NextWave Financial Well-Being

2 minute read 20 May 2019

How will driverless cars, smart homes and other new technology affect insurers? Is your business built for an era of rapidly changing risks?

From an aging population with limited savings to the multibillion threat posed by climate change, looming risks will have a broad scope collectively and a deep impact individually. Insurance providers will need to offer different products because the way people buy and use insurance will change in fundamental ways.

Consider automobile insurance. As ride sharing increases, fleet owners will assume greater risk than individual drivers. And when driverless cars become more prevalent, who will buy insurance for the robots?

Smart homes and commercial buildings will transform the property market as well. Will homes and buildings that have smart sensors that can detect fraying electrical wires or overstressed pipes receive discounts over those that don’t?

A similar transformation could occur in life insurance as people embrace wearable technology. Will people receive financial incentives for exercising or eating healthy?

Through it all, insurers will need to increasingly rely on new technologies, such as blockchain and AI, to protect vital data. 

Summary

How will insurance providers adjust to a future in which fewer people own cars, where smart sensors in homes and commercial buildings can detect risks and when the vast majority of customer interactions are automated? Take a look at the intriguing possibilities.

About this article

By EY Global

Ernst & Young Global Ltd.