I recently heard the executive of a major insurance company speak at an innovation forum about the possibility of offering instant, no-exclusion insurance when the user needs it. He also commented on examples of use such as:
"I'm in my hotel room in a city where I'm on a business trip and I'm going to go for a run in the park. Why not take out insurance at that time to cover me for eventualities that might arise while I'm running?"
Other examples that emerged in the debate were situations such as going skiing for a weekend and taking out ski insurance from your mobile device, or buying a late-model smartphone and taking out insurance at the same time to cover loss due to theft and/or loss or an accident such as a broken screen.
But what really excited me about this debate was the immediacy of the proposal. That it can be offered and taken up at the moment when the need arises, as well as the attractive prices that were mentioned for premiums that would allow you to obtain peace of mind in exchange for a lower price than you would spend on a coffee or a snack.
With this idea in mind, I launched into websites in Spain and other countries to see who offered the fastest and easiest insurance to take out, and I realized that instant insurance as told by my executive friend is still not available, at least not in that magical way as I told it in the forum. The only options I could find were introduced in a questionnaire in which I had to provide such a quantity of data, that made me give up the attempt, and of course if I had gone ahead with the process I would have lost the attraction I was looking for from immediacy.
Reflecting a little on this reality, I realized that the existing technologies of Big Data, advanced analytics and mobility allow us to support this idea of instant insurance. However, from a technical point of view, there are important challenges such as being able to have the profile of the policyholder, with the necessary level of detail according to the nature of the risk, knowledge of the nature of the risk itself and integration with the back office systems of the insurer.
They are all complex when considered from the perspective of existing operations and systems, so it becomes necessary:
1/Enrich the company's relationship with the insured, to increase the knowledge of the insured and his/her needs. Mobile applications are a very important, although not exclusive, tool for this purpose.
2/ Establish joint operations with Banking Institutions or with Telecommunications companies that have a large customer base and a detailed knowledge of their needs and interests, as well as the technical and legal means to carry out these instantaneous contracts.
3/ Provide back office systems with an API architecture that facilitates interaction with mobility applications.
Although I am aware of the complexity involved, I am still excited about the next time I will go for a run outside my usual environment and find myself with an offer from my insurance company or my trusted bank that will give me coverage and security while I enjoy my activity, for one euro. This is the challenge that my executive friend posed
