You have to own the outlet – Electricity is then of a 2nd priority
Since more th
an a year the Unfallmeldedienst (UMD) is available in Germany (translates to Accident Reporting Service) if your insurer participates (Concept in English).
The customer gets consumer hardware and some additional services, which can safe lives in the case of an accident. Zurich Insurance e.g. offers this piece of hardware in conjunction with its motor insurance.
Today this is a general offer for every insurer powered by the GDV, the German Insurer Association.
While this is a ‘socialized and public’ activity within the German Insurance market, and there may be many reasons, why this should be implemented in that way, it demonstrates on the other hand very impressively, how hardware could differentiate insurers and insurance offerings.
What, if only one insurer would offer this service? What if this would go beyond the current capabilities and the insurance company could and would enter the customer’s car and extend its visibility with this new interface?
As already stated it might make sense to provide today UMD as a public service, but Insurers should think beyond and about, how hardware could extend the insurer’s possibilities and innovation power.
Consumer hardware could be an Insurer’s new product and a new customer channel. The insurance offering just an additional service then – comparable to the iPhone, the app store and the app or Alexa, Alexa Store and Alexa Skills.
Even if this sounds like science fiction and not really as a threat or opportunity Insurance companies should already today think about this trend – take the UMD as an example and inspiration.
Within Telecommunications you can see, what it means, if you are too late or not aggressive enough. T-Mobile or Vodafone and others are fighting since years to prevent themselves from permanently losing the customer interface.
You have to own the outlet – Electricity is then of a 2nd priority.