Change to not be blown away. From Google and Amazon. It is the alarm bell sounded by the Italian Insurtech Association which photographs a reality full of contradictions. While Italians – who remain among the least insured in the world – appreciate digital, traditional companies are reluctant to change their distribution model.
In short, despite the fact that 47% of those who bought a policy in the last year did it digitally, the sector is still struggling to establish itself on the market. According to the association’s research, 73% of consumers make sure by still turning to trusted intermediaries, a symptom of an undeveloped digital offer, which leads the customer to choose traditional sales channels, in the absence of competitive alternatives. However, the penetration of digital policies is starting to make its way: almost 50% of those who bought insurance in 2021 chose digital insurance and of these 93% say they are satisfied with the product purchased.
“Digital sales channels must also represent a clear tool for training and educating the consumer-buyer” says the president of the Italian Insuretech Association, Simone Ranucci Brandimarte, according to whom to respond to the consumer’s digital demand “it is necessary for the market to evolve in size and types of products (pay-per-use, parametric, on-demand policies, etc.) that can be distributed directly, embedded or through networks of intermediaries “.
Among the drivers on which the insurance industry must focus to fill this market gap we find: embedded insurance, i.e. the sale of an insurance product within another product or service purchased digitally, and investing in further digitization. networks and intermediaries.
“The digital transition in the insurance sector is accelerating: if worldwide in 2020 digital policies represented only 23% of the total, it is estimated that in 2030 they will reach 80%, but the insurance supply chain must be ready to welcome this change” he adds. Ranucci Brandimarte. Also because the alternative is that consumers turn directly to big names like Google and Amazon, whose increasing role within the industry can shift the balance of the market. A risk confirmed by 75% of respondents say they would buy insurance online from companies in the tech sector.
«The advent of new players in the insurance sector implies the need to increase the understanding of this new digital offer, if the industry does not want to lose competitiveness. Understanding products is one of the great barriers to accessing the insurance market and that is why companies must invest in education programs, aimed both at workers in the supply chain, broadening the offer, but also at consumers who must understand the value of such solutions. Suffice it to say that in Italy 73% of people who practice sports have not activated insurance, although thanks to pay-per-use policies, it is possible to insure and pay for the individual sporting event ». concludes Simone Ranucci Brandimarte.