of all kinds are increasingly important for property/casualty insurance, it’s also important for carriers to keep in mind that being able to sell quickly and easily can generate tremendous impact.
Digital projects generate bottom-line business value.
Understanding the impact of technological initiatives is as much about how value is defined and measured as it is about the actual lift the new technology generates. Digital projects generally don’t create value by helping insurers directly manage risk, but they can generate bottom-line impact by streamlining legacy workflows or eliminating time-consuming manual steps.
Insurance Technology Impact Case Study Compendium 2022: Digital Initiatives provides insurance business and IT executives with examples of ways they can leverage technology to create business value. Solution providers can also use these case studies to frame the ways their products can create value for their insurer clients. Access to the report can be found here.
