Finance Derivative Interview with James Burton senior director of product management at LexisNexis Risk Solution, Insurance, U.K. and Ireland

  • What led you to move from the financial services sector to insurance?

I worked as a market analyst and global derivatives trader for three years then moved into banking for close to five years before a brief stint at a data and technology company. The switch to insurance came about for several reasons.

Firstly, the banking sector is relatively mature in its use of data and I could see how transformative data and technology could be for the insurance sector – I wanted to play a part in that.

Secondly, LexisNexis Risk Solutions was still a relatively new brand in the UK insurance market when I joined, although the business had a 40 year plus history in the U.S. The position of head of data analytics was a fantastic chance to work for a business with a clear vision to deliver innovative data and technology solutions to help insurance providers better understand risk.

Thirdly, I could see the massive potential of contributory data solutions in insurance so that the whole market has an opportunity to benefit. Obviously the more contributors you have on board, the more powerful the database becomes. Close to 100% of the motor insurance market is now contributing to our Motor Policy History Database and benefiting from digitised No Claims Discount proof.  We intend to repeat this success with our claims database for home, motor and commercial.

 

  • Are there parallels to be drawn between customer verification processes in banking and those now being used in Insurance?
James Burton

Yes, while insurance providers aren’t subject to all the same Anti Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations as lenders, the sector is experiencing high levels of fraud and this has driven innovations in data solutions to validate the applicant, customer or claimant is who they say they are, at speed, at each part of the customer journey.  Solutions such as email address-based fraud risk scores and our unique customer identifier stem from identity solutions that have been used with success in the banking sector.

 

  • How much have the new pricing rules in insurance changed the way insurance providers use data enrichment services?

Insurance providers must now ensure the consumer’s risk is assessed as accurately as possible and in-turn priced fairly, using the same processes and data the insurance provider would use at new business.  As a consequence we are now seeing an increased demand for data enrichment at renewal.  Crucially, insurance providers can now use one point of access to data enrichment rather than calling out to multiple data sources, to allow risk assessment at individual, asset, household and postcode level with intelligence delivered on all individuals associated with the quote in a single transaction.

 

  • What do you believe have been the most exciting innovations in the insurance market in the past year?

The insurance market is constantly innovating in response to the changing needs of customers. The emergence of short-term insurance solutions is a good example and an area we are watching closely.

Clearly the more accurate and actionable data at your fingertips the better you can price a quote – whether for a day’s cover or a year – help customers mitigate risk or settle a claim.

The availability of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems data at quote has also been a big change for the motor insurance market.  Having this data at a Vehicle Identification Number level gives insurance providers a much clearer indication of the risks associated with a specific vehicle.  The availability of this data at the VIN level is a true industry first and one that only grows in importance and value as more cars come fitted with ADAS as standard.

 

  • Fraud is being highlighted as a rising challenge for all parts of the financial services market – how do you think this will play out in insurance specifically and what are the possible solutions?

The pressure on household finances this year has been well documented and insurance providers are all too keenly aware of the environment this can create for fraud at application and claim. Aviva confirmed recently that it had identified fraud on more than 20,000 motor policy applications. Of these, ghost broking accounted for 15% of all the application fraud detected[i]. One of the tactics used by ghost brokers is to buy a cheap policy using fake details with the victim buying the policy listed as a ‘named driver’.

This scheme underlines the importance of validating the identity of named drivers to the same level as main proposers, exploiting the latest advances in swift, front-end fraud detection to flag any links to past fraud and highlight if the information provided for a quote may have been manipulated for a cheaper premium.

At claim, soon insurance providers will have access to a whole raft of data enrichment solutions to better understand risk, including highly granular claim history data gathered from across the market.  This is set to provide a real step-change in understanding the risk of fraud at first notification of loss (FNOL).

 

  • Affordability of insurance is going to be a key concern for the insurance market given the cost-of-living crisis – how can data help insurance providers in this regard?

The insurance sector will be looking at how it can offer greater flexibility and convenience to customers where payment options are concerned, particularly in the case of mandatory insurance. By bringing in insight on premium affordability based on credit data, as part of the quote process, insurance providers can help ensure customers get the correct insurance protection with the option to pay the premium in a way they can afford.

Ultimately, doing the right thing for customers comes down to ensuring you understand their needs as fully as possible at the point of quote and claim.  In this way you can turn what is essentially a mandatory purpose into something individuals really value.  Supporting insurance providers in this regard through data and technology is what we do all day every day.

 

[i] https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2022/05/insurance-claims-fraud-up-by-13percent-in-2021/

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