INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Insurers Increase Digital Focus After Pandemic
Insurers show diverse opinions on what is part of a “digital strategy,” with different insurers clustering around different key functions, according to a new council study from Novarica. Of the participants surveyed, only 40% of insurers have a formal digital strategy, but most claim at least a set of best practices. Read more.

AI Technology Investments To Increase
Artificial intelligence is set to shape the future of the banking and insurance ecosystem, according to a new global report by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), commissioned by ThoughtSpot, which analyzes the sentiments of 200 business executives and C-suite leaders at banks and insurance companies. Read more.

U.S. Cyber Insurance Market Update: Aon
Aon plc is pleased to announce the release of the fifth edition of its U.S. Cyber Market Update. The annual report covers the cyber insurance industry's 2019 performance, aiming to equip insurers that currently offer cyber, and those looking to offer it, with insights and performance benchmarks. Read more.

Clearpay Launches Vendor Payment Portal
ClearPay, the leader in automating payment settlements and reconciliation for the insurance industry, is pleased to announce that it is extending payment services for vendors to brokerages in the P&C Insurance sector. Read more.

U.S. Agents Divided On Digital Experience
The annual survey of U.S. independent insurance agents from Channel Harvest Research shows insurance at a crossroads when it comes to ease of doing business and a divergence between agents who value the personal touch and those who promote self-service. Read more.

Connected Devices Build Customer Loyalty
With increasing costs, customer retention is becoming a key battleground for traditional carriers, and home insurance policies can provide an opening for carriers to build relationships with their customers like never before. Consumers are discovering the benefits of connected devices, which are creating new data streams for insurance carriers to use for customer engagement. The latest Aite Group report explores how matching the use of connected devices with personalized advice programs can increase communication points with customers, enabling better marketing and claims efforts while building trust. Read more.

April Launches SNAP Direct Billing Solution
APRIL Canada's new direct billing solution leverages SNAP's innovative technology to allow brokers to facilitate a cash-flow friendly, '11 equal payments' option on every policy. Read more.

iA Financial Launches New Life Product
iA Financial Group is pleased to announce the launch of iA PAR, its all new participating life insurance product designed for clients looking to maximize their estate value, gain access to a source of liquidity and diversify their investments. Read more.

Self-Driving Cars May Not Eliminate Crashes
Driver mistakes play a role in virtually all crashes. That's why automation has been held up as a potential game changer for safety. But autonomous vehicles might prevent only around one third of all crashes if automated systems drive too much like people, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Read more.

Residential Builders Risk Policies In Minutes
US Assure, the exclusive program administrator for the Builders Risk Plan insured by Zurich, has launched a new online application called XPressBIND – an easy and rapid way for agents to issue residential builders risk policies. Read more.

Sun Life Advisors Host 55,000 Virtual Individual Client Meetings During Pandemic
Sun Life Canada has accelerated its digital transformation to make it easier for cients to get the help and advice they need. At a time when health and financial security are top of mind for all Canadians, Sun Life is delivering innovative solutions for clients and advisors when they need us most. Read more.

Websites Surpass Agents In Auto CX Study
Digital transformation is disrupting the auto insurance industry. For the first time in the 21-year history of the J.D. Power U.S. Auto Insurance Study, insurance company websites have surpassed agents in terms of importance to client interaction and service by providing higher customer satisfaction, according to the 2020 edition. Read more.

Aon Collaborating With The Climate Service
Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, is pleased to announce a collaboration with The Climate Service to help clients understand and manage climate risks today and into the future. Read more.

Key Technologies That Enable
The Future Of Work
Free webinar — Wednesday, June 17

Answering Questions With A.I. Tools

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The InsurTech Spotlight features insurance practitioners and InsurTech(nology) providers which are – or are becoming – InsurTechs. In the spotlight this week are:

Micruity
We're partnering with life insurers and fund managers to transform the way employees save for retirement. We aim to be the unbiased, central clearinghouse to provide the real-time and secure data exchanges needed by plan sponsors and recordkeepers to add life annuities to their defined contribution plans. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug The InsurTech Spotlight includes both ‘InsurTech startups’ and companies which have transformed into InsurTechs – agile, innovative, customer-focused, and running on the latest technologies. InsurTechs born from other companies may have access internally to capital to fund development and growth or, like most startups, may depend on outside investors such as venture capital firms. The various comments and predictions about investment trends in the InsurTech sphere has been fascinating. Those which have solid planning and are experiencing growth will obviously have better ongoing access to funding than those which have less to offer in the sense of management, opportunity niche, progress through the early stages, and so on. Then there is the pandemic. After three months, has the availability of funds changed? Tomorrow, will there be more, the same, or less? The direction of InsurTech as a force for change hangs in the balance. After the crash of 1929, the stock market didn't hit bottom until July 1932, three years later, down some 89%. Does anyone have a crystal ball? Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca