BIA 2015: Technology: Looking to the future

• Digital Insurance Initiative of the Year
• The Technology Award

Big data, tech hubs, the Internet of Things – 2015 really was the year that digital fever took hold of the insurance industry. The first driverless vehicles took to the UK roads in February, taking the technology kickstarted by telematics to the next level.

Meanwhile, ‘omnichannel’ became the buzzword du jour, with insurers, brokers and everyone in between seeking to provide services across smartphones, tablets, call centres, online and face-to-face. Chief digital officers and similar roles also became more commonplace at insurance companies such as Aviva and DLG, with the notion of ‘digital transformation’ within businesses taking centre stage.

Post held its biggest Digital Insurance Strategies conference, covering off key tech-focused topics such as preparing for disruption, sourcing digital talent and technology and regulation. It even featured Post’s very first hackathon.

But it hasn’t all been good news for the burgeoning digital sector of insurance. The FCA announced in its 2015/16 business plan that a review is to take place in 2015, focusing on the risks and rewards big data poses.

Keeping the customer front of mind is one way businesses can make the most of the opportunities provided by technology – a mindset evidenced by the winner of the Digital Initiative of the Year Award. Aviva’s launch of its MyAviva portal – and the associated mobile app – in February 2014 has successfully made customer interaction with its products more simple and more personal.



MyAviva allows customers to see all their products in one place, meaning the insurer’s eight million clients can get a single view of their motor policy, home policy and even personal pension. MyAviva puts its money where its mouth is and brings to life what being a composite insurer really means.

Before MyAviva launched, customers had separate logins for life, health and GI – an incohesive set-up which also engendered significant failure rates thanks to the different log-in and registration processes across the different systems.

The linking of no less than 12 systems in a single view enables a seamless journey for customers, and the subsequent launch of the MyAviva app means they can view their policies and make changes to them whenever, wherever – perfect for today’s 24/7 consumers. MyAviva also enables direct access to loyalty discounts, creating a real sense of putting the customer first.

The impact of MyAviva speaks for itself, with one million new registrations, a doubling in motor and home sales to customers accessing the portal and a 1400% increase in travel cross-sales. 85,000 people have downloaded the app since launch and rated it 4 out of 5. As one Aviva customer says, “At long last I have all my insurance in one place and am able to manage it myself. Happy customer.”

And it’s not just personal lines experiencing a simplification of client journeys. Within broking, LV has developed a Broker Portal which had led to operational efficiencies, cost savings and access to new markets – which is why LV Broker has been crowned winner of The Technology Award.



Garnering more than 1000 live users, reducing administration costs in some areas by 70% and receiving excellent broker feedback are just some of the achievements of the new portal.

The LV Broker Portal meets the growing appetite for self-service. As the first UK insurer to use Mendix – which enables quick and cost-effective development of digital solutions – LV has created a ‘one-stop shop’ for brokers.

Although the insurer had a number of online services, they were not accessible through a single platform. The business also saw opportunities to deliver speedier and cheaper solutions for commercial lines clients through an agile, scalable platform, which allowed LV to learn and fail fast by creating prototypes, gathering broker feedback and making changes quickly. Using Mendix also meant LV could create tailored platforms rather than going for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

As well as offering low-cost entry to emerging markets for broker clients, the LV Broker Portal also implemented improved presentation of online content and built on the previous range of online trading offerings.

It provides an online cover note facility and an in-house online trading solution for Fleet clients, achieving impressive GWP fleet online business in just three months.