As pressures on the insurance and InsurTech sector mount, companies are teaming up to bolster their services and improve their capabilities.
According to Insurance News, KMPG reported that insurance carriers are focusing their efforts on building alliances with InsurTechs as they explore emerging technologies.
The company said it expects increasing investment from both carriers and non-carriers, closer partnerships between platform brands and insurers on distribution, a growing focus on embedded insurance and more investment in unique commercial insurance solutions.
Indeed, partnership and alliances in the InsurTech sector are many, with a handful taking place each week. Here are a few of the most notable that took place in 2022.
Flood InsurTech Previsico and Zurich
Previsico, the live flood warning InsurTech, and Zurich Municipal partnered to boost flood risk resilience across the UK public sector.
Previsico’s solution uses a combination of rainfall nowcasts and forecasts to provide updated warnings. The companies said this partnership is a “game changer” for the public sectors, particularly local authorities who are responsible for flood response plans locally.
Zurich will fund the service.
The partnership comes as flood risk in the UK is on the rise. The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Report highlighted this. The report states that unless further action is taken, under a scenario in which the planet warms by two degrees Celsius by 2100, annual damages from flooding for non-residential properties across the UK will increase by 27% by 2050.
According to the two companies, surface water flooding makes up almost 60% of UK flood risk, with Environment Agency warnings only covering the other 40% for major rivers and the sea.
Previsico’s system will offer 48-hour forecasts every three hours at specific district level. As soon as the system identifies a location is at risk of surface water flooding, a warning is sent to a relevant contact. This means that resilience measures can be put in place and valuable assets such as property can be protected, or art and vehicles moved.
Tractable and Root Insurance
Root Insurance, a public US-based InsurTech company, teamed up with InsurTech100 company Tractable at the start of the year, in a bid to bolster claims operations.
As part of the deal, Root said it will implement the Al Subro solution to help it assess and respond to subrogation demands more accurately and efficiently. The insurer will benefit from AI technology to accelerate its end-to-end claims process, beginning with subrogation.
Subrogation is the process in which two insurance carriers align on the split of expenses when multiple parties are involved in a claim. Tractable’s AI Subro solution reviews subrogation requests made by one insurance carrier to another and helps them to reach consensus more quickly and consistently.
Tractable develops AI software for accident and disaster recovery, with its solutions processing more than $2bn a year in vehicle repairs and purchases. Its technology is used by over 20 of the global top 100 insurers across Europe, North America and Asia.
Speaking on the deal, Tractable co-founder and CEO Alex Dalyac said, “It’s been exciting to watch Root’s rapid growth and to now partner together and help drive Root’s frictionless customer experience forward.”
Air Doctor and Ok Away
Medical care and travel startup Air Doctor has partnered with global travel InsurTech Ok Away.
The partnership between the two companies will allow customers to access local doctors who speak their language via a link on the Ok Away app, taking them directly to Air Doctors’ platform.
Ok Away operates an e-commerce platform for travel safety products through the app, with discussions to now extend purchase through interested airport retail outlets.
The app has also broadened its social impact footprint, incorporating a world first platform to identify missing travellers and people, alerting users within a 350km radius of where the person went missing.
Jenny Cohen Derfler, CEO, and founder of Air Doctor, said, “We are happy about teaming up with Ok Away as Air Doctor’s mission is to help people around the world when they need quality medical treatment. While we’re already operating in 75 countries, we’re always working to expand our network.”
Bolttech and Max Solutions
InsurTech unicorn bolttech has partnered with Max Solutions Service, a subsidiary of PTG, to offer insurance on the card’s Max Me application.
boltech is an international InsurTech with a mission to build the world’s leading, technology-enabled ecosystem for protection and insurance.
The company serves customers in 30 markets across North America, Asia, and Europe.
Max Solution Service Company Limited is a subsidiary of PTG with a mission to enhance the potential of electronic financial systems.
According to a report from Incubees, the partnership will see the launch of insurance products on Max Me application.
The company said it is committed to developing the electronic money service system via the Max Me application. Max Solution’s aim is to be the leading electronic money service system among energy companies, in responding to the needs of the digital society
Poweredby bolttech’s insurance exchange, the Max Me application will provide Max Card customers with a quick and easy way to purchase insurance from a full suite of products including vehicle, travel, and accident insurance, among others.
Socotra’s slew of partnerships
Socotra, a modern core platform provider for insurers, revealed in September that twelve insurance technology providers joined its marketplace to publish modern software apps.
Socotra App MarketPlace is built on Socotra’s cloud platform, and according to the company, enables insurers to eliminate integration projects and add new solutions and services in minutes.
Socotra recently revealed its twelve InsurTech partners, which include CAPE Analytics, an instant property intelligence for buildings across the US and Canada for residential and commercial property stakeholders.
Fulcrum Digital, which offers digital transformation, machine learning and emerging technologies, as well as software aimed at insurance, also joined the group.
Another company in the cohort is Coherent. The InsurTech offers a low/no-code SaaS platform that ‘API-ifies’ Excel. With this, companies can reduce workflows from taking days and hours into minutes.
According to Socotra, as insurers seek to stay competitive and introduce new products and features at unprecedented speeds, they are increasingly looking to advanced technology solutions that accelerate time-to-market and modernise every aspect of the insurance value chain, from user experience to underwriting to claims.
However, Socotra said, integrating these modern technologies is often impossible due to inflexible legacy core systems.
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