A recent study done by Accenture found that the insurance industry, while currently experiencing a low level of disruption, is highly susceptible to facing disruption in the future.
Read More: Latest trends in digital insurance
“Insurers are less exposed than many other industries to current disruption because high barriers to entry favor incumbents,” reads the report. “However, insurers are heading toward a more disruptive future for a number of reasons.”
The report goes on to list these reasons as:
- weaknesses in operational efficiency and innovation
- high labor and transaction intensity
- insufficient investments in advanced digital technologies
- low investor confidence in insurers’ future positioning
- low brand prominence
- relatively high industry fragmentation and high levels of trapped value
- low revenue growth compared to other industries
- inefficiencies in the value chain
Emerging technologies like AI, Blockchain, IoT, AR and VR also promise to completely revolutionize how the insurance industry operates — and it seems that a few startups have taken notice.
A few of the companies currently disrupting the insurance industry are all about making it easy — or easier — for the consumer to access the insurance they need.
Insurtech startup Wrisk recently raised £1 million by 800 investors in their latest crowdfunding campaign. Wrisk is a smartphone app that is marketed as a simple way for people to buy insurance for everything from headphones to cars to homes.
Backed by the likes of Jay-Z, Will Smith and Robert Downey Jr., this startup is aiming to make life insurance more affordable and accessible. Currently licensed in 49 states, Ethos claims that users can sign up in 10 minutes without a doctor’s test and have claims paid out within two weeks. To get a quote, new users answer a series of four questions about their gender, if they use nicotine products, how they would describe their health and their date of birth.
Cyber insurance and risk management startup At-Bay markets themselves as offering tailored-to-your-business cyber insurance policies that cover data breaches, cyber attacks, extortion, business interruptions, financial fraud and media liabilities. Part of the service they offer includes risk assessment and management, and incident management to minimize loss as a result of a cyber attack. At-Bay announced in May that they had raised $13 million in a Series A funding round, and has a total funding pool of $19 million.
