With technology continually revolutionizing the way people communicate, the relationship between company and consumer is also changing at a rapid rate. The insurance industry is not immune to the evolving expectations of consumers, and the recent partnership between Kanetix Ltd. and ClientDesk Inc. will help insurance providers to connect with their clients in ways they’ve come to expect from leading service providers.
Evolving consumer expectations lead to disruption
ClientDesk and Kanetix have come together to offer a consumer-facing mobile self-service application that allows insurance providers to connect with their clients and vice-versa, ultimately improving the relationships between brokerages, brokers, intermediaries and customers.
“We are living in the digital age, where a transaction or a request can be completed with the tap of button. Consumer behaviours and expectations have evolved and the insurance industry needs to embrace this to thrive,” says ClientDesk co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Newton Asare. “The insurance industry was ripe for disruption, and we took the opportunity to digitize it.”
Evolving technology leads to a full suite
ClientDesk is a full-suite cloud-based platform that specializes in making insurance services available through mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Though this pilot solution is currently limited to personal auto and property insurance, there are plans to expand to other products such as life, travel and health. With the application, policyholders can manage their policies on the go with instant access to:
- quotes from different insurers;
- live chat with brokers or agents;
- view e-documents (insurance policies, certificates, pink slips, billing notices, etc.);
- submit policy change requests (i.e. changes to personal information, addresses or phone numbers);
- track scheduled items such as electronics or jewelry.
The platform also allows policyholders to submit claims with instant geo-data and media attachments to support the claim, including personal information of the parties involved, pictures of the accident scene, damaged vehicles and items, and other important information.
A match made in the DMZ
While ClientDesk is a recent Toronto-based startup born out of Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), Kanetix Ltd. is a major online insurance marketplace and has years of experience in digital hosting and technology services within the insurance industry.
“As a business strategy advisor at the Ryerson’s DMZ, I’ve been able to see the evolution of this platform from the beginning,” says Andrew Lo, Chief Operating Officer at Kanetix. “ClientDesk is enabling the insurance industry to engage with their clients on their mobile devices, something that Kanetix is pleased to be apart of.”
Launched in 1999, Kanetix became Canada’s first online insurance marketplace. As a comparison service, they work with over 70 partners and provides over a million quotes per year to consumers looking for insurance, mortgage rates and credit cards. They also offer Software as a Service (SaaS), and have become the leading provider of online insurance quotation systems for Canada’s largest insurance brands.
Supported by the power of two …
“The partnership between ClientDesk and Kanetix is a perfect match and the combination of the two entities will allow us to serve the industry better than we could have done on our own,” says Asare. “Working together, insurance companies and brokerages now have the power of two companies focused on product delivery, implementation, hosting, maintenance.”
Monique Huston is a communications specialist at Kanetix Ltd.