“When an insurer sends claim information to us—we’re the clearing house, the stewards of their data.” – Mike Fulton

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Self-driving cars are scary.

Are we really going to hand over our fate to algorithms and microchips? Whether we know it or not—we already are are, with technologies like lane assist, self-parking, auto-braking. These  micro-versions of the greater technology warm us up to the idea, so that when it is introduced to the market—we embrace it fully.

And the insurance industry is doing the same right now with claims and automation.

That’s why on today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by Mike Fulton to discuss this future. Mike is president of Xactware Solutions. He oversees Xactware’s integrated solutions for estimating, managing, and analyzing property claims as well as products for professionals involved in the repair and maintenance of bank-owned property and real estate sales.

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“Our view is that being a professional drone pilot is a new class of skilled labor.” – Dan Burton

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Drones are all the buzz.

We hear about Amazon now delivering packages via drone flight and our neighbor getting the newest drone for Christmas—but what do these mini-UFOs mean for the world of insurance?

In claims, the need for drones is robust—in mines, surveying water damage, calculating the dimensions of a construction site.  These are just some of the examples where drone technology can be beneficial to insurance claims.

But it turns out that the equation for success is more complex than just filling these needs. A drone company must capture the data and analyze it in a way that the carrier can do something with.

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“There’s been tremendous growth in the number and complexity of cyber attacks that take place.” – Gary Sullivan

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We’re all living physical and digital lives.

And for insurance, this means we must be covered in both worlds. For the physical, we have our traditional insurance models—property, life, car, etc. But now, with so much of our information inside computers and in the cloud, we must also seek out cyber insurance.

On today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by Gary Sullivan to discuss cyber insurance. Gary Sullivan is Assistant Professor of the F. W. Hirt Erie Insurance Risk Management Program at Mercyhurst University. Previously, he was the Vice President of Property & Subrogation Claims for Erie Insurance.

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“We try to not just focus on the measurement piece of it, but the context piece as well.” – Andy Greff

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For property claims, the outside is much easier to assess than the inside.

Whether it’s via drones or actual adjusters on site—pulling information from the exterior of a property requires very little when compared to the demands for the interior.

To assess the interior requires going inside the property, stepping into someone else’s space, and potentially interrupting someone else’s day. This set of demands calls for a technology solution.

That’s why on today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by Andy Greff to discuss his application PLNAR that uses SmartPicture technology to swiftly and accurately process the information inside a property.

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“At its core, HOVER is a machine-learning technology that transforms smartphone photos of a home into a scaled, interactive 3D model.” – Kevin Reiley

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Every company strives for a great customer experience.

But often times, being a customer can be a pain. From calling support to scheduling an appointment—the tasks required to be a customer can, more often than not, feel like work.

But what if in today’s technologically-driven economy—there is a shifting customer experience? That, by empowering the customer to actually do some of the work, you make their experience better overall.

This is what the HOVER team has uncovered in their service. That the customer is fully capable and motivated to use their technology, much more so than going through the archaic motions of assisting adjusters on site.

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“Claims are a linear process. They move from A-Z, but they don’t always take the same path to get there.” – John Hall

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If you spend any time in the insurance world, you’re bound to hear the sentiment that a vehicle claim is distinctly different than a property claim. But is this true?

It turns out that while a property claim has more information to fill in, there are still the same questions being asked. The customization of a property is no different than the drilling down to what part needs fixing inside a vehicle.

That’s why on today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by John Hall, President at Audit Services Inc. to discuss how claims fit into the auto insuretech space, where we see technology driving their position, and why they are no different than property claims.

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Everybody wants the new, shiny object.

And in the insuretech world, it’s no different. Each year—we see new technology solutions rising to the surface, and the conversation at conferences turning towards the next best thing. But is this really where our focus should be?

When we integrate technology into our business, unexpected challenges get put in front of us. The quality of technology is in how effectively it can anticipate and deal with these roadblocks. Often times, the bells and whistles distract us from assessing this.

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There are distinct categories in the world of insurance.

You have the incumbent carriers, the giant Googles and Amazons, and then the niche insurtechs like Hover and Lemonade. How these three species of company interact with each other is the dance we are witnessing today.

That’s why on today’s episode of the FNO: podcast, we are joined by the godfather of insurtech, Caribou Honig. Caribou is one of the cofounders of the prominent conference InsureTech Connect, and brings his expertise of all things related to insurtech—from theorizing about Amazon’s most recent purchase of Ring to understanding how drones have impacted the claims paradigm.

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Every company has a unique customer journey.

In most cases, the touchpoints exist at the time of payment, and there are clear exchanges of value. But with insurance, the equation isn’t so simple. We pay our insurance so that in case something happens, we can get the help and coverage we need.

That moment when a crisis occurs and we file our claim is the moment the customer truly interacts with the company. And that interaction may or may not have technology embedded in it.

So today, on the FNO: podcast, we are joined by Brett Goldberg, the CEO at Spex to discuss the intersection of claims and technology. Spex is a platform that enables adjusters to essentially replace their clipboards and graph paper to more accurately document property inspections.

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