Technological innovations have constantly improved business insurance offerings while allowing business owners to make the best decisions for their businesses.
For many people, the only type of insurance they consider crucial is health insurance, and that is due to the amount of publicity that type of insurance receives in the media and public discourse. Of course, it's also because health is something people deal with and feel about every day. For an entrepreneur, however, business insurance is another type of insurance of great importance. As last year demonstrated, business interruptions can happen unexpectedly and on an unprecedented scale, so getting the best insurance is crucial for your business.
Fortunately, technological innovations have also improved commercial insurance offerings, making them much more valuable. Here are a few that you can take advantage of and get the right policy for your business.
AI for claims processing and communication
Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days, and for a good reason, too. When implemented correctly, advanced machine learning algorithms can access huge data sets and make decisions that are far more accurate—and crucially for you as a business owner—much faster than traditional human-powered analytics. In insurance, this has been applied in two main areas: claims processing and customer communication.
In first, insurance companies apply artificial intelligence analytics to analyze insurance claims and make decisions about how to act on them. For example, a claim could be identified as fraudulent and warrant further investigation. Secondly, businesses can use chatbots or similar tools to ease the reporting process, so business owners can quickly report any complaints or issues they have and receive prompt responses.
Both are crucial for business owners because any extra day of downtime means the further loss of money and customers. It's crucial to make sure you get your business insurance from a company that's capable of handling the claims and making the necessary payments promptly, even if a widespread disaster strikes.
API and customization
Application programming interfaces (APIs) were, for a long time, the preserve of nerdy tech startups, allowing them to share information with each other in an automated fashion. Today many large companies have also gotten in on the action and are now creating their own APIs and making it possible for other companies to integrate into their systems in a limited and controlled way. This enables a few things, the most notable of which is the ability for other companies to develop new business models based on the data provided and to cooperate with the insurance company to develop new features and added value for the customer. Consider fitness companies sharing the health data they get from tracking devices, helping insurers improve their risk assessment.
There's also the fact that companies can now share more granular data to get personalized business insurance quotes that fit their specific needs, instead of just checking boxes on a form and getting generic packages. Now, insurance companies are willing to customize their offers to suit specific customers, using the information they have to make decisions that will provide much more value to both parties.
Online marketplaces, affordability, and improved service
One of the most basic, but most crucial and enduring aspects of the internet is the way it has democratized access to information and made it easier for people to get detailed updates on things that used to be hard to find before, like the terms of the insurance. In the past, those used to be hidden behind a screen as trade secrets, but business owners can now find all the information they need to make informed decisions about which vendors to turn to. Terms offered by various providers are aggregated in various locations on the internet, and business owners should take the opportunity to compare their options and make the best decision.
That open competition has had the effect of driving down prices, as analyzed by PWC in this report, but it has also resulted in insurance providers becoming more service-oriented as they work to earn good customer reviews. The combination of these factors gives business owners a say in the transaction and the ability to secure better terms than they could have in the past.