This morning Evermore Digital released the thirteenth in its web-series profiling the very best InsurTech has to offer.&nbsp; 
Host Ed Halsey, was joined by Rich Tomlinson of Percayso Inform, which is ushering in the next generation of insurance intelligence.
See the interview below:
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Evermore Digital interviews Percayso Inform - Rich Tomlinson

Percayso Inform is delighted to support the @Managing General Agents’ Association MGAA Marketplace event on 25th November and are looking forward to meeting with a host of expert MGAs &amp; market practitioners to explore how our expertise can complement their businesses. See the link below for further details and to register:
<a href="http://ow.ly/y6kC50CfDd5">http://ow.ly/y6kC50CfDd5</a>

MGAA Marketplace event

Following its review of pricing in the home and motor insurance markets in which it found that around six million consumers are negatively impacted by dual pricing practices, the FCA is now proposing a raft of measures designed to ensure that firms focus on providing fair value to all their customers.
In its report, the regulator slammed the markets for “complex and opaque” pricing practices, including raising prices for consumers that renew year on year and using practices that “make it harder for people to leave”.
Amongst the measures that the FCA is proposing are requirements on firms to report certain data sets so it can check new rules are being followed. While the regulator will be seeking details of average premiums charged through different sales channels, it is also looking to gather expected claims cost and expected claims ratio information.
According to Christopher Woollard, Interim Chief Executive of the FCA, the driver behind this package of proposals is to “ensure firms cannot charge renewing customers more than new customers in future, and put an end to the very high prices paid by some long-standing customers.” But it’s also about improving competition, leading to lower costs for supplying insurance and ultimately lowering the prices paid by consumers on average. The FCA estimates that its proposals should save consumers £3.7 billion over 10 years.
So with the consultation process underway and new rules probably coming into effect sometime in the second half of 2021, there’s never been a better time for insurance businesses to review not only the data they’re currently capturing but the data they could be using to enrich their view of each and every customer.
The ability to access data from multiple sources and crunch that with the information they already hold or gather about their customers enables a clear view of a customer’s lifestyle, spending patterns and financial status both now and in the future. Analysing these metrics for trends enables an insurance business to better understand each risk, what influences an individual’s behaviour and the impact this may have on their claim and fraud risk.
For example, in the world of motor insurance, additional data sources include reciprocal (contributory) datasets such as SIRA, which share known fraudulent behaviour while CUE can be used to corroborate stated versus actual claims. It’s possible to access enhanced vehicle data confirming a vehicle’s history and status and NCD confirming an individual’s no claims discount, as well as datasets such as the Mylicence data providing key information on an individual’s licence history and details allowing checks to be made in real time.
Ultimately this needs to translate to a better view of lifetime customer value and getting the price right from day one rather than the low price to win and then gouge at renewal, which is a huge focal point for the FCA. Its market study reported that the average difference in the price of motor insurance between new customers and customers who renewed with the same provider five or more times was 30%, and this leaped up to 74% for buildings and contents and a staggering 83% for buildings insurance.
And as insurance customers are demanding a faster, smoother quote journey without having to answer reams of questions, some of which they may well not understand, having this complete picture can make it far easier for an insurer or broker to deliver the right quote first-time from the response to a brief and easy to answer question set.
Accessing one or two key datasets that are most pertinent to a business’s products and goals can significantly improve not only the predictive power of a single source of data, but also deliver significant competitive advantage. Insurers and brokers alike should be exploring the rich vein of data now available to them and how they can use it to offer their customers a more personalised and accurate premium as well as improve loss ratios and reduce fraud.
It’s also important to remember that intelligent data enrichment isn’t limited to informing pricing and fraud strategies; rather, accessing and analysing the right data can help firms to identify the most appropriate add-on products or even different product lines that could suit the customer, serving to reinforce and differentiate the firm’s value proposition to their customer and, who knows, even go some way to helping build trust.
Surely all this adds up to the better overall outcome that the FCA is looking to achieve?

Dual pricing – using data to deliver a better consumer outcome

As England enters a second&nbsp; lockdown as Wales prepares to come out of its ‘fire break’ and Scotland teeters on the brink, Covid-19 continues to cast a long shadow over our economy.&nbsp;The number of people claiming out-of-work benefits reached 2.7 million in September – more than doubling since the crisis began in March. In its worst-case scenario, the Office for Budget Responsibility is forecasting the unemployment rate peaking at 13.2% next year – with four million people out of work.
And although it feels like it has been brushed under the carpet during the pandemic, we should not forget that the transition period with the EU post Brexit is still scheduled to come to an end on 31 December. Regardless of whether the UK reaches an agreement on trading relationships with the EU, we’re going to be entering a further period of uncertainty – a word no economist likes.
It is likely that many millions of UK insurance buyers are going to be facing severe worries about their household finances over the coming months – and that should be setting the alarm bells ringing for insurers as the correlation between financial stress and claims risk and fraud is well documented.
The sad but simple truth is that money worries are linked to claim outcome and claim risk, either through fraud or opportunistic claims. The higher the financial stress, the higher the claim risk. For insurance providers, the need to have a 360-degree view of policyholders to help determine influences on behaviours such as propensity to claim has never been more important.
The intelligent use of accurate and – most importantly – up-to-date consumer financial data is the key to identifying financially stressed customers.
Insurance providers have always known that understanding their customers is essential in order to make accurate decisions about risk and therefore pricing, and that the best risk decisions are based on data.
Accessing multiple and up to date data points is crucial to maintaining an accurate view of policyholders such that both significant one-off changes and identifiable trends can be spotted earlier and incorporated into treatment strategies and pricing.
Data enrichment and sourcing powerful new datasets is of vital importance now more so than ever. The ability to access both multiple data sources and combining those into a single customer view in addition to using new data sources (such as open banking data and reciprocal data pools) to inform insurance pricing enables a clear view of shifts in a customer’s lifestyle, spending patterns and financial status. The key to unlocking the current picture of each policyholder lies in monitoring these metrics for trends, analysing whether behaviour improves or deteriorates when it comes to missing payments.
Fraud databases also provide crucial insight and alarm bells for those individuals who have been flagged as having either committed or attempted to commit insurance claim fraud.&nbsp; This information is updated daily and, as such, allows you to take almost instant action and prevent any potential losses down the line.
Equally, checking that individuals are being honest about their claim history is more important than ever. Whilst some people may not see this as a crime, it is real issue for insurers where individuals are knowingly not declaring a history for claims in order to get a cheaper quote.
Speaking to one of our key partners CRIF Decision Solutions which maintains the CUE (Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register) database, their Managing Director, Sara Costantini, told us:
“A recent ABI survey highlights that fraudulent insurance claims are costing honest customers over £1.2 billion a year and that over 100,000 dishonest insurance claims were detected in 2019; basically every five minutes a fraudulent insurance claim is uncovered. Considering also the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and new types of organised and opportunistic fraud that might arise, reducing fraud losses is a high priority for all insurers.
“A cohesive and structured approach to defining and maintaining a claims fraud strategy is pivotal to success; as is combining innovative technology with enriched data, like the CUE database, sophisticated analytics and a consistently high standard of claims handler expertise at an operational level. I believe that detecting and analysing suspicious claims in a structured and holistic way assists insurers in understanding the fraud typologies affecting their portfolio and ultimately increases premium revenue and profitability by charging rates linked to the true risk involved.”
With this ability an insurance provider will be well placed to identify major changes in circumstances, better understand each risk and what influences an individual’s behaviour and the impact this may have on their claim and fraud risk enabling them to set premiums at the right level, achieve a lower loss ratio and reduce fraud. The business case is clear, demonstrable and significant.

Hearing the alarm bells

Percayso Inform, has been selected to be part of the fourth cohort of Slaughter &amp; May’s Fast Forward emerging tech entrepreneur’s programme.
Whittled down from hundreds of applicants, Percayso Inform was one of five diverse businesses to be selected, chosen for its innovative approach, its point of difference in its market, and the strength of its ambition.
Partner and Fast Forward co-lead Rob Sumroy explains: “In each Fast Forward cohort we’ve sought out the best, brightest and most innovative businesses. All five of our chosen cohort members have incredible potential. It is exciting for us to help businesses such as these grow and succeed.”
Ben Kingsley, partner and Fast Forward co-lead, continues: “We’re really looking forward to working with businesses like Percayso, pushing boundaries in data analytics. Our diverse cohort is testament to the pioneering and inventive mindset of the current generation of entrepreneurs, and I am pleased that we are able to support each of them at this key stage of their development.”
As a member of the Fast Forward cohort, Percayso Inform will be offered £30,000 of value-add services from Slaughter &amp; May including legal advice.
Rich Tomlinson, Managing Director of Percayso Inform says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be chosen by Rob and Ben to become a member of their Fast Forward programme. We’re passionate about bringing the next generation of insurance intelligence to insurers and brokers and firmly believe our capabilities can make a massive difference to them. Being selected from such a talented pool of diverse businesses is, in my view, a significant independent endorsement for the approach we’re taking.”
Percayso Inform launched its next generation insurance intelligence platform at the beginning of the year. Harnessing the very latest techniques in data science and machine learning, allied with new powerful datasets enabled through a combination of GDPR and consent driven customer journeys, Percayso Inform can deliver up to an eight-fold improvement in predictive power.