The briefing also highlights a 248% increase in InsurTech funding volume to $985 million during the second quarter, driven by a record number of transactions, as well as several large investments in capital intensive carrier start-ups globally.
The latest research, produced by Willis Towers Watson Securities and Willis Re in collaboration with CB Insights, outlines how the use of technology, developed internally by incumbents and accessed through partnerships with InsurTech start-ups, can revolutionize claims management, by helping insurers transition from a model focused on payments and cost control to one of claims mitigation and risk management. The report predicts this will lead to higher client satisfaction and retention, with claims representing one of the most critical customer interactions with the insurance value chain.
Rafal Walkiewicz, CEO of Willis Towers Watson Securities commented: “The claims management conversation with a client provides the greatest insight and opportunity to improve risk mitigation, making it increasingly core to the evolving, consumer focused, insurance value chain. We believe claims management could assume additional prominence at the expense of other functions including distribution, underwriting and capital management. Effectively harnessing this conversation through technology, whether developed internally or through partnerships or acquisition, will be a key source of differentiation for incumbents going forward.”
The briefing encourages existing insurance businesses to embrace the technology driven changes that are taking place throughout the industry.
Andrew Newman, President and Global Head of Casualty at Willis Re, said: “The $985 million that was invested in InsurTech in the second quarter of 2017 serves as another indication that change is coming to the industry. Whether disruption beckons or opportunity unfolds is primarily a matter of perception relative to each company’s position in the insurance value chain. It is not the technology that is disruptive, but the degree to which a competitor can successfully wield that technology compared to another.”
The $985 million was invested across a new record high of 64 transactions in the second quarter, nearly double the 38 transactions completed in the first quarter of this year.
View the Willis Towers Watson InsurTech Briefing Q2 2017 report
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