5 trends influencing how consumers relate to insurers

It’s been just over two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. As a result, we’ve seen major shifts in how people expect to work, play, shop and take on risks. It’s become clear that many of these new expectations are here to stay with varying degrees of impact on all industries.

For insurers, the pandemic accelerated changes in how they engage and interact with their customers through digital channels. Meanwhile, insurance customers began to demand more help in preventing injury and loss.

Every year, Accenture Interactive’s Fjord Trends report identifies potentially influential signals and trends for the year ahead and provides practical guidance as companies look to deliver value and relevance to their customers, employees and society.

In the Fjord Trends 2022 report, we see how shifts in five human behaviors and trends may affect society, culture and business. Here we take a look at what these trends mean for insurers.

1. Come as you are
COVID-19 lockdowns gave workers around the world time to rethink their life and work choices. For many, this greater sense of agency resulted in moves toward freelance work and other new income streams from the sharing economy. As more of the workforce moves to freelance full- or part-time, homes and personal vehicles are getting more business use and blurring the lines between personal and small business risk.

Accenture’s Insurance Revenue Landscape 2025 report shows the global revenue opportunity for insurers in the sharing economy will grow to approximately $40 billion. Incumbent carriers now offer more products adapted for personal property exposed to sharing economy risk and innovative ways of underwriting freelancers. Meanwhile, insurtechs like Simplis are also making moves in the sharing economy space.

2. The end of abundance thinking?
COVID-19 disrupted supply chains worldwide, creating a persistent phenomenon many have never experienced: shortages. This experience has called into question the effects of abundance culture on the environment and led more people to think about their own consumption choices.

This is especially true among Millennials and younger consumers. In our Insurance Consumer Study, more than two-thirds (67%) of respondents aged 18 to 34 say they want digital experiences that encourage sustainable travel and shopping practices. For example, Swiss insurer Helvetia is responding to such consumer demand with a program that allows customers to offset CO2 emissions.

3. New horizons
The metaverse, a virtual space in which people increasingly spend time and money, is becoming less conceptual and more real. While still largely the domain of gamers, the metaverse is a place where real money can be made or lost, and the insurance industry is looking for ways to help customers respond to its risks.

While it’s still early days for offers like NFT insurance coverage, insurers are preparing for the inevitable expansion of the metaverse. For example, cryptocurrency is becoming an option for the payment of premiums.

4. This much is true
With the internet and smartphones, customers are now used to having a world of knowledge at their fingertips. But finding accurate information from trusted sources isn’t always easy. Across every industry, businesses are challenged to be a trusted source of information any time of day or night and in whatever channel the customer prefers.

We see insurers and insurtechs responding to this need in a variety of ways. For example, customers of a general insurer in the U.K. can get answers to their auto insurance policy questions through their smart speakers, with answers drawing from a continuously updated library of commonly asked questions. And French insurtech Fluo offers to help customers optimize their insurance coverages by analyzing contracts and identifying unnecessary duplications.

5. Handle with care 
The need to give and receive care is fundamentally human and one that the insurance industry was created to help meet. In the post-COVID era, care is now more visible, valued, and openly discussed. We see this elevation of care in the evolving digital experiences insurers are creating for customers and employees.

One example is Prudential Group Insurance. It is helping improve access for disability insurance claimants to care services and crisis intervention, as well as self-service tools for psychoeducation, relaxation, and coping skills training. This intervention is expected to improve disability outcomes through mitigation of the mental health challenges that may accompany a disabling event.

COVID-19 has shone a light on the long-standing shortage of care workers many countries are facing. According to the United Nations, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 by 2050. And the number of people living with dementia will be 2.5 times higher than it is today. Technology innovations can go a long way to enable human caregivers who will be in greater demand than ever and help people remain in their homes and communities.

As we look forward, we can take lessons from what’s happening in Japan. They are developing public-private approaches to long-term care insurance. These programs incorporate robotics solutions. They also provide options to women, who disproportionately assume family caregiving roles, to remain in the workforce and prepare for their own retirement and long-term care needs.