Keeping on top of the home insurance industry takes two things. First, it requires providers to innovate on understanding risk. Second, it needs insurers to keep the customer experience as a priority. How home insurers can succeed at both of these aspects has much to do with how they use new technologies. Big Data has enormous potential to revolutionise how the insurance industry works, both for users and providers.
Industry Belief
Around 85% of insurers now believe that data and analytics will transform their industry. 57% are already using data every day. A similar number are using data to track and prevent fraud. 52% use it to improve the customer experience. With so many insurers already basing their plans on data, it seems likely that the availability of big data will make the practice universal.
Risk and Reward
Big data is likely to be used to improve insurers’ understanding of risk. Risk is a key part of a policy’s price. Therefore, understanding it better will revolutionise the industry. If insurers have a larger amount of data to analyse on clients, they will be able to draw a clearer picture of who the client is, and what their circumstances are. Equally, big data can give a clearer understanding of where homes are, and what might impact them. Fraud is not a large part of the home insurance industry. However, understanding the data of fraud makes it easy for insurers to spot the few potential cases.
Saving Time
The insurance industry requires a lot of information from its customers. This is one of the largest barriers to sale. Many people tire of the number of questions they need to answer, and give up on purchasing a policy. When buying a policy online, this can mean a lot of form-filling and typing. Big data could allow sites to pre-fill lots of information for customers. Saving customers time and effort is a large part of improving their overall experience.
Big Data Everywhere
If insurers are right, then using big data in home insurance is likely to become more and more common. This could improve the experience of both customers and insurers. Insurers will have a more accurate understanding of their clients’ risk, and customers will be saved the effort of filling forms – and saved money with more accurate quotes. Whether this happens depends on the efforts of insurers themselves.