2018 ICTA Winner, Finalists & Nominees

The 2018 ICTA nominees are shown below. The winners and finalists were selected by our jury from among the nominations, based on consideration of the benefits relative to the investment. The executive summary of each nomination is posted here, along with a link to a lengthier description. Each nomination summary was provided as part of the nomination.

The winners were announced at the ICTA awards ceremony on Tuesday, February 27, part of the 2018 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference at the Beanfield Centre, Toronto. See photos from the ceremony.

Jump to the winners, finalists or nominees – or browse the alphabetized list below (finalists are marked with an asterisk ‘*’). And don't forget to check out the results of the People's Choice Award.

OTIP

Capturing the Digital Age Customer

In the last two years, OTIP embraced a journey of Capturing the Digital Age Customer. This came with a significant financial investment and organizational commitment to challenge the status quo and commit a 40-year-old brokerage to work differently. A new open space office was opened in Cambridge, Ontario – home to our Innovation Hub. The Hub was given a mandate to establish core agile practices with an innovative mindset to succeed or fail fast capturing the hearts and minds of the digital customer.

Several technology platforms formed a new Digital channel allowing our customers the flexibility to interact with us in their preferred way. The customer engagement and digital marketing foundation was built by implementing Salesforce.com, Applied Epic and consumer facing tools – mobile enabled websites and Kanetix online quoting solutions.

We achieved 125% increase in net new sales growth and improved customer retention currently at 94%.

Kanetix Ltd. — Machine Learning

Kanetix.ca Adds Value With Machine Learning

Kanetix.ca, Canada's largest comparison website for insurance quotes, leveraged the digital marketing expertise of Kanetix Digital to triple their margins by applying the power of offline conversion tracking and data integration, as well as machine learning, to their digital advertising.

Kanetix.ca has been a proponent of the machine learning capabilities available in Google AdWords for over a year. However, Kanetix.ca were motivated to achieve more accurate tracking of the entire customer journey via digital marketing to achieve more control over the margin from this source of traffic. They collaborated with Kanetix Digital and Google to address the challenge with a technical solution that integrated offline event tracking into their digital marketing in Google AdWords in order to create new levels of efficiency by feeding the machine more data to optimize the performance of their digital marketing campaigns.

Kanetix.ca now fully relies on machine learning in their Google AdWords campaigns and uses it to actively influence the company's margins from digital advertising. The combination of data integration and machine learning has enabled them to triple their margins while driving nearly 40% more volume of acquired customers at a 25% reduction to cost.

Technology by Kanetix Digital.

Benecaid

Benecaid Extends Digital Service To Customers' Employees

With the 2017 launch of Honeybee, Benecaid became the first company in Canada to offer a 100% digital defined contribution benefits plan. Honeybee is an innovative and powerful tool built for Advisors and business owners. Now you can have a true defined contribution plan that takes minutes to set up online and allows employers to choose the types of benefits their employees actually want and will use. Honeybee is a fully supported solution, with expert licensed Benecaid sales support available through real-time chat or by phone.

Honeybee makes it easy for employers to understand benefits, and even easier for employees to recognize the value provided by their employers. Employers simply set the budget and select products that will be made available to their employees. Employees customize their selections and buy products using their benefit dollars, and manage their benefits using a simple and intuitive mobile app.

Accident Support Services International Ltd.

Accident Support Services Challenges Auto Claim Settlement Times

The Collision Reporting and Occurrence Management System (CROMS) has been enhanced with two additional features to further assist adjusters in providing exceptional customer service to their insureds, preventing & detecting insurance fraud, and reducing the time & costs associated with automobile claims handling.

The damage estimator tool provides a more accurate and consistent record of the repair costs expected by the insurer and in possible total loss situations a notification is sent to the insurer for immediate action.

While the citizen photograph upload feature provides insurers with the opportunity to view photographs that were taken at the scene for not only their insured but any third parties who were also involved in the collision, which will further help in fault determination and identification of creative damage, and preserves this photographic evidence for years to come.

Kanetix Ltd. — Conversion Rate Optimization

Kanetix.ca Applies InsurTech and AI to Improve Lead Generation

Kanetix Ltd began an aggressive Conversion Rate Optimization program in 2017 to improve customer experience and maximize marketing dollars spent on customer acquisition. By running weekly tests on most of the customer base, Kanetix.ca saw a lift of 37% in conversion from completed quotes to connected leads through 36 tests.

Leveraging the existing CRO program, Kanetix.ca's use of Artificial Intelligence improved the customer segmentation and conversion targeting, leading to improved conversion rates up to 65%. This technology will now be scaled across the organization to support and improve all lines of business.

Technology by Integrate.ai.

LGM Financial Services

LGM Goes Digital for Auto OEM F&I Product Definition and Dealership Sales

The LGM HUB is an information software system that supports the sale and administration of finance and insurance (F&I) products for leading automotive original equipment manufacturers and more than 1,400 dealerships across Canada. The web platform functions as an end to end order-to-cash system for F&I products sold through a dealership's Financial Services Office and is available to customers at no cost. The HUB supports the lifecycle of a customizable product suite, including product definition and pricing, product sales, contract generation, dealership invoicing and payments, claims processing, cancellations and amendments, contract expiry and comprehensive reporting.

The HUB prioritizes agility and enables seamless go-to-market capabilities. The application can bring products to market four times faster than ever before. With an innovative product configurator and dynamic pricing that sets it apart from more traditional industry standards, the HUB offers a streamlined user experience and improved profitability.

The Co-operators + CUMIS

App Helps New Home Buyers With Their Decision

Home to Be – a new mobile app that gives Ontario homebuyers all the information they need to make a smart purchasing decision.

The Co-operators and CUMIS worked together and with partners to create a digital ecosystem that brings together all the essentials – money, mortgage, real estate valuation, repair assessments, legal expertise, insurance information and more. Users type in the address of the home they're interested in and the app provides information, consumers need to understand everything they need to know about the property.

Consumers can now squash their home buying jitters with insights about the property they've been eyeing!

Technology by IBM.

Darling Insurance

Darling Insurance Builds Out Infrastructure to Better Serve Customers

Using a combination of solutions from tier 1 technology vendors and supported by the expertise and leadership from Fortify Network Solutions Inc., Darling Insurance has centralized their operations and technology infrastructure in a high availability, physically and digitally secured datacenter with enhanced disaster recovery and business continuity.

By implementing their own private cloud powered and managed by Fortify, Darling Insurance enjoyed a cost savings of 56% compared to other solutions. By taking advantage of modern next generation IT practice, Darling Insurance is able to provide a consistent, secure and reliable experience for all of their clients and partners regardless of the way they interact with them.

Technology by Fortify Network Solutions Inc.

Hamilton Township Mutual

HTM Builds A Better Quoting Experience for Prospects and Customers

HTM worked with MCCG during 2017 to design and develop an Online Quoting Solution (OQS) for the purpose of providing an easy-to-use, customer-centric web-based quoting tool for the consumer and a lead generator for the sales distribution channel (broker/agent). The tool leverages the rating and underwriting rules for personal automobile and residential product lines that exist in HTM Insurance Company's implementation of the Insurance Business Solution (IBS®).

The OQS solution has been built with a responsive design so it works on mobile devices (phones), tablets, laptops, desktops (any device).

The OQS solution provides the consumer with an elegant, on-line experience that provides (user) anonymity, transparency of premiums and a “flow” from start to finish.

Technology by Mutual Concept Computer Group.

Johnson Inc.

Providing On-Line Self-Service Options to Our Customers

In the past 12 months, Johnson Inc. has worked to deliver a wide selection of online self-service options for customers, who no longer have to make a phone call to have their home and auto policies serviced.

Josslin Insurance

Improving the Insurance Customer Digital Experience

Josslin Insurance worked with ClientDesk Inc. to develop a client-facing app featuring two-way integration with powerbroker Broker Management System. It meets client demand for increased access to their insurance such as e-docs access, change requests, broker chat, multi-media claims reporting and also provides a solution for the Ontario government-mandated electronic liability slips. The app is available to other brokers, giving them the opportunity to provide clients with a brokerage-branded, cohesive digital client experience, regardless of their insurance company provider.

A soft launch of the app through email and personal invitations gained an overall registration rate of 14.8%. Currently, the app has 153 registered users who require an average of 20 minutes of service per day. The app doesn't just save money and streamline digital integration with our client, it gives the independent broker the opportunity to be relevant to their client at an affordable rate while maintaining brand credibility.

Technology by ClientDesk and Power Broker.

Kanetix Ltd. — Insuramap

Kanetix Adds Visual Mapped Comparisons to Online Insurance Quoting

Insuramap is an interactive web tool on Kanetix.ca, Canada's largest insurance comparison site, that is used by over 30,000 Canadians every year to help visualize the variance in insurance rates by location. Users are able to compare rates by entering postal code information and visualize the most to the least expensive areas for car insurance by colour, giving them access to more information on how rates can change based on location.

KTX Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Improving the Insurance Customer Digital Experience

KTX implemented the ClientDesk platform in July 2017 as a means to drive engagement and add value to their customers through an improved digital customer experience. The early returns have seen reduced servicing loads and related cost savings, enhanced sales opportunities, increased customer engagement, and a benefit in resource smoothing.

Technology by ClientDesk.

LowestRates.ca

Serving Canadians with Rate Comparisons

LowestRates.ca is a Toronto-based Fintech company that uses proprietary quoting technology to help Canadians shop for insurance, credit cards, mortgages, and loans. By providing options from the country's most trusted financial institutions, LowestRates.ca has enabled millions of Canadians to make smarter financial decisions since launching in 2012. As proof that the technology is resonating with users, LowestRates.ca was selected as one of 'Canada's Top New Growth Companies' by PROFIT Magazine in 2016 and 2017, with annual revenue exceeding $7M. The corporate goal of LowestRates.ca is to save Canadians one billion dollars in interest and fees.

Praesto Presto Ltd.

Digital Transformation for Fiduciary Bonds

Using Kerby-Reid's online self-service FLEX platform, Praesto Presto has created a fully automated estate bond and executor/trustee E&O insurance product available to law firms across Canada.

Technology by Kerby-Reid Inc.

SSQ Insurance

SSQ Insurance Improves CX, Speed and Accuracy for Auto Insurance Quotes

With the help of Guidewire Software products and technology in collaboration with V-NEO, SSQ has implemented a fully-integrated online car quoting system that is one of the fastest and most accurate in the industry. A customer can obtain a detailed quote in only 4 steps with a total of 25 questions. A quick quote can be obtained with only 9 questions that can be answered in less than 2 minutes, which puts SSQ in third place in the market in terms of quick quotes. SSQ has selected the right questions to get an optimistic but realistic premium for both detailed and quick quotes, representing a good balance between precision and time.

Technology by Guidewire Software and V-NEO.

Announcing the Results of the 2018 ICTAs

Nominees:

Technology Providers:

2018 ICTA Winner