Insurtech – the application of new technology innovations in the insurance value chain – has become a hot topic for New Zealand's insurance industry. While most agree that insurtech’s arrival here is inevitable, there is less agreement about the extent of disruption it will bring and what that disruption will look like.
Until now, insurtech's impact has been relatively limited and largely confined to the customer onboarding process (eg through the introduction of chatbots), while in other jurisdictions, a much broader range of insurtech innovations are being utilised right across the value chain.
It will be crucial for insurers and other market participants to have a complete understanding of the legal and regulatory risks associated with new insurtech, particularly with extensive law reform projects currently underway.
In this article we examine some of the insurtech innovations emerging around the world and the legal and regulatory considerations that may arise in a New Zealand context.
View our Insurtech booklet online here or download as a PDF here.