IoT Insider Editor Kristian McCann speaks with Hélène Stanway, Co-founder of SENSE Consortium, on how a seemingly rigid and unchanging industry like insurance could be totally revolutionised with the wholesale adoption of IoT into its practices.
Stanway has been involved in the industry of insurance and risk from the beginning, going on to co-found AXA’s Cube, a risk innovation incubator. It was at her time at AXA she really got to know technology, and this led her to IoT. From then on, Stanway saw what perfect bedfellows insurance and IoT made, and therefore since co-founded SENSE Consortium, to broadcast this message of IoT to insurance.
“For me, IoT is a core technology that needs to be implemented in the insurance industry,” Stanway said. “We’ve already proven IoT is a benefit, but now it should be about see which devices you should be employing and to what purpose.”
Despite as Stanway mentions is an inertia for the insurance industry to more widely adopt IoT, it has managed to penetrate and become common in many big industries. Automotive insurance for instance, has been making use of telematics as a way to bring down costs for drivers as insurers get a better look at their driving habits. Equally, commercial property, high-value assets, are increasingly utilising IoT in efforts to save costs on premiums.
Yet, IoT isn’t just here to enhance the insurance industry, Stanway believes it’s here to change it. “I worked at a bakery where we put IoT devices in, and almost immediately, the data showed us there was an issue in one of their units. We informed them, they need to fix it.” says Stanway. “They declined to get it sorted, and, what could have been a £20,000 repair bill ended up being a £100,000 bill because the whole thing broke, they couldn’t fix it and had to replace it.”
It’s this ability to inform of issues before they occur is what’s crucial. Would you rather have a payout for an asset in the event it is destroyed? Or would you rather be able to be informed of the issue and stop it before it happens?
In the podcast, Stanway goes on to discuss other elements of IoT in insurance, like the gap in customers wanting to use it and insurers being shy, case studies of its use, potential risks with having IoT in sensitive properties; a perception gap and what the insurance industry would be like if IoT was wholly adopted.
To hear more about the IoT in insurance and its potential benefits, you can listen to IoT Insider’s podcast with Hélène Stanway on IoT Unplugged – available below, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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