The pandemic raised consumer demand for digitised insurance services, necessitated by worldwide business restrictions. However, it also sparked a more subtle change in consumer behaviour – it brought to the fore the importance of having adequate protection policies in place. In many cases nowadays, customers are looking for Insurance plans that offer the right type of cover, and access to policy help when they need it, 24/7, 365 days of the year.
With this in mind, insurance companies and MGAs are under pressure to re-imagine their insurance distribution channels. They must find streamlined ways to reach their customers and boost their propositions. Additionally, they must ensure they are not wasting time and resources on costly R&D projects that may not turn out to be profitable in the long term.
Modular low/no-code insurance product management tools like Insly allow you to build and distribute effective insurance services. It comes fully equipped to help MGAs and insurers set up automated workflows to suit direct-to-consumer, broker-enabled, and embedded insurance distribution models.
This post will offer tips on modernising your insurance distribution strategy to appeal to IT leaders, brokers, and customers by getting the most from Insly’s highly-customisable distribution toolkit.
The future of insurance distribution methods
- Buy-and-build distribution models: There has been an uptick of Private Equity investment in the insurance industry since 2020. Investors see great opportunities to employ buy-and-build strategies which consist of buying and merging a number of mid-sized portfolios to maximise profitability.
Automated insurance distribution tools make sharing Policy Admin Software (PAS) functions with third parties easy. You can maintain secure systems by managing access while your brand progresses through the M&A process.
- Embedded Insurance: The embedded insurance industry is expected to grow to $722 billion in gross written premiums (GWP) by 2030. It’s a popular distribution model for gadget insurance as policy terms are simplified enough to agree upon at the point of sale. Embedded insurance software enables insurance carriers to manage these policies through low-touch, automated systems. Embedded insurance products may be a profitable service offering for tech brands or companies with little in-house insurance expertise. Platforms like Insly enable providers to work directly with insurance brands to ensure that their bolt-on cover services are adequately maintained through the customer lifecycle.
- Direct-to-consumer distribution models: Direct insurance distribution models allow customers to buy insurance without needing an intermediary. Insurance brands retain complete control of their policy terms through rules-based algorithms. In many cases, for simple insurance plans, insurance management platforms can handle the entire customer journey – from the initial quote to claims settlement – with little to no human input. This distribution model is an excellent proposition for MGAs or insurers who want to cut costs in hiring intermediaries.
Strategies for modernising insurance product management
Expanding your distribution channels can help your company innovate and gain a competitive edge. However, your distribution strategies must work for all parties to transform your business model effectively. Here are three key areas where you may want to focus your time and investments.
Customer-centricity
Customers demand a simplified experience of your products and services from the moment they interact with your advertisements while scrolling on social media. Insurance management platforms like Insly can streamline the customer onboarding process from start to finish.
For example, you can integrate your insurance underwriting tools into CRM systems, notifying customers when it’s time to review or renew their policies. Plus, you can use automated underwriting platforms to reduce the time it takes to underwrite a claim by up to four hours. Going above and beyond in offering your customers a personalised, digital-first experience is key to winning over younger insurance buyers.
Broker/third-party distribution channels
Brokers have always been the most popular distribution channel for riskier insurance products. It is likely this will not change.
However, consider the flexibility of your workforce and find methods that allow your companies to maximise on your team’s expertise and minimise their time spent on non-core business tasks.
For example, explore your capabilities for working with third-parties, internal sales desks, and hybrid agents (who utilise both physical and digital channels) to grow your business. Secure cloud system access is essential. Insly provides a customisable, PAS system, allowing you to control broker access, commission rates, payment processing etc from one central dashboard.
No/low-code insurance product tools
Updating your distribution channels will be very challenging for firms that still rely on legacy systems to complete their processes. Therefore, any insurance distribution strategy must include plans for moving away from outdated workflows. Insly offers an affordable way to build your tech stack to meet your evolving distribution infrastructure.
You can add on services and API integration with no coding experience required. Investing in modular insurance product building and distribution tools allow you to make changes, analyse, and update your propositions without wasting time and resources on R&D costs.
Insly can help you expand your business’ capacity and cost-efficiency
With the help of Insly’s no-code platform, you can quickly begin exploring new distribution channels while maintaining complete control of your critical business data and IT costs.
We have over 20 years of expertise in the insurtech sector and have established a sizable network of specialists in both insurance and technology. Please get in touch now if you want to see a demo of our platform’s capabilities.
