LAST WORDS: BOOK REVIEW
How to avoid extinction – and other tips for insurers Susanne Chishti and her team of expert editors have produced a manual for digital evolution and it’s essential reading, says Will Dove
“There is such a strong general distrust in the insurance industry that many customers still retain a desperate need to look into the eyes of a broker they hope will still be there in the event of a claim.” These are the words of Steve Tunstall, CEO and co-founder of Inzsure, taken from his article Why Is Insurance Failing?, one of the first pieces to feature in The InsurTECH Book. In it he explains why there is currently such a ‘reservoir of ill will’ against insurance companies, and points at the areas that firms need to communally address in order to eradicate the industry’s unscrupulous reputation (spoiler alert: those are speed, security and transparency). For some, the title of Steve’s article may be somewhat hard to swallow. How can a 300-year-old industry, worth more than £25billion in the UK alone, be failing? Well, when you consider that the majority of the practices employed by major insurers haven’t been updated since the early 1980s, it’s safe to say that something needs to change. At its core, the insurance industry is based upon trust – promises shared between the insurer and policyholder that, when times are tough, it’ll be there to help. How can a customer trust a company whose systems pre-date Pentium processors? What’s needed here is some sort of
manual on how to leverage modern technology to reinvigorate insurance processes and incite digital transformation across a stagnant industry. Handily subtitled The Insurance Technology Handbook for Investors, Entrepreneurs and FinTech Visionaries, if ever there was a book to rescue an entire industry from the brink of fossilisation, this is it. Much like its siblings, The FinTECH Book and The WealthTECH Book, The InsurTECH Book is the product of an innovative crowdsourcing model, with 75 authors from across the sector each contributing one article each. Once again, Susanne Chishti, editor-in-chief for the trilogy, and her team of highly esteemed editors, have successfully grouped the articles into nine distinct chapters, each of which addresses a particular focal point for the insurtech revolution. Where The InsurTECH Book differs from the others is in its broader geographical perspective. With more than 92 per cent of insurance purchases being made online in China and thriving insurtech ecosystems developing across Latin America and East Africa, it was imperative that The InsurTech Book took the time to analyse why these regions have become such a hotbed of innovation. The editors have dedicated an entire chapter to this topic, entitled ‘Internationalizing
If ever there was a book to rescue an entire industry from the brink of fossilisation, this is it
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InsurTech’, with a view to informing the book’s European and American readers of the truly global movement that’s taking place. With any luck, they may even be able to learn a thing or two from these more rebellious regions. As we rapidly approach the year 2020, the time is nigh for the insurance industry to leapfrog the first two decades of the 21st Century and jump straight into the third. If I had my way, a copy of The InsurTECH Book would be deposited on the desk of every major insurance company CEO across the land. That way, we might finally be able to change the meaning of the ‘I’ in insurance from inactivity to innovation.
The INSURTECH Book: The Insurance Technology Handbook for Investors, Entrepreneurs and FinTech Visionaries is published in paperback and Kindle editions by John Wiley & Sons. Great for: Insurers feeling confused about how to stop providing paltry policies and start offering cutting-edge cover. Best read: Bit by bit whenever you need it, just like your new car insurance policy. Good read rating: ★★★★★
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