Four lessons learned by the Insurtech sector during the pandemic

Lockdown: a word that, until not long ago, was not in most of our everyday vocabulary, but which came suddenly in March 2020 and is now commonplace. Suddenly, and as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were all working from home. Certain things, however, kept happening. Of course, there were still accidents among those essential workers who, for example, scraped the column in their garage when parking, and there were still policyholders who—even though they hadn’t driven the car in weeks—were considering switching their insurance policy to another company. This is not to mention household damage. At a time when we spent more time at home than ever, pipes continued to break, and the like. 

So, taking a look back, Bdeo has drawn up this post in which we explain the four main lessons we have learned during the pandemic and that have transformed our operations, changing our perspective on how we perceive the industry and the Insurtech sector.

Four lessons learned by the Insurtech sector during the pandemic

1 Household damage continued and will continue to occur

It sometimes happens that we nudge the car just behind us when parking, leaving a scrape or a dent. So, we have to file an insurance claim. This has always happened and continued to happen during lockdown. Therefore, at a time when experts could not go to verify the damage caused, it became essential to use video-assessment technology to verify the damage and provide a solution to the policyholder as quickly as possible. 

It was therefore critical for insurers to have the specific technology to manage claims remotely. Bdeo was able to provide such technology and continues to do so.

2 Changing insurance in times of pandemic

Policy renewal continued to take place during lockdown. In some cases, policies were renewed without switching companies, but in many others, policyholders switched insurers. It was therefore important for policyholders to receive simple communication and a fully automated and agile subscription process. With solutions like Bdeo’s, this has been and still is possible.

3 A new opportunity: home insurance

Just at the time we were at home the most, damp problems, leaking pipes, and the like continued to take place. Of course, repairs had to take place. However, at a time when experts could not physically go to the homes to make their assessments, video-assessment technologies—in the case of vehicles—became essential to settle claims. In the case of home insurance, this type of technology was essential so that only the professional who could fix the problem would go to the affected home, avoiding unnecessary travel and visits. 

Precisely in the face of these new needs arising from the lockdown, many insurers got to work to transform their processes quickly and to adapt them to this operation. It is for this reason that we were able to understand their needs almost instantly and to develop our technology to manage household damage with Artificial Intelligence.

4 Be prepared in advance: the best solution

As for us, doubtlessly one of the best aspects that has allowed us to adapt to this new operation is Bdeo’s ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018 certifications. We were already prepared to deal with extreme situations and we had already developed contingency plans. This allowed us to adapt with incredible agility to the situations brought about by lockdown. 

We proactively communicated to our clients the reasons that they could be confident that we would continue to provide a service throughout such a situation, thanks to the way our infrastructure is developed. Additionally, we began telecommuting as soon as we saw that the situation required it in early March 2020.

Beyond that, we were aware the insurance industry’s need for support from all players throughout the State of Alarm, and we joined that support. For this reason, we offered our video-assessment solution free for a few weeks with the aim of allowing experts to manage claims remotely and provide solutions to policyholders.

It is in light of all of the above and driven by the uniqueness of the moment that the insurance industry has gone to great lengths in its digital transformation. It has adapted many of its processes to take on Visual Intelligence solutions that allow work once done in person to be carried out remotely. This has allowed them to open up to an immense range of possibilities and to adapt much more proficiently to the policyholders’ needs now and in the future, because these changes have come to stay.