Fueling New Propositions and Services: The Future of Insurance With No-Code

How insurers drive growth in an evolving market with no-code application development

Key takeaways:

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New propositions drive future value

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Demand for preventative services is increasing

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Leading insurers are adopting a proactive approach to create new business models

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The path to growth

“The more resilient businesses will be those most willing and able to adapt quickly.”

According to a survey by Deloitte, insurance executives like yourself are facing a rising demand from customers for new digital products and services challenging companies to meet consumer demands before they move on to more agile competitors. The pace of change is exploding and insurers are expected to deliver new business models even faster to survive and stay ahead of the competition.

200 EMEA insurance executives might disagree on many topics but they agree on two things:
1. One out of three propositions offered in five years from now is not being offered today.
2. A third of premium volumes in the next five years will come from new propositions that are not even offered today.

Fortunately, there are already great examples of insurance companies that are rolling out new propositions in no time with no-code application development, like Univé, adding new customers to their portfolio as we speak.
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Challenges

Nothing worthwhile is easy

The insurance industry is going through a period of growth. Spurred by digital disruption, consumer demand, and indeed the post-COVID-19 landscape, insurers are searching for ways to foster growth and remain competitive through implementing additional services, developing new propositions, and adopting prevention-based models.

It’s the insurers that embrace the tools to expedite digital transformation, along with strategies to increase organizational adoption, that stand to earn the lion’s share of the market.

Insurance industry challenges

  • How to build new propositions with a short time to value
  • Consumer demand continues to evolve rapidly and insurers that are slow to act will suffer the most
  • Outdated processes ultimately drive complaints and encourage customers to shop around
  • Tech-savvy startups and scale-ups (InsurTech) are acquiring market share with digitized and highly personalized services
  • Legacy systems impede transformation and increase security risks

What does innovation look like?

How are leading insurers utilizing the latest technology to solve a wide range of challenges and generate new opportunities within the industry? Though modernizing out-dated processes is still important, it’s no longer enough; the goalposts have moved. According to PwC’s Beyond COVID-19: 5 key strategic processes for a post-crisis world, “To capture new markets, insurers need to design products that reflect today’s evolving needs (e.g., usage-based insurance, employment loss protection for gig workers, pandemic business interruption coverage and cybersecurity for remote working).

New propositions
New propositions are on the rise and insurers must have the ability to adapt quickly to remain competitive. Although this shift has already begun, Deloitte states that “ . . . insurers are expecting still more change over the next five years, with an average of a third of premium volumes coming from new propositions that are not offered today.”

The shift to services
Customers are increasingly demanding – and expecting – services that go beyond insurance. According to research by Deloitte, “ . . . 35% of respondents are generating 30%+ revenue from more service-based business – including breakdown assistance for cars at the more basic end of the spectrum, through to health advice at the more complex end – than product-based business. This rises to 61% in three years’ time.”
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Automation 

Processing claims manually can be a lengthy, error-prone process, and resulting delays and mistakes can lead to regulatory penalties and reputation damage. But by automating this process insurance companies can reduce the amount of manual work by 80% whilst simultaneously improving the customer experience.

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Cloud computing

Leading insurers are increasingly moving data and applications to the cloud, with the increased speed, flexibility, and lower operating costs being the main impetus. Indeed, Deloitte states that cloud computing could be a “ . . . potential game-changer for how financial services organizations will operate in the future.”

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Internet of Things (IoT)

By tracking how customers really use a range of products, insurers are able to offer reduced premiums for low-risk individuals and get better at accurately predicting risk. Metromile, for example, uses IoT-connected trackers to monitor driver behavior and therefore provide cost-effective per-mile policies.

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Data analytics

The importance of leveraging data in the insurance industry can't be understated. Analyzing data from a variety of sensors ad sources is enabling insurance companies to manage risk better than ever before. It results in more accurate financial planning for companies and more personalized policies for customers — a true win-win.

“Technology can increase efficiency by automating manual processes, assist in identifying emerging threats, and provide insights into risks and their causal factors.”

Deloitte

Real-life example: No-code in insurance

Leading insurance companies are beginning to shift from protection-based models to more preventive approaches, and Univé is at the forefront of this shift. The Dutch insurer’s Innovation Lab was searching for new ways to use technology to prevent accidents from occurring, thereby improving its ability to mitigate loss and helping customers avoid potential disasters.

It was Univé’s (then) innovation manager, Bas Wit, who was tasked with the responsibility of turning the idea for this preventive approach into a reality. Bas and his team needed the ability to develop and maintain solutions themselves with speed and flexibility. Their goal was to build low-cost prototypes to measure and validate customer behavior, ensuring the new services were aligned with customers’ needs.

“The speed of building and how little money we spend on building the system is what really draws people in. Experiments take months, but building takes days.”

Bas-Wit-Quote Bas Wit, former innovation manager, Univé

The solution

The first idea Univé tested with Betty Blocks (and with the help of implementation partner Ilionx) was ‘Safe Living’ (Veilig Wonen), an application that provides customers with subscriptions for services like chimney inspections, alarm servicing, gutter cleaning, and more.

Armed with a no-code platform, Univé’s Innovation Lab was able to go beyond simply testing intentions, as is standard with mockups or prototypes. Bas and his team were able to measure customer behavior by piloting a working application; this would confirm whether or not Univé’s customers were actually willing to pay for such subscriptions. It allowed the Innovation Lab to demonstrate value and generate buy-in among stakeholders.

75% increase in development speed
By using Betty Blocks to do this, Univé has reduced time-to-market for new applications from 1 year to 2.5 months, speeding up development by 75%. But perhaps more importantly, Univé has found a way to quantify innovation and in doing so the insurer is making a real difference in the lives of its customers.

Betty Blocks ran a webinar with Univé's current innovation manager, Lindy Borgman, and No-Code Enablers founder, Menno van den Berg, who discussed their no-code innovation strategy in great detail. Click the button below to watch the recap and learn more.
Watch the webinar

Developed applications

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Safe Living service

Prevent damage from fire, water, and electricity or cover damages from burglary with a safe Living subscription.

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Legal assistance on demand

With Legal Assistance on Demand, Univé helps its customers with tailor-made legal assistance.

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Private lease

With private lease from Univé, you can drive a brand new car for an extremely low monthly payment. Always including maintenance, insurance, and taxes.

See for yourself in the App Gallery
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Betty Blocks and the insurance industry

We’ve seen how Betty Blocks was used by Bas Wit and his team to help Univé shift to a more preventive approach, thereby improving its ability to measure risk and service its customers. Let’s dive a little deeper into the capabilities of Betty Blocks that make all this possible.
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Shorter time-to-market

For the insurance industry, a shorter time-to-market means having the ability to more readily adapt to changing regulations and market fluctuations, and to roll out new services, such as chatbots, before customers begin to look elsewhere.

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100% cloud-based

Because Betty Blocks operates 100% in the cloud, it sets you up to start reaping the benefits that cloud-computing offers right from the get-go. It also means security remains paramount, with instant and automated updates across all applications.

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Be in control

Implementing Betty Blocks strategically enables you to control your own innovation and opens up a whole new pool of developers within your organization: no-coders and citizen developers (who work together in an environment sanctioned by pro-coders).

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Connection to legacy systems

Using Betty Blocks means your insurance company no longer needs to be held back by legacy systems; instead, it frees you to operate at the pace of InsurTech. Betty Blocks connects easily to all kinds of existing core systems, including SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, and more. And legacy systems need not be replaced in one fell swoop; you can speed up your digital transformation by creating a modern layer around outdated legacy systems, whilst continuing to use them where necessary.

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Now what?

With IT departments focused on “keeping the lights on” it can be difficult to give attention — and budget — to implementing new ways of working. But when it comes to playing the long-game, digital transformation is a must, and no-code can help you get there with the resources you already have.

Insurance is fundamentally a relationship-based industry and no-code technology is enabling insurers like Univé to know their customers — and their business — better than ever before. To find out more about how Betty Blocks could enable your insurance company to do the same, download our free insurance-focused whitepaper.

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