Big tech innovation and connecting up NPS

Hello all.

Off the back last week’s geeking out on how willing people are to buy insurance from Amazon and Google, here’s another little gem I came across.

There’s a phrase that I’m sure you’ll have heard plenty of times over the past few years:
‘Customers only speak to insurers once a year, on renewal.
And if it’s more often, then it’s to make a claim.
In either case, it tends to be pretty bad experience.’

What I’ve not seen, until recently, is any hard data supporting the value of connecting with customers more frequently.

And then lo and behold I stumbled across this Bain study from last year. A few interesting nuggets:

• Most insurers have not seen a significant rise in their Net Promoter Score since 2014
• 34% of customers say they do not interact even once a year with their insurer
• Customers with connected devices interact 19 times a year with their carriers

The most interesting part – customers with connected devices give their insurers higher NPS ratings. And in theory, higher NPS means better retention, and increased up-sell and referral.

If you’re looking for a few more $$ in the business, it might be worth reconsidering your data strategy.

The art of the possible
Some tech innovation coming out of Estonia will be hitting the UK shores shortly. Cachet has closed a Seed round of €1.1m as it eyes expanding into Nordics, Poland, and the UK.

Another in the property rental/sharing space is the UK’s Urban Jungle that raised an extra £1.6m…on top of the £2.5m it reported back in March. Earlier this week, the company revealed that in spite of lockdown, it’s growing at more than 20% per month. Good work team.

The last from the UK that caught my eye is super early stage Rnwl, that announced a pre-Seed crowdfunding campaign. Interestingly it’s pitching itself as the ‘first ever over-the-top insurance platform’.

There’s no slowdown on the partnering front.

I liked this one. Suncorp has launched a new auto product via BingleGo, which rewards people with a 20% discount on their monthly policies when they opt to use other forms of transport (such as walking, cycling or public transport) rather than their car. Bingle Go uses telematics technology from Trōv to detect the mode of transport used.

Keeping with mobility and commercial auto insurtech Inshur has partnered with La Parisienne Assurances to launch a new insurance product for Uber/private hire drivers across The Netherlands. It’ll enable them to quote and buy insurance immediately online with just a few clicks.

And Concirrus has partnered with an online valuation and data provider VesselsValue, to further enhance Concirrus’ underwriting capabilities with new data including real-time fluctuations in global shipping fleet market values.

In the US Travelers has developed new features for its personal insurance app, Traverse, with South African insurtech Pineapple. The new product uses insurtech Pineapple’s image recognition technology, and helps customers buy a policy in under a minute.

It looks like Singapore’s hotting up, with healthcare startup HealthifyMe set to launch corporate programmes and expand its user base there. And China Life has revealed plans to hire more than 500 consultants in there too, as it aims to target high net worth individuals and bring Chinese insurtech solutions to Singapore.

Who doesn’t love some more Big Tech news?
With the talk of Amazon and Google’s insurance playbook last week, there’s plenty more from both to report.

John Hancock has linked the new Amazon wearable and health platform, Halo, to its Vitality program. Amazon has been working with John Hancock since Autumn 2018 to explore potential opportunities in the health space.

In the mobility space, Amazon’s set up a new team at its Cambridge R&D centre to expand upon its work in autonomous delivery technology in the UK. And it has been allowed to kick off trials for commercial deliveries via drone by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Finally, just the one line for Google this week. They’ve partnered with the US Department of Defence to provide an AI-powered cancer diagnostic system, which will help enhance cancer diagnoses through AR microscopes overlaid with Artificial Intelligence.

If you’d like more on either, or to get a better sense of how the markets are changing, give me a shout. The team has been doing a load of research into this recently.

Last but not least…
Frederik Jung Abbou, one of the founders of telehealth startup Kry, has given a rare interview about the Swedish startup scene and developing startups. Having co-founded eight startups, two of which have been valued at around a billion dollars, it’s worth a read.

And unsurprisingly (because I literally can’t open a website without their ads popping up) the pay-per-mile insurance By Miles has reported a 75% surge in sales since January 2020, citing Covid-19 bringing in new interest. Strong number By Miles.

To be clear, humble isn’t a word I hear often so I’m taking it.

And so, we’ve pulled some case studies on our site. What’s a better endorsement of our business than showing the value our clients get from working with?

• Creating new futures with BGL Group
• Market and trend analysis for HUK-COBURG
• Strengthening Ageas’ tech innovation with leading market intelligence

With that, time to call it a day. I have a climbing frame to move across a garden and a lawn to mow.

Keep well and do drop me a line if you’d like to catch up on any active project work.

Matt

Sønr is the world-leading market intelligence platform created specifically for the insurance sector. It provides you with the knowledge and tools to stay relevant, compete and plan for the future.

Try out a 14-day trial of Sønr to access intelligence on market trends, competitor playbooks, and disruptive tech innovation companies globally. Plus collaboration tools to help you track and manage tech innovation activity across your organization.

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