Two problems insurtech could solve for existing players

Attracting talent and putting legacy data to good use are two of the ways insurtech can help the industry, a claims professional says.

Chris Hampshire, vice president of carrier practice at claims services provider Gallagher Bassett Services Inc., was asked during a recent episode of A.M. Best TV whether insurtech can make the industry more attractive to prospective employees.

“I think it has to,” said Hampshire.

In the next couple of years, many new positions will open up in the insurance industry because existing workers will retire. Still, companies need to find some way of getting the work done, said Hampshire.

For example, insurtechs could help companies fill some roles by replacing repetitive task functions with automation, Hampshire suggested.

“It used to be at a conference you would say, ‘Did you come into the industry because you fell into it or because a family member got you into it?’ and 90% of the hands would go up,” said Hampshire.

“I think now we are seeing more and more new people coming into the industry,” Hampshire said during the A.M. Best episode, entitled Insurtech Can Help Insurers Repurpose Legacy Data. “They have more of an awareness of the benefits of insurance – what we offer and also the attractiveness of the career-pathing – and I do think that insurtech is going to bring more people into this space.”

Hampshire was asked about the challenges insurtech is looking to solve.

“I have often heard that insurtech is a great solution in search of a problem,” he said.

One of the problems it could solve is dealing with existing legacy data.

“The insurance companies out there have done a good job of amassing all this information about their clients and policyholders and all that, but, candidly, a lot of the systems that are out there are a little bit antiquated. We all know this is an issue.”

So this, he suggested, begs the question of whether insurtechs can devise systems and processes that will help legacy insurers and legacy brokers use data analytics to get information out to their clients and get information back from their clients. “It’s a big issue right now, so hopefully insurtechs will be able to solve that one.”