Just as personal lines has become commoditized and moved to a world of digital distribution, the online sales of small business and workers’ compensation insurance is fast increasing, according to Karlyn Carnahan, head of Celent’s North American property casualty practice. “Our research shows that over 30 percent of small businesses would prefer to buy their insurance online as they’re looking for a fast, simple, low cost option,” she says. “Success for an online provider, like any other insurer requires the ability to provide a simple onboarding experience as well as solid underwriting—which relies on data.”
Carnahan cites Next’s acquisition of Juniper as a significant enhancement of the company’s ability to use data both in the underwriting process as well as in the onboarding process, Carnahan adds. “Next’s acquisition of AP Intego provided them with a large customer base to cross sell,” she elaborates. “They are still a young company but they’ve shown tremendous progress over the last four years and seem poised to take advantage of the growing online market.”