Amazon.com Inc. rattled health insurers in January with its foray into that sector with a couple of big partners. The e-commerce juggernaut is also making waves in the insurance industry in another way: It’s helping to motivate general insurers to up their game. And the change touches on both customer service and big data. “We’re seeing lots of changing consumer behavior, and with the Amazons of the world educating consumers about brilliant customer service, we’re finding that we’ve got to keep up with that,” said Tom Stoddard, chief financial officer of British multinational insurance company Aviva PLC UK:AV . (Amazon tends to get high marks in areas like customer satisfaction.) One example of a shift at Aviva? It’s known within the insurance company as “Ask It Never,” according to Stoddard. It’s similar to how Amazon AMZN, +6.17% uses its data to offer tailored recommendations without needing to give any shoppers the third degree. “We’re using big data and artificial intelligence to try to reduce — or in some cases even eliminate — the need to ask underwriting questions,” the CFO told MarketWatch in an interview. “For example, if you’re a customer and we have your address, we might be able to quote you a homeowner’s policy without asking you any information about that home, because virtually all of that is available through public sources.” Aviva doesn’t have to grill homeowners about the types of door locks at a house, a roof’s flat spots or other details. “We can use satellite data to predict more accurately than probably you can just how much of your roof is flat,” Stoddard said. “We get better underwriting information actually, without asking a whole lot questions to the customer. So this is all about simplifying the customer journey.” Read more:An Amazon bank could rival Wells Fargo with 70 million customers The insurer has touted the benefits of its “Ask It Never” approach with its TV ad that says, “Get a quote, not a quiz at Aviva.” “That whole concept of using data — using information that’s available to us — to make the customer experience better, frankly, is where the world is going,” the CFO said. “And it’s a place where we feel like we’ve been at the forefront — at least in the insurance sector — in terms of our investing activity.” Players in the fintech industry (that’s short for financial technology) have been bracing for so-called insuretech developments. “There is simply too much data out there than can be used to make better, more accurate, risk assessments which should translate into better pricing and services for everyone,” Tadas Viskanta, founder and editor of investment blog Abnormal Returns, told MarketWatch in December. There are also warnings. Karen Petrou, a managing partner at consulting firm Federal Financial Analytics, has cautioned that the potential for price hikes and conflicts of interest are embedded in big data. Then again, Aviva tries not to take its data approach too far, according to Stoddard. People at times prefer to provide information, rather than feel like they’re already an open book. “In some cases, we find that customers actually want us to ask them a few questions,” the CFO said. “It may be that asking zero questions is not the best answer.” This story was first published on March 12, 2018.
British insurance company Aviva has launched a service inspired by how Amazon analyses customer data . In a similar way to Amazon , Aviva uses data in its Ask if Never service to provide tailored solutions without interrogating potential customers about technical issues such as door locks or alarm designs . While the company said the use of data analytics would lessen the need for underwriting questions , critics have said big data analysis creates the potential for price increases and conflicts of interest .