Adapting to rapid change was a common theme for experts at this year’s InsurtechLIVE in Sydney.  

Technology adoption in insurance is accelerating, more than 300 attendees heard last week. The nature of insurance losses is also shifting as exposures grow in severity and frequency. 

EY partner of financial services technology consulting Andy Parton said the cost of managing new customer and regulatory demands with “old, clunky systems” has forced a tipping point in technology adoption.

And US Property & Liability Resource Bureau CEO Bryan Falchuk told the audience the “game has changed” for insurers.

He urged a “rethink and reset” of decades-old core products.  

As climate-related losses increase and the period between them shrinks, a “shift in the norm” means greater innovation in insurance products is essential.

“That’s what makes this moment different than the things we’ve faced in the past and the way we’ve faced them before,” he said.

Raising rates, pulling out of unprofitable markets and cutting costs are “really not enough any more. We need to step back and recognise that the core product needs a rethink ... We need to reset.”  

See Analysis.