Consumers continue to change daily and are now more willing to share data concerning their health and lifestyle habits with the insurance firms in the hope that premiums will be reduced. Things keep on changing, consumers are not left behind. Recently, new evidence on the expectations of people from insurance firms has shown many changes that need to be worked on for the industry to grow.
Research and survey dubbed “Global Insurance Consumer Study” of more than forty-seven thousand people were contacted around the world, determined that consumers have reached a point where they are comforted sharing information and data to insurers. Even though the same survey shown consumer trust in insurers to take care of the same data has gone down, this has not stopped them from sharing information with them.
Mr. Kenneth Saldanha, an insurance lead in Accenture Global added that he saw great desire that was reflected by the change in their living patterns. In addition, he noted a shift in usage and behavior-based pricing too. All that has been realized by the willingness of customers to share data that is being used to provide them with the right pricing that is aligned with the behavior. For all these to happen trust has been the key factor from both parties that have provided confidence that the data is going to be used accurately but not to be misused.
A lot has changed during this time of the covid-19 pandemic and the world of auto insurance has become a talk of the day. Usage-based insurance is what everyone is getting accustomed to and many markets, globally are moving towards that due to the new norm of working remotely, at home too. The change of what customers want has affected the way insurance works nowadays, behavior changes at home during this pandemic has impacted a lot on what customers want and insurance has left that room for a change because if this is not taken care then the business will be affected by the changes.
For example, personal cyber insurance covers can be affected when, for instance, Wi-Fi router becomes more secure, by having stronger antivirus, combining it with hard to guess Wi-Fi password. In so doing, that behavior change means that this individual will feel that paying personal cyber insurance may be something that he or she does not need, therefore for this to work out, lowering pricing for such should be wise. Paying less will be a wise decision for insurance cover to continue. Such information would help insurers to know how to price their policies so that to stay relevant in the market.
Accenture survey showed that most respondents were willing to share data to insurers concerning their health, exercise and even driving habits in exchange for lowering prices. There was also mistrust from thirty-two percent of consumers. Mistrust is not only caused by the insurance industry alone, but it is being witnessed everywhere. Mr. Saldanha noted that there was a general sense of sensitivity and increased fear among consumers due to an increase in risk.
Loss of confidence is not something that should cause alarm, as insurers have nothing to do with it, but it needs to be taken care of. Insurance companies should rise to the occasion and show that they have the man-power to deal with it by having the right data resiliency, putting in place security in their systems, and having response measures in place in the event the worse happens. Insurers should have a conversation with organizations so that they put the right technology infrastructure to guard themselves against cybersecurity attacks so that there is surety for information and data.
