Disruptors of insurance
Without pretension to put all the Insurtech of reference, far from it. Simply, the idea is to identify one that seems to me highlighted by different categories — if you miss Guevara is because of Friendsurance, for example -. Nor do I consider Insurtech to offer products to insurers, only those that compete for customers — although some can co-opete. They are ordered by what I consider to have disruptive potential, from less to more.
MetroMile. Very ingenious way to offer value to the Uber drivers. It is a very good case of payment per use, although there are more advanced cases of payment according to the behavior behind the wheel. I simply think that the car industry is disrupted without external help. The autonomous car and the move from property to service will transform it.
Oscar. With the above, probably the most famous Insurtech. A good case of introducing smart bands into health insurance. Gamify the experience of the insured, seek to be present in their daily life, and seek for a win-win for both parties. Like MetroMile is relatively easy to replicate. And perhaps not very daring, offering gifts instead of introducing it into the actuarial model -much more complex, of course. Also, lately they have suffered in some states. What I do believe is that the health insurance sector has much more future than the auto.
Coverfy. It may seem like a comparator, which somehow it is. It is also an aggregator, which allows you to have a complete view of all the insurances of a user. And, especially, it is a platform of agents. It does not enter directly into the playing field of insurance companies, but it has the potential to create new rules of the game by further commoditizing the insurance product.
BoughtByMany. Focused on the niches, building on the Long Tail. I like the potential to identify the insured’s product needs. I think it still has a lot to go in that direction, but the potential seems tremendous to me. Instead of fighting for current products to look appealing to the consumer, it starts with consumer needs. That’s customer centric.
Friendsurance. The concept of P2P in insurance. It really can be said that it is a back to the basics, to the mutualization. As with P2P models on banking, they may suffer a lot to generate serious traction. But the aspect of self-management and selection of the insured attracts me a lot. It incorporates that aspect of social pressure that causes fraud to fall and reduce the claims rate.
EverLedger. In this case, it is more a service to insurers, but I love the approach of using blockchain to eliminate theft fraud. From here, it is so easy to imagine scenarios, for example, with the car, repairs, buy-sell … at the end, with any object that is uniquely identifiable.
Trov. The concept of insurance on demand seems to me groundbreaking. It may look similar to the payment for use of the car, but the potential I see in this case is that what you insure is the person. Your belongings or your activities. By having an inventory of belongings and hobbies -by activities-, the knowledge about the customer is impressive. Scares the fraud that can be committed, but it is something to work on.
Lemonade. It is an Exponential Organization by the book. In my opinion the Insurtech with greater potential to disrupt in the sector. By many aspects. Their P2P model — even if they are not the first as they proclaim. Their policy of transparency. Its exponential growth in its first four months of life. But most especially, that secret ingredient that allows them to provide instant insurance services. A bot. With a lot of cognitive yet to be developed, for sure. But that has already allowed them to resolve a claim, in favor of the insured, in a matter of seconds. A marginal cost of operation tending to zero. Unbeatable.
(en español aquí)
