13 Emerging Techs: How Insurers Are Progressing | Insurance Networking News

There are several different ways to categorize the emerging technologies that are impacting the insurance industry, according to SMA partner Mark Breading. His Emerging Tech in P&C Insurance: 2016 & Beyond report, discussed technologies from the physical realm, like drones and the Internet of Things, and the virtual realm, like artificial intelligence and blockchain, and evaluates how insurers are doing in incorporating them into their businesses.

"Although new opportunities and new value propositions often involve the combination of multiple technologies, it is still instructive to assess the technologies individually to understand which are likely to contribute most to industry transformation, where insurers are already actively engaged, and what insurer investment plans are for the future," Breading explains.

1. Internet of Things -- Power Player

Power players are technologies that have been on the radar for a couple years now, and more than 50% of the respondents to SMA's survey indicating investmentsin production or plans to leverage them. Chief among these is the Internet of Things, which Breading expects to be fully embraced by commercial lines insurers first. That's because personal lines insurers will depend on consumer adoption to fully leverage the technology, while commercial lines companies have more leeway to assign devices to customers.

2. Drones/aerial imagery -- Power Player

Six percent of insurers are already using drones, including Erie Insurance, Allstate, and USAA, mostly to help expedite the claims process. SMA predicts that "virtually every P&C insurer" will be using drones within five years.

3. Autonomous/driverless vehicles -- Power Player

Within the decade, the emergence of driverless cars will shake up insurance, Breading writes. As with the IoT, commercial insurers are likely to be impacted by the shift first, since public transportation and commmercial fleets will turn over faster.

via www.insurancenetworking.com