For months now, there have been plenty of conference sessions and online articles which have focused on the change that is coming due to insurtech and digitalisation. However, once you have got beyond the hype, a cynic might rightfully question whether anything has really changed?
Insurance is still being sold annually, with price the most important factor by incumbent insurers that are still using technology and processes that have been in situ for years.
With this in mind, Post in association with MarkLogic brought together an expert panel to get to grips with some key questions such as:
• Beyond the hype has much changed in insurance over the last two-to-five years?
• Is the threat to insurance of digital lethargy much less than other sectors; and what does that mean in terms of what incumbents are doing?
• Does the chopping and changing at board level and shareholder interest in the "Now" mean progress is stagnated due to lack of instant ROI?
• Is regulation a hindrance to disruptive players offering a serious threat to incumbents?
• Have private equity and other investors cooled their interest in insurtech due to lack of progress of the first wave of start-ups? What's more has the initial momentum waned?
• Does the term first mover advantage carry weight here; or is it better to be a fast second mover?
• Are many of the buzzwords that have followed digital such as personalisation, single view of the customer and agile still pipe dreams for insurers?