Don’t Be Left Behind: Tailor Insurance Policies for ‘Instant’ Customers, Slice CEO Says

This article is part of Carrier Management’s series on the Future of Insurance.

Tim Attia, CEO and Co-Founder, Slice Labs Inc., believes that “insurance products must be tailored and designed for the digital age with the customer experience at the forefront of everything.”

Tim Attia, CEO and Co-Founder, Slice Labs Inc.

Tim Attia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Slice Labs Inc., an InsurTech company that provides an on-demand, pay-per-use insurance platform for the on-demand economy.

Designed for customers, Slice aims to reimagine insurance through design, data and technology, delivering instant protection in affordable, bite-size chunks when customers need it—with no hidden costs.

Slice officially went live with sales of on-demand insurance policies to homeshare hosts in more than a dozen states in May 2017, with a unit of Munich Re providing the coverage. A proprietary pay-per-use policy for Uber and Lyft drivers is also available on a test basis, covering drivers from the time they turn on the rideshare app until they turn it off.

Attia and Slice Co-Founder Ernie Hursh both previously worked at Bolt Solutions, a successful digital distribution platform for P/C insurers.

Q: What major changes do you see on the horizon for the property/casualty insurance industry in the next 10 years?

Increased use of automated data, machine learning, AI.
Decrease of agents and brokers for property/casualty insurance.
Decrease in fraudulent claims due to use of things like AI, behavioral economics and facial recognition technology.
Demand for better customer service from the “instant” individual.
Usage-based pricing and insurance models.
Transparency, increased communication for claims.
Unbundling of multi peril policies.
Personal protection insurance—for what insureds are doing when they’re doing it.

P/C insurance will increasingly be distributed through alternate sources, such as embedded in the product covered, non-insurance distribution channels and single-peril/ single-object distribution. However, insurance companies are resilient, and they can continue to be resilient if they move quickly and decisively. If they don’t, they stand the chance to be left behind by InsurTech startups or other major carriers that moved and adapted quickly.

We now refer to customers as “instant” individuals—those who want what they want when they want it, with around-the-clock access to clear and simple relevant information related to product features, pricing, claims, etc. Insurance products must be tailored and designed for the digital age, with the customer experience at the forefront of everything.

Insurance carriers will insure risks as the individual is faced with them—in real time, on-demand. In other words, policies will be risk-specific rather than comprehensive and will be sold on-demand.

The insurance leaders and the workforces making these changes should be comprised of those willing to do away with outdated practices. Then, they need to be willing to learn from their new findings and pivot when needed.

Insurance companies are resilient, and they can continue to be resilient if they move quickly and decisively. If they don’t, they stand the chance to be left behind by InsurTech startups or other major carriers that moved and adapted quickly.

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