Insurance has often been viewed as a slow-moving industry. But that’s about to change with so many startups entering the space. New products and technology are adapting to serve evolving customer needs. These startups are bringing simplicity to the process of buying insurance as well as transparency toward how rates are set for drivers.
Recently, the CEO and Co-Founder of Cover, Karn Saroya, sat down with Erik Torenberg, the host of the podcast Venture Stories, and Sheel Mohnot, an investor in FinTech, to discuss insurance market quirks, trends in the industry, and what new technology means for the underwriting process.
In the episode, Karn discusses Cover as a technology company that’s innovating the insurance space to improve the customer experience by expanding the kind of services an insurance company offers.
“As a technology company, we need to be focused on what are the things we can give away for free and offer value before we even ask for the insurance transaction to happen.”
One of the ways Cover looks to add value for customers is the free defensive driving class that Cover offers. Once drivers take the course, a discount can be applied for those interested in shopping for insurance.
The idea of using tech to add value on top of the traditional notion of insurance is Karn’s prediction for how the insurance industry will look five to ten years out.
“It’s going to be a services driven or value added services driven. And insurance is going to be increasingly embedded in other products, technology, and businesses built to serve their customers. If you can find a way to offer value to your customers and it makes sense to include insurance, then it’s probably the way it’s going to be done.”
As for advice for startups in the same space? There’s nothing wrong with figuring out what plays best to your skill set. “Play to your strength and there is plenty of opportunity across the value chain,” Karn said.
If you’re interested in hearing more about Cover, how insurance is similar to prediction markets, and Karn’s thoughts on specialty insurance trends in the industry, click here to listen to the full episode of Venture Stories.
