Over the past several years, the property/casualty insurance industry’s use of Internet of Things (IoT) has significantly accelerated. Beyond auto telematics, P/C insurers—from major carriers to risk pools—have been implementing sensor programs to address property and equipment risks.
Executive Summary
Munich Re's HSB has been at the forefront of the industry's paradigm shift toward IoT.Here, Gordon Hui, SVP of HSB's Applied Technology Solutions, and Matteo Carbone, founder of the IoT Insurance Observatory, describe the multiyear journey of HSB and its partners in using IoT to reduce non-cat property risks, enhance customer experience, improve sustainability and to innovate protection products—the four main drivers of IoT adoption outlined by IoT Insurance Observatory for the insurance sector. Continuing innovation includes using sensor data to trigger coverage of existing risks and developing performance guarantees for sensors tracking electrical hazards, potential water damage and the condition of machinery.
Overall, the philosophy of predicting and preventing loss has been well-established as the general trajectory of the industry, as highlighted in the Geneva Association-IoT Insurance Observatory report “From Risk Transfer to Risk Prevention.”
HSB (part of Munich Re), however, has been at the forefront of the industry’s paradigm shift toward IoT. The company develops and distributes specialty insurance products and services through independent agents and brokers, and through reinsurance arrangements with multiline insurance companies. One of those services is Sensor Solutions by HSB, which allows insurers to harness the potential of IoT through leading-edge technology, insurance expertise and programmatic support. Current clients include Nationwide, Liberty Mutual, Philadelphia Insurance, New York School Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR), Insurance Board and The Hanover Insurance Group Inc.
