The INSURTECH Book

Not too Big to Learn not to Fail?

By Ruth Polyblank

Head of SME and Digital, Chubb Insurance Company of Europe

The Insurance Landscape: Introducing the Status Quo

Perhaps the most fundamental lesson from the collapse of the subprime market and the subsequent global recession must be that no institution is infallible. Neglecting to act when needed is the only thing that stands between an organization and its risk of failure, regardless of its market position, prestige, or pedigree.

Incumbent and established insurance organizations – whether insurers, brokers, loss adjusters, or claims corporations – are often criticized for failing to innovate or disrupt the insurance market and perhaps this is not without reason.

From the death grip of inadequate legacy platforms and a “that’s how we’ve always done it” mind-set to antiquated protocols designed by overly conservative and hierarchical internal committees, the status quo largely remains intact, particularly in the still heavily intermediated commercial insurance market where barriers to entry remain high.

Yet the industry press is littered with bold pledges from incumbents launching “exciting” new initiatives that promise to innovate, to “digitalize”, or to disrupt. If what we are reading is correct, incumbents have numerous vehicles for change and we are on the verge of seeing the impact of these upon their balance sheets and dated customer experiences, in a meaningful way akin to other innovative industries like Healthcare, ...