NEW BUSINESS MODELS: DIVERSIFICATION Leading the fleet: Admiral isn’t content to conform
The
Pıoneer spırıt Admiral has sailed across several industry horizons, but CEO of its venture-building business, Emma Huntington, has now been given a ‘blank sheet’ to create and launch a fleet of startups… not all of them insurtechs General insurance is at a pivotal point, fashioned by both the predicted and the unexpected. It was already facing the anticipated future challenges of a world growing less reliant on fossil fuels, and more reliant on digital technology, when the colossal and sudden impact of the COVID-19 pandemic flipped a headwind of change into a tailwind of innovation. Overnight, as lockdowns were imposed,
24
TheInsurtechMagazine | Issue 6
the daily routines for millions of people were dramatically adjusted. And one of the most impactful consequences was that working from home became a new norm, forcing less reliance on the car – with the jury still very much out over whether there will ever be a full return to pre-pandemic practices. There’s plenty of pressure – political, economic and social – for things to stay this way. A recent report by the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions, for example, concluded that instead of pushing forward with a £27billion roads investment programme (which, in itself, is subject to challenge on its compliance with the UK Government’s climate goals), much of this money could be diverted to carbon-reducing projects that deliver health, safety and wellbeing benefits for all. That would tie in, the report notes, with other policy goals, such as re-vitalising town and city centres,
which need to reinvent themselves as a result of the accelerated decline in retail and office utilisation.
An Admir-able approach For companies like general insurance and loans group Admiral, the UK’s largest motor insurer, the slump in vehicle use caused by the pandemic was a rehearsal for what could be a future reality. It was the first insurer to react to the pandemic in 2020, spontaneously distributing £110million in flat-rate, automatic refunds to all its motor customers in recognition that their decreased time on the road would mean fewer claims. And it invested a further £80million in reducing prices and providing specific support packages for NHS and emergency services workers, including the waiving of motor claims www.fintech.finance
