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In the insurance sector, the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards are much anticipated – they reveal some of the most innovative and disruptive new insurance offerings in the market. The 2018 Awards did not disappoint.

Accenture’s Insurance as a Living Business report indicates that insurance innovators could capture $375 billion in new revenue globally in the next five years. The Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards showcases the kinds of solutions we can expect to see leading in the sector.

The winning solutions characterise a new wave of insurance products that reach well beyond traditional offerings—they are fast, simple, smart … and totally connected!

And the big winner is …

The 2018 Global Innovator is Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (TMNF). The award is well deserved. Japan’s biggest insurer, TMNF reaches well beyond the innovative use of technology to illustrate leadership in this sector; it is tailoring its insurance products to facilitate emerging social and lifestyle realities.

It has launched a number of firsts in its home market—a series of innovative insurance products designed to support new social movements such as the sharing economy, working from home, diversity and inclusion, support for an aging society and inclusion of LGBT. It also sets the bar high in a few segments at the global level.

One of TMNF’s standout solutions was its Connected Safety Drive Support and Rescue System, an all-in-one Internet of Things (IoT) device with two cameras, GPS and a 4G wireless connection for auto insurance customers. It includes accident prevention capabilities and drive-history reports.

What drives the development of these products, says the insurer, is the rapid change it is seeing in society: “There are new and unprecedented risks erupting from new types of services and technologies, while the traditional risks which can be calculated by the ‘law of large numbers’ are diminishing rapidly. Insurance companies must manage this new type of risk to help drive social change.”

Insurance as a Living Business

TMNF’s views are in line with the findings of our Insurance as a Living Business study. The insurance industry as we know it is crossing the threshold into a new environment—one where it’s critical to continuously innovate and adapt to changing customer needs to capture emerging growth opportunities and outperform competitors.

Competition for the Efma−Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards was fierce this year—320 submissions were received from 237 carriers in 45 countries across the globe. It’s a reflection of the transformation taking place in the industry.

Traditionally conservative insurers are leveraging digital technologies and redesigning products in startling new ways to meet new customer demands and grow their businesses.

Join me next week to view my picks from among the winning solutions that I believe best characterise ‘fast’, ‘simple’, ‘smart’ and ‘high-touch’, and take a look at which areas Accenture believes will generate new insurance revenues.

To access more 2018 Efma−Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards insights, register at efma.com (it’s free) and go explore the future of insurance.

For more on how innovation in insurance will drive revenues, click through to Accenture’s Insurance as a Living Business report.