Believe It or Not: Insurers Are Leading Innovators In Technology

Insurance companies have never been the most technologically savvy of businesses – or at least that’s what many of us have been led to believe for a long time. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The industry is now leading the way in terms of technological innovation and insurance companies are competing with each other to win customers.

Making Life Easier

Insurance companies are striving to make sure that finding the right insurance cover has never been easier and using technology to its fullest potential, whether you’re looking for cover for your home, car, or life insurance. In the past, you would have had to have spent hours calling countless insurance agents to find the best deal or the right quote, but not only can you get a quote online in a matter of minutes from whatever agent you choose, but you can even go to comparison sites such as one of the largest independent home insurance agency, homeinsurance.com, to get a range of quotes quickly and easily to save you time and money.

Celebrating Achievements

It’s not surprising that little is heard about how well the insurance industry does when it comes to improvements in their use of technology. As an industry it is highly critical of itself and rarely praises its own accomplishments, especially in this area.

However, it has been formally recognized for its achievements in technological progression over the last few years. The publication InformationWeek publishes an annual 500 List honoring the most innovative users of business technology. In the 2012 list, ten percent of the top 50 were from the insurance sector, with only slightly less than this figure across the entire 500 company listing.

Still not convinced about the progress the industry is making? Leading insurance provider Prudential has been making great inroads in reducing the amount of paperwork involved in applying for life insurance, and won a Business Innovator award as a result of their efforts.

All About The Customers

Insurance companies are striving to make greater use of technology to be more customer focused, deliver better quality services and to not only attract new customers, but to ensure that they retain their existing customer base. While traditionally, this would have meant appealing to customers through the use of money saving offers and deals, often eating into company profits, using new technology means that insurance companies can deliver new products and services to their customers faster than ever providing them with a dynamic and more responsive service that they want and need.

It’s not just the service itself that is more responsive but the whole interaction between the insurers and their customers. Buying insurance cover now is a similar experience to any other form of online shopping, is just as quick and convenient, and means that you are left with a more positive impression of each company you deal with.

Insurance companies are now eager to distance themselves from the old perceived image that people have of them of being incapable of adopting new technologies into their businesses. They are now looking to the future rather than the past and are starting to acknowledge their place as genuine technological leaders.

Travis Dearing is an insurance consultant. He enjoys seeing how innovations in technology have changed the insurance landscape. His articles mainly appear on personal finance and tech blogs.