Toronto, ON (Mar. 8, 2016) – The 2016 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Award (ICTA) winners demonstrate that there are many roads to innovation in the Canadian insurance environment. But at the same time, the expert ICTA jury agreed with the popular vote on the overall winner.
Bullfrog Insurance – a Canadian brokerage, which is dedicated to commercial insurance for small business enterprises – won the top award from the jury and also took the Peoples Choice’ (PICTA) award.
Established in 2010, the ICTAs are the only juried insurance technology awards in Canada. In 2015, Insurance-Canada.ca created a second award, determined by popular vote. The primary criterion for the awards is “the positive impact that a specific technology or application of technology has had on business.”
John Belyea, Chief Operating Office of Toronto-based brokerage Moore McLean, led a group of brokers and insurers in the establishment of Bullfrog. “It was humbling and a true honour to win both the ICTA Technology Award and the People’s Choice Award at last month’s conference,” Belyea said.
According to Belyea, Bullfrog’s innovation, developed with Click Capital Corporation, is the creation of “true digital commercial insurance that combines choice with multiple quotes from a panel of insurers, breadth of product offering and a very easy-to-use once-and-done system.”
The Bullfrog product is targeted at a growing number of small business segments, but insurance is not the end. “We are partnering with other business services providers with the goal of becoming the go to marketplace for small businesses,” Belyea said.
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Beyond the Bullfrog consensus, however, the ICTA and PICTA awards cover a wide range of innovations.
Desjardins General Insurance Group took the First Runner-up ICTA for the introduction of a smartphone app, developed with Cambridge Mobile Technologies, in support of its Ajusto Usage-based Insurance (UBI) program. This is a North American first, and will improve the user experience (providing real time feedback) and will provide a more complete and balanced evaluation of driving behavior.
The Second Runner-up ICTA went to Trillium Mutual Insurance Company for the introduction of a first-of-its kind broker portal, developed with Hubio Solutions, that provides broad functionality for all farm properties including farm buildings, farm machinery, equipment, livestock and liability coverages.
Where the ICTAs leaned a bit towards the insurer side (after the winner), the PICTAs were concentrated on brokers. But only after Promutuel took the first Runner-up
As part of Promutuel Insurance‘s core system transformation and implementation of Guidewire PolicyCenter, the company had to find a creative way to train underwriters, managers, and captive agents. Promutuel with the help of V-NEO, created a new change management strategy and built an innovative e-learning platform, CAMPUS. The results of which were reduced costs, reduced learning curve, and establishment of best practices in a compressed time frame.
There was a near-tie for the PICTA Second Runners-up. Cornerstone Insurance Brokers leveraged Zywave’s Broker Briefcase, a sales, marketing and broker education platform, to move the conversation with clients and prospects from price to value. This resulted in accelerated growth and a 295% return on investment over a 10 month period.
As a result of the near-tie, an Honourable Mention PICTA was Sharp Insurance with its iMobileBroker app which provides insurance clients with immediate access to policy information, pink cards, documents, and payments. In addition, through this app, clients are able to print pink cards, request changes to their policy and submit a claim request.
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According to Doug Grant, Insurance-Canada.ca partner who manages the ICTA/PICTA awards program, the focus on impact, rather than the technology alone, allows a broad range of activities to be evaluated. “We don’t focus on any technology, or the size of the application,” Grant said, adding, “This allows our jury, and our public, to see a wide range of creative solutions and to celebrate the contribution these make to our industry.”
From the standpoint of Canadian insurance customers and the professionals that serve them, these innovations show the progressive, forward-looking side of the insurance industry.
About the ICTAs
The Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Awards celebrate the use of technology by firms – insurers, brokers, and suppliers – to improve their success in the business of P&C insurance in Canada.
For details and photos of the 2016 ICTA winners, click here.
About Insurance-Canada.ca
Since 1995, Insurance-Canada.ca Inc. has provided both consumers and insurance professionals with independent and impartial information about technology and the business of insurance in Canada.
Source: Insurance-Canada.ca Inc.
Tags: Bullfrog, Cornerstone Insurance Brokers (CSIB), Desjardins, Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Awards (ICTAs), Promutuel Insurance, Sharp Insurance, Trillium Mutual
