Using data to influence behaviour: Deloitte Insurtech Summit

Insurers have long relied on data to inform their underwriting models. But they can also leverage data to encourage policyholders to engage in less risky behaviours.

That was part of the message delivered by Scott Loong, co-founder and CEO of Covera, at the 2018 Deloitte Insurtech Summit in Toronto on Wednesday.

“The use of data is, in some ways, informative to creating new and better underwriting models,” Loong said during a panel discussion on artificial intelligence and the customer journey. “When telematics was the number one topic in Insurtech a few years ago, it was really about ‘How can we have this device that we place in your car or embed in your phone and use it to accurately underwrite your risk profile?’”

But telematics and the collection of policyholder data in general have come a long way since then.

“I think one of the biggest challenges from the collection of all this data and really getting value from it isn’t so much tuning your underwriting model,” Loong said. “I think what’s really exciting is if you can use that information to try to induce customers to be safer. What you’re really looking to do is elicit a behavioural change in your customers such that either the severity or likelihood of claims is reduced.”

Just like Fitbits can encourage people to pursue a healthier lifestyle, it stands to reason that telematics can influence driver behaviour.

“When someone has a Fitbit…do they keep it on and become a healthier person as a result?” Loong said. “That’s what I think is the next step.”

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This story was originally published by Canadian Insurance Top Broker.