More consumers are willing to share significant data on their health, exercise and driving habits in exchange for lower insurance pricing, an Accenture survey of almost 50,000 people reveals.

Customers are increasingly demanding to be charged based on their own personal behaviour and habits and are willing to allow insurers to collect their data in exchange for better value, the consultancy says, adding there was “no increased willingness” to share data without pricing incentives.

Leading insurers of the future will proactively serve customers using analytics, predictive modelling and AI, Accenture says. Rather than trying to sell individual products, insurers today should be designing broader solutions to make customers’ lives easier, it says.

“A uniform 'indemnity model' - collect premiums and process claims if necessary - isn’t enough. Our research makes it clear consumers now expect more help from their insurance provider,” Accenture’s bi-annual study says.

The market value of global health and wellness is expected to rise to $US1.3 trillion ($1.65 trillion) by 2024, and an increasing number of insurers are developing behavioural insurance offerings that promote wellness.

In the motor insurance space, three quarters of consumers surveyed are looking for personalised usage-based or “pay-as-you-drive” insurance, up from 60% just two years ago, and almost a third expect to drive less after the COVID pandemic and want their rates and plans to reflect their new habits.

“A customer-centric experience can help drive revenue and maximise customer lifetime value,” Accenture says.

The pandemic’s financial fallout has shifted consumers' priorities when deciding whether to stay with their insurer, the report warns, and this has reimagined the role of insurers and the types of services consumers now expect them to provide.

As consumer attitudes and behaviours shift, accelerated by COVID, insurers need to act.

Accenture recommends insurers offer consumers “quid pro quo” via value for data, and usage- and behaviour-based insurance to better personalise and target offerings.

Marianne Hutchinson, who leads Accenture’s insurance practice within Australia and New Zealand, says local consumers are embracing the “data-for-personalised-pricing” trend and want insurers to reward efforts to improve their wellbeing.

“It’s more of a holistic well-being: not just ‘will you be there for me when it happens?’ but ‘how would you prevent something from happening?’, as well as ‘how are you giving me the best value for my particular life?,” Ms Hutchinson tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

She says the trend for personal rewards has been already apparent in banking and has spread quickly across financial services.

“There has been a huge leap in insurance in the last two years. Australia was a little behind two years ago - in Asia it was probably greater - but we are certainly seeing an increase in the Australian market,” she says.

Insurers have already done a lot of work to set themselves up, Ms Hutchinson says, and are busy tailoring and modifying policies that reward behaviour such as preventative care, home security, safer driving, and that serve renters and demand for cyber cover.

“Some will be ahead of the curve more so than others in actually making those products available but they are getting them quicker to market,” she said.

Accenture says insurance models that capitalise on the benefits technology can bring, while meeting a changing set of consumer demands, will help insurers remain relevant and grow.

“There’s no doubt that the effects of technology are disruptive but insurers can harness that disruption to better connect with consumers for positive business impact,” it says. “The same technology disrupting insurers can be used to grow their business, ensuring relevance and the personalised insurance experience consumers want.”

The consultancy recommends cultivating data and analytics capabilities that would integrate personalised pricing and incentives into “holistic” loss prevention, mitigation, and restoration offers.

“Knowing consumers expect value in exchange for their data, re-invent usage- and behaviour-based insurance offerings for greater personalisation,” it recommends. “Explore the strategic opportunities in intelligent data signals, dynamic personalised content, social engagement and automated marketing capabilities.”

This proactive rethinking of business strategy will give insurers an opportunity to get closer to their consumers at a time when many show increased willingness to consider alternative providers and methods of purchasing insurance, it says.