Where telematics in Motor Insurance has been around for 20+ years, the adoption has remained focused on the younger generation of drivers. Similarly in commercial property insurance, IoT has had a slow adoption journey with a focus on water leak detection given that water leak damage is the biggest cause of loss for residential and commercial properties.
However, the green shoots of adoption are now being seen as the integration of IoT in commercial property insurance is evolving. The SENSE Consortium held their twice-yearly IoT and Risk Management Technologies event on 13th March 2024 in the Lloyd’s Lab. This seminar brought together industry leaders such as Equans, Previsico, GSS Analytix, Grand Perspectives, Locktons, Inigo, and Sky Protect, highlighting the maturing solutions and service models supporting the adoption of IoT technologies. These companies demonstrated how IoT enhances risk management, streamlines claims processing, and fosters a proactive approach to insurance. The event showcased the potential of IoT in revolutionising insurance business models – shifting from paying claims to preventing and mitigating incidents for the benefit of all.
Sponsored by industry leader Equans, they showed how deeply understanding physical climate risks at asset, building and estate levels enabled mitigation by adapting assets, buildings and building services to increase resilience through digitally enabled monitoring and smart interventions and overall, decrease exposures.
Grand Perspectives demonstrated their industrial gas release monitoring device detecting 400 compounds measured from up to 1km away to monitor diffuse emissions, reporting and predictive maintenance. A game changer in the field of risk mitigation in industries such as Chemical & Petrochemical who need to significantly reduce the risks associated with hazardous and greenhouse gases.
Locktons in collaboration with GWT Insight discussed the development of their new IoT enabled commercial insurance offering – providing much needed product and service innovation supporting the changing needs of commercial property/ real estate owners.
This new offering followed well after McBains opened with a fireside chat and their work on IoT and Digital Twins and the positive impact that this is having on their business from a risk and operational perspective.
Additionally the event showcased Previsico (a leader in their field discussing flood protection and resilience), Sky Protect (who noted an increase of 14% of those purchasing insurance who had no cover previously – addressing a significant under insurance problem), GSS Analytix (enhancing decision-making through actionable insights) and Inigo (presenting their new Commercial Fleet product in partnership with Samsara).
The key themes of the event were the role of real-time data in transforming traditional insurance models, improving customer experience, and fostering a more proactive approach to risk management. It is through the collaborative efforts of the SENSE Consortium and its partners in driving innovation and overcoming barriers to IoT adoption which underscores the optimistic outlook for IoT in commercial property insurance.
Hélène Stanway is a former Head of Innovation & Emerging Technology at AXA XL where she specialised in IoT initiatives. Hélène is now the Co-founder of the SENSE Consortium, where she consults and speaks all over the world to companies and insurance audiences about navigating and embracing digital innovation.