Technology

Every industry has changed a lot and insurance is no different. Hardware used to consist of a computer with a really dodgy screen. I now have 3 screens in front of me at work and at home. Server rooms used to be ‘large’, they’re now virtually non existent with all the data in the ‘cloud’ (wherever that is). Backup tapes had to be ejected and taken off site each day. Thank goodness tapes are a thing of the past!

For brokers transacting with insurers, the single biggest change I’ve seen is the introduction of Steadfast’s SCTP system, allowing for terms to be obtained from up to 9 insurers from the entry of a single data set. On the broking trust account administration side, we used to have to write dozens and dozens of cheques out each week. We would post them and wait for them to be presented or find out a couple of them had gone missing, so stop payment and reissue. Now we run a payment file and upload it to the bank and funds are immediately transferred to around 300 insurers/agencies multiple times per week.

However, in saying all of this, my overall view of insurance technology is that it hasn’t developed as fast as many other industries. When I look at some of the software I use as a consumer, I wish the insurance industry had developed as rapidly. We are starting to see software robots, API’s and AI, so maybe the industry will leap ahead in the next 5 years.

Compliance 

This has also changed significantly. The single largest change was the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act 20 years ago but then the Financial Services Royal Commission around 5 years ago brought another spike in reforms. Whilst a lot of these compliance changes have improved the industry and the outcomes from compliance, there is a lot that has added cost to the industry and little or no benefit to clients. These increased costs are passed on to insurance clients, contributing to the affordability of insurance issues, so the real benefit of many aspects of compliance and consumer protection is questionable.