A few years ago, insurers were busy trying to figure out what IoT was and what it could do. But spotlighting the technology, all too often led to products and services with little customer appeal.

The lesson was clear – put customers front and center and develop services that build an exceptional experience around a device. To put it simply, the value is not in the technology itself, but in the service proposition that the technology enables.

Making the most of today’s technology, today

There are steps insurers can take to improve their connected relationships but it may involve dialing down the charge into new technologies and instead focusing on what functionalities already exist.

AmTrust Financial Services’ VP of Strategic Development, Yair Smith.  Yair Smith suggests,

“Everyone is mobile. But the mobile people have adopted penetrates deeply in some elements of their life but not others.

Lots of people are Facebooking and emailing but how many are digital insuring? As an insurer you have to use the elements they are already used to.

Do you make the customer adopt yet another app or work with them through channels they have already adopted? Once you get them to buy into what you’re doing, then perhaps you can shift them little by little,”

CEO of Generali Vitality GmbH, Simon Guest agrees, speaking from personal experience:

“I’m a big user of technology and the last place I’d expect my technology to come from is my insurance company. With children in their late teens who want to drive my car, I want them to be able to do it with the technology that I already have.

It’s the role of insurers to use the technology available and adapt services to it. How they go about doing that is the challenge.”

Gemma Watson, Theme Lead for AR / VR / MR, Drones and IoT, XL Catlin gives the commercial clients’ perspective:

“Insurance companies are not seen as technology consultants so the link is not an obvious one and there is a definite lack of trust around  sharing data.

Consumers need to be assured that the vast amount of new data coming from IoT devices is secure, especially given the rising prominence of cyber risk.”

To get more details on what it takes to develop a winning value proposition for connected insurance,
download the whitepaper “IoT Is Just A Technology!: Unlock The Value Proposition For Connected Insurance” now.

Connected Insurance Summit Europe

Yair Smith, Simon Guest and Gemma  Watson are are some of the Insurance Trailblazers, Executive Leaders and IoT Partners who will take the Stage at the Connected Insurance Summit Europe on the June 11-12 in London.

Over 2-days, join 300 of your peers to debate the future of connected insurance. Discover the new products and services that are delivering experiences worth paying for, and delve into the business case for developing a value proposition around connected technologies.

With focused workshops on the future of auto, home, health/life and commercial, plus a full 2-days of strategy and innovation sessions, you will leave with a roadmap for connected insurance that is ripe and ready for speedy implementation.

For more information, visit here: http://events.insurancenexus.com/connectedeurope/