Insurtech Magazine July 2023 | Page 70

APOLLO IBOTT 1971
This will ultimately benefit the consumer . After all , ‘ driving ’ – or , to express it more accurately , being driven – will remain accessible but could become more affordable , especially if you ’ re only paying for what you use . But it will lead to a transformational shift within the auto industry . In the long term , ownership will transition away from consumers and into the hands of OEMs or leasing companies , who will offer autonomous vehicles to the public according to the extent of demand . This could be on a daily , hourly , or even mile-by-mile basis .
In turn , it will shift the insurance relationship from a largely B2C transaction into one that primarily exists as B2C . “ I think all insurance ultimately will shift from personal lines to commercial lines ,” Moore says . “ The future of insurance is always going to be B2B .” He likens it to sharing economies such as Uber or Airbnb . They have embraced embedded finance and will embrace embedded insurance , too ; if consumers had to arrange insurance separately when using these platforms , they would simply not bother using them at all .
Because of this shift , the rise of automated vehicles will also force insurers to be much more transparent about their pricing . “ I think insurers need to remove this mystical curtain that we ' ve sat behind . When a large commercial entity gets a quote , the insurer hides behind this curtain and then comes back with a price . They never tell you what that price is driven by .
“ Now , we ' re in this digital environment where our biggest customers have arguably as much data as we do about what their risk looks like . Businesses are very educated buyers .
“ I think that ' s where insurers need to be a lot more transparent to explain how they ’ re looking at risk and what ’ s driving the price . And if an insurer ’ s assumptions are conservative , they might need to reduce that price over time . In that respect , you create this relationship that ' s far more fluid . Rather than insurers just ingesting data and spitting out a price , it becomes a two-way process .”
Will automation make human drivers redundant ? When it comes to automation , one of the oft-raised debates is about the continuing role of human labour . Will we all still have jobs when automation becomes ubiquitous , or will we need some sort of universal
70 July 2023