Insurance technology and innovation

Nowadays, technologies are considered our best friends in all spheres – private life, work, or business. They make all processes more effective and reduce the probability of human errors. They have already possessed many areas like education, healthcare, transport, etc. Insurance companies need technologies as well. Like any other business company, insurance one has so many customers and data about them, that it looks impossible to keep it all on paper. In this article, we would like to define the main problems insurance companies face and recommend some technologies that could solve most of them.

Why digitalization is a must for the insurance business?

The insurance business has always had great success and manage the work with a huge number of customers without the help of any applications. However, software optimization can solve the challenges the companies face every day and improve the efficiency of the company.

Let’s have a deep look – why do insurance companies really need to implement the technologies in their workflow? What are the main causes for making their processes digitalized?

Here are some of them:

• Low level of flexibility 

As digitalization fills all modern business companies, it is crucial to keep your workflow up to date. It is not about one item or process that should be modernized. All services of your company have to be structured, connected and well-organized to reduce the probability of errors.

•  Legacy systems

According to the statistics, 68% of insurance agents think that the process of adopting new technologies into their sphere is too slow and unlikely in the nearest future. One of the causes of it is inapplicable legacy systems that prevent a successful integration of new technologies.

• A considerable amount of data 

Every insurance company has a huge number of customers. They all have different contracts and rates. There is a big probability of mixing up or losing the documents. These errors can be crucial for a certain client, and the reputation of the company will be ruined forever.

Examples of insurance web solutions

There are already many web apps implemented in the insurance business. Some of them are rather popular, successful, and convenient in use. We made a shortlist of them:

#1 Cuvva

This is a car insurance application. You can buy a cover from 1 hour till 28 days’ duration on different kinds of vehicles. Everything you need is to go through the registrations and create your account, and an insurance policy is ready for use. Also, there is a 247 support team that answers and solves your problem as quickly as possible.

#2 Travel Insured

Travel insurance contracts are the most popular kinds of covers all over the world. It has a wide range of services, durations, prices, etc. Travel Insured is the number one international application for private and business trips. There you can choose an insurance plan, type your final destination to get some tips on how to behave in cases of emergency. All this process takes at least 2 minutes.

#3 Oscar

This is a health insurance app that can replace a real personal assistant. There you can type your symptoms, find a suitable doctor, and online coordination. An advanced feature is the availability of a digital ID card.

If you want to find out more information about the benefits of using an insurance app in the medical industry, read the article on our blog.

#4 Relay

It is the latest insurance solution that helps to manage and apply insurance contracts. It sends alerts about new opportunities and options for users.  This app pretends to have a great user experience.

#5 Spot

Spor is a startup whose main aim is to digitalize the insurance process. This solution gives users the ability to choose different kinds of insurance contracts for any duration. The interface is simple so the user of any age can do it online.

#6 Surround

Surround`s main goal is to make their user confident about changing the world by implementing technology in the insurance sphere.  It provides full individual protection for people with different lifestyles.

Insurance technology

Nowadays there are not many new insurance companies. The cause of that is a complex process of authorization that needs capital and license. As insurance is made for protecting people`s lives and properties, it is a huge responsibility for future business owners. Insurtech is always changing and updating. These technologies are used to improve the efficiency of the company. For the last 10 years, $16,5 billion were invested in insurance startups.  Insurtech enhances backend processes, reduces the costs for the company, and gives a better user experience that can be even improved. It is crucial to choose technologies with strong security protocols because no sensitive data can be used by third parties. So there are different types of insurance technologies,  and we would like to define them below:

• Artificial Intelligence – this technology replaces a certain amount of human work, as there are chatbots that can answer and ask the following question like AI imitates real communication with customers, this tech is constantly growing and improving;

• Machine Learning – it is the AI category, this technology learns the human mimics to communicate with customers on their level, it is used for analyzing and prediction for the probable future losses, future customer demands and identifying frauds;

• Internet of Things – this is a simple computing machine that is used for collecting, receiving, storing and transmitting customer data over a network

• Smartphone Apps – applications improve the efficiency for the company as well as for customer experience, usually, it is developed with a unique design for customer recognition

• Drones – mostly used for property insurance, drones help to inspect the property, take photos, and videos for the customer, also it can be used to make photo fixation at car accidents.

Key features for an insurance solution

As it is clear that features of your insurance solution will depend on the goals you set from the very beginning – audience, options, level of security, amount of database, etc. If talking about web development for insurance sphere, there are main features that should be included:

• Personal account  

Every user should have a private account with a high level of security. Usually, it contains main info like name, age, photo, place of living, etc. Also, there the user can find the agreements, the contract, rules of using gis pack of services, make changes in the contract, and track the status of reports. 

• Online payments

We live in an era of online payments for many items needed. These payments are realized by Payment Gateway that has to be reliable and fit your project.

Automated payments are very convenient as all you have to do is to link your card or bank account to your personal account. Moreover, there is a function of automated bills withdrawal, so you just need to tune the schedule of future payments.  

• Support team

There is no need to work for 247 as users’ support employees. Now there are many other ways – AI technology. This modern technology helps workers to find solutions more quickly and qualified. It may seem too expensive, however, it saves much time to process more clients. One of the support tools of AI technology is a chatbot with text or voice recognition options. Online chat and FAQ section is crucial for better user experience and quality of feedback. 

• Notifications

If you don’t want to lose your money and customers, take care of the reminders for them. As people actively used diverse applications for different aims, it is impossible to remember all bills to pay. So setting notifications is important to avoid confusion. Also, another benefit of notifications is a promoting feature. As you can send offers with profitable insurance plans or the latest news or changes in the insurance business.

• Security option

Modern technologies propose different ways of recognizing the client and data. Touch or face recognition, secret questions, codes of confirmation –  all these tools help to get access to your personal page easily and give a high level of security and privacy for your data.  Also, security os sensitive information is important. There are several steps that help to perform a high level of privacy like submitting a passcode by the user. 

• Geolocation

This advanced function is very important in cases of emergency. If an accident has happened, the insurer can easily find where the user is with the help of notifications. The integration of geolocation API to your project has certain benefits like showing the location, and displaying recommendations and diverse directions, so you can choose the most appropriate one.

Today many applications help to find the right destination at any place. If talking about car insurance, you can see where the nearest gas station or mechanic is located.

Insurance software development

Insurance software development is a complicated process so there are several technologies to use. Along with developing highly functional software, they will modernize the apps you may have already used in your business. 

Big Data Analytics

Gathering and analyzing all data about customers, their issues, and solving gives a whole picture of the insurance process. It gives the ability to change and improve services. So it means that insurers can predict risk indicators aiming for individuals, not demographics. It decreases the number of fraudulent claims that saves money for insurance companies. 

Cloud computing

This technology gives endless space for information and a higher level of security. Cloud-based software record and save data not at the local server but in remote specialized data centers. You shouldn’t worry about managing the system as it is possible to manage and fix errors remotely.

Legacy program

Modernization of legacy programs is very important and possible for outdated insurance apps. It reduces some costs – like automated payments and sending bills, so you do not have to hire anyone for this task and pay a salary. Also, it proposes a better user experience and attracts more future clients or doesn’t push the present ones. The updated legacy program gives a high rate on the market or insurance web developments as it keeps up with time.

Developers` team

Half the battle of successful development is a team of professionals. It is crucial to find developers who know how and what to do to build your future application. They have to know the current situation on the market, the latest features and technologies, and how they could be used for your development. The first step is to choose the sphere of insurance – travel, life, car, or heath. For better quality, it is better to choose one item and grow it to the highest rank. Thus, you can set your goals and start moving to perform them. Business Analysts will listen to all your requirements and propose several ways of meeting them. So the developers` team you need should look like that:

•  a project manager who connects you directly with developers
•  frontend and backend developers 
• quality assurance specialist 
• UIUX designer who has a crucial part of the process 

Conclusion

The insurance business stores and processes a huge amount of information. Insurance software development makes the workflow for the owner side and the client-side easier and more effective. As for the business owners, web app helps to keep the data about clients, has a function of a quick search, online support, and automated obvious payments. As for users, there is nothing more convenient than choosing, buying, and paying for insurance services online. Also, users can always ask for help if something goes wrong, set reminders about payments, and change the contract whenever they want. A great user experience is the main aim of any web application. If you want to develop your own app with advanced and latest options, if you want to make your business more profitable and effective, then don’t waste your time and contact a team of real professionals.

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