Our conversation about the insurance industry in 2020 continues. Ellen Carney, Forrester Senior Analyst who writes about Ebusiness and Channel Strategy, shares her thoughts with Gary Cole (Xerox VP – Banking and Financial Services) about the future of “specialty” insurance products and the high-tech channels that will enable these products.  In this podcast edition, Ellen talks about how the effects of various financial crises have changed consumer behavior and what impact this behavioral change will have on carriers.  She envisions a future with “usage based insurance policies” and talks about how this emerging model can give the consumer more choice and flexibility over how they choose to pay for premiums.

Beyond new premium options, Ellen believes insurance buyers can also look forward to new choices in coverage. For those golf enthusiasts out there, specialty products like “Hole-In-One Insurance” may encourage players to work on lowering handicaps without the fear of dropping a wad of cash on drinks at the club house should they connect on a lucky par-3 shot.  Gary Cole (who is clearly a better skier than golfer) asks Ellen about the possibility of buying “ski accident insurance” by using a handheld device while getting ready to zip down the slopes.

Finally, Ellen believes that data mining and predictive analytics use — to target buyers using event-based and customer usage information – will be key enablers behind these trends transforming the insurance industry.

To learn more, you can listen to their full conversation here:

http://a400.g.akamai.net/7/400/14595/v0001/xeroxwebcast.download.akamai.com/14595/podcast/GDO/Ins2020_Podcast_Q2.mp3