New technological trends in insurance software help both the insurers and their clients — either by encouraging better driving or by providing a seamless onboarding experience. The increase in data has enabled insurers to manage risk while promoting physical and fiscal well-being.
Data is shared using open-source protocols between companies and industries, which provides a great opportunity for insurance carriers.
Choosing the right insurance software minimizes fraud, automates tasks, and reduces expenses. This enables insurance companies to spend their resources on other critical tasks such as generating new leads.
Let’s take a closer look at the software solutions that are disrupting the insurance industry.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things describes physical items with built-in sensors that collect and share real-time data with other devices or software solutions. The use of smart devices has exponentially increased over the last couple of years.
Wearable devices such as smartwatches and smart home appliances have supplied an incredible amount of actionable data. And insightful data is an absolute necessity for insurance companies.
Telematics
Telematic devices are installed in vehicles and they collect information on speed, distance traveled, and accidents. Insurers use this data to determine policy premium rates.
For instance, it used to be the case that the insurer would ask a series of questions as a way of setting the price of a car insurance policy. Obviously, the responses the insurer would get weren’t very accurate.
Now, insurance providers can set better prices if they have reliable data streaming from telematics devices and don’t rely on inaccurate data from customers.
Machine Learning Shows A lot of Promise
Machine learning describes the use of sophisticated AI-driven software that relies on neural networks to process data and make decisions without human assistance. The machine learning software learns from the various datasets it processes so that it’s able to reach conclusions on its own.
Machine learning programs are able to uncover inconspicuous relationships between data points, which enables them to make inferences and predictions.
This is why machine learning is so exciting.
However, the accuracy and insight of machine learning programs depend largely on the quality of data that it analyzes.
Also, properly implementing machine learning solutions is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking.
The Importance of Business Rules Engine
Business rules engines are low-code platforms designed to help insurers harness the expertise of their teams. Also known as a business rules management system, a rules engine empowers non-technical and business users across the insurance company.
Insurance carriers are constantly making updates to their products, so they need to get to market with new services immediately. This used to be a lengthy process that required an experienced software engineer to write countless lines of code. It would typically take many weeks, sometimes even months to introduce new products.
Business rules engines were created to solve this serious problem.
A business rules engine is a powerful piece of software that manages business rules. Think of business rules as if-then statements that help run critical tasks of any business. Rules give instructions to your enterprise software that runs a company. Business rules engines automate critical and time-consuming tasks while reducing expensive errors.
Business rules can represent various business best practices, goals, laws, and regulations.
However, the reason why rules engines are a vital piece of insurance technology is that they empower non-technical staff to manage rules in runtime.
Using Business Rules Engines and Internet of Things
Insurance companies need to analyze the huge amounts of data they collect from IoT devices in order to develop products and set better rates. In other words, a tool that can make changes and introduce new rules will help them make sense of their data and give them a competitive edge.
By using real-time information they get from IoT devices, insurers can help clients minimize risk and reduce costs.
For example, if the temperature in the house reaches a certain degree and the fire alarm isn’t functioning, then the insurer should contact the insured to make sure that no one is in danger.
This way insurance companies partner up with their customers to promote their financial and physical well-being.
Conclusion
The solutions reviewed in this article will help insurance carriers to revolutionize everything they do — from generating qualified leads, and product development, to underwriting and fraud prevention.
Modern consumers want customized products and are even willing to offer their personal information for them. Insurance companies can now use a wide range of robust solutions to automate mission-critical tasks and while responding to changing market conditions in real-time.
