Fears about InsurTech startups disrupting the property/casualty insurance industry in ways that will undermine the distribution system and adversely impact underwriters are growing along with the expanding deployment of technology. In fact, with respect to commercial risk, the reverse is true.
Executive Summary
Fears about InsurTech startups disrupting the distribution system for commercial insurance risk or adversely impacting underwriters are unfounded, according to an executive at one InsurTech firm, RiskMatch. Here, Michael Golden outlines the benefits of emerging commercial lines distribution platforms, including visibility and connections to middle-market and regional brokers handling targeted accounts for carriers, as well as tools to energize a new generation of agent and broker talent.Without question, there is keen interest in and lots of noise around technologies and platforms that may, in time, disrupt and disintermediate. Nonetheless, much of the technology being deployed by and for carriers and brokers today is making the current distribution system more viable.
A key reason: Technology is enabling each player in the insurance value chain to serve the increasingly complex needs of risk management and insurance buyers at businesses of all sizes and across all industrial sectors more effectively and efficiently.
Rising to the Challenge With Technology
Today, the risks facing even small, closely held businesses around the world have become dramatically more complex and difficult to navigate. Beyond emerging exposures, such as rapidly evolving Internet, cyber and technology risks, businesses must navigate heightened crime and natural catastrophe risks, as well as regulatory and political risks, workplace issues, management and employment-related exposures, among other challenges.
