Briefing: Why insurance should go all in on human connection

Insurance has finished its great digitisation. Every part of the industry has now been touched or pitched some form of digitisation.

There are comparison, self-service websites for commoditised retail, as well as risk exchanges, fast follow platforms and eTrade routes developing upstream across larger commercial and global market risks.

But why does it still feel as if firms are not connected to their clients as much as we yearn to be?

Despite being able to stream almost any content online, I recently took a rare visit to an Everyman Cinema. It is not just the comfy sofas that sets this brand apart. Before each film, a staffer stands and gives a rather charming introduction. Totally unnecessary – even financially inefficient – but the human touch just feels nicer. It is about connection.

This human touch is visible in the insurance world. For example, if you have ever been lucky enough to experience an underwriter’s last day at Lloyd’s of London. It is quite beautiful – the entire market is clapping the retiree out the door. That clap is a ringing reminder that it will still be relationships – not screens or data – that underpin industry trust.

Lloyd’s should not thrive amid financial markets trading algorithm to algorithm. But it does. If Lloyd’s can thrive in the digital age, can regional branches?

These days, few companies retain retail branches. It is not unreasonable – footfall on high streets and digitised, non-advised distribution killed most of them. Those that maintain a physical shopfront might take my constructive observation that connection has not been at the forefront of the customer experiences provided. Most branches resemble obsolete and transactional 90s travel agencies.

Yet, most branches died before the post-Covid-19 homeworking era – despite the fact that there are more people nearby than we realise. It is why niche coffee chains are thriving in towns like Wimborne and Uttoxeter. People love their vibe.

Could a return to retail connection lie in the humble cup of coffee that inspired Lloyd’s of London? When you can only sell your product a handful of times a year, your branch should be a destination venue. Plus, there are millions of people that might enjoy a nearby place to work and learn – one they get free access to with their business insurance or household multibuys.

A modern insurance branch should be digital at its core – but it should also host networking, correlated services and knowledge events. It should be a coffee house members club. There is so much scope to leverage the funkiness of coffee culture.

Imagine this as a modern branch. Either clients or paying members can get in, use the internet, record a podcast, or take a meeting. Account managers are hosts.

Insurance branches could be a benefit – not a channel. It could also be the perfect medium for intermediaries, as they are the ones with the panels. Connection opportunities abound.

Crypto case study

Another connection signal lies in the 18th century. American author Michael Lewis wrote about a meme in his 2023 book Going Infinite, which traces the fate of global cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its imprisoned founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The meme is called the Midwest Tungsten Service, where so-called crypto bros bought small cubes of tungsten with their crypto wealth – a metal so dense that a coffee mug can weigh several kilos. People did not buy these cubes because they are useful. In a digital world, they were totems of digital reality and success.

It reminded me of the age of insurance marks. Not just signs for the bystander showing who to call when fires struck. They were totems. After buying coverage, you carry away the contract and this heavy, wrought iron mark. This physical weight feels more trustworthy and permanent. Leverage this alongside augmented reality, quick response codes or beacons and it can be a digital node too.

The key to untapped growth

Better connections around digital tracks to conversion too. The first commercial product I sold was to a wedding venue. For a startup selling mostly online personal lines products, the commission was huge for me back then.

Inspired to send it, I decided to print off the policy certificates with high quality paper, frame the cover note, put it all in on-brand coloured tissue paper and send it in a box wrapped in ribbon, with a handwritten note inside. The client was blown away.

Building connections feeds into positive talent touchpoints too. The ‘top four’ professional services firms – our competition for fresh graduate minds – beat us a long time ago in terms of connection.

They were present at job fairs, presenting accounting as consulting. After all, no one wants to be an accountant – but a consultant sounds kind of cool.

Insurance? Meh. But we fight risk. We should take pride in that connection to the thing people have evolved to avoid.

Connecting with underlying emotions, in small ways, underpinned by seamless digital tools is the untapped growth UK general insurance has been looking for – especially in the AI, working from home and anti-social media age we find ourselves all languishing in.