Root, Branch, Lemonade, others team up to launch advocacy group InsurTech Coalition
Root, Lemonade, Branch, ClearCover and others have launched an advocacy group called InsurTech Coalition that aims to shape the industry’s future by fostering responsible innovation, new regulatory frameworks and promoting accountability, The Insurer can reveal.
InsurTech Coalition – which also includes Boost, Vouch, Amplify and Indigo as founding members – has written an open letter to the industry laying out its founding principles, which include using technology responsibly in insurance.
“The insurance industry is in a time of radical change and innovation with new ideas challenging old business models and upending the status quo,” the group wrote.
“Telematics and data science have profoundly altered the way we assess and understand risk, while new customer-facing technologies and artificial intelligence are transforming the way customers buy and interact with insurance products and services,” the letter continues.
The letter explains that “big changes bring tremendous opportunities”, noting that insurtech firms are at the “forefront” of such change and with the coalition are launching the first-ever group of next-generation insurance companies intent on shaping the future of insurance.
“Our coalition aims to foster responsible innovation while furthering the collective efforts to provide the best possible insurance experiences to our customers,” the letter continues.
“Our agility and ability to serve the ever-changing needs of today’s customers through cutting-edge technology position this group as the voice for the future of the industry.”
Collaboration with regulators, consumer protection among key tenets
Other key founding tenets include empowering modern consumers with innovative tools to protect themselves in an evolving insurance landscape, and collaborating with regulators in building new frameworks to support emerging technologies and companies, while “never losing sight of consumer protection”.
The group aims to work towards providing transparency, better pricing and a better customer experience and reimagining insurance products to manage risk more efficiently.
It also has set a goal of making insurance products more available, affordable and accessible to all people in all communities.
InsurTech Coalition said its goals are centred around the “reason for the insurtech movement: We are here to serve the growing demographic of digital-first customers, respond quickly to industry crosswinds, and improve insurance accessibility to all communities.”
However, according to the group, among the insurtech segment’s biggest challenges is shaping the insurance landscape while carefully considering the interests of all its stakeholders, which include employees, regulators, government entities and customers.
“We’re committed to the responsible use of technology in insurance and in assisting regulators in taking on the difficult task of building frameworks to regulate new and emerging technologies,” the group said in its letter.
“We believe the InsurTech Coalition answers this challenge,” the letter continues.
“The InsurTech Coalition is committed to driving the insurance industry forward in a way that aligns with our shared values of transparency, fairness, and consumer empowerment.”
The newly formed business league said that now “is not a time for complacency”, while inviting “like-minded insurtech advocates” to join the group in its effort to empower customers, advocate for innovative ways of doing business, and advance positive changes in the insurance environment.
The group also says it is aiming to shape the future of the industry “both ethically and inclusively”.
Law firm Mayer Brown LLP is advising the InsurTech Coalition.
“It is an honour to advise the InsurTech Coalition and support it in its mission to educate interested parties with respect to the adoption of novel uses of data and technology into insurance business processes, be a resource for the insurtech community, and advocate for consumers of insurance products,” Jared Wilner, a partner in Mayer Brown’s insurance industry group,” said in a statement.
As part of the group’s launch, InsurTech Coalition has set up a website: www.insurtechcoalition.com.