In an era where data drives decision-making, insurance companies find themselves at the forefront of a data revolution. From underwriting and claims to risk assessment and customer engagement, the effective use of data is critical to success. Yet, as discussed during our recent roundtable at ITC London (Insurtech Connect), challenges such as data accessibility, accuracy, and integration persist, particularly against the backdrop of increasing regulatory scrutiny and emerging technologies.
Read on to find out how unifying data and investing in technology will be key for insurers looking to make smarter decisions in 2025 and beyond.
The Data Landscape: Challenges and Complexities
Participants at the roundtable, comprising senior underwriting, risk, and data professionals, shared a common sentiment: while the volume and variety of data sources have grown exponentially, the ability to derive actionable insights remains a challenge.
Legacy systems and fragmented datasets often result in poor data sharing across the organisation, along with poor data quality, making it difficult to trust the outputs of analytics based on these. The complexities of mergers and acquisitions can also hinder seamless data integration, while ensuring compliance with evolving local and international regulations adds another challenge as insurers look to add new datapoints to support their processes around these.
Attendees discussed how pre-analysed datasets and AI tools could be instrumental in streamlining underwriting and risk management processes. For example, enriched data can enable more accurate predictive modelling, helping underwriters assess risks with greater precision. Similarly, structured datasets can accelerate decision-making in claims processing, reducing turnaround times and improving customer satisfaction.
Collaborating with External Data Providers
The discussion continued with insights on the value of external data providers. Many organisations around the table either have already started, or plan to start, leveraging these partnerships to gain greater transparency into the risk posed by insureds and third parties, enhance predictive modelling, improve customer segmentation, and personalise offerings. By integrating enriched external data with internal systems, insurers have been able to detect fraud more effectively, refine underwriting criteria, and better understand customer needs.
However, one key takeaway was the struggle to integrate these external and internal datasets effectively. Organisations frequently rely on third-party data providers to enrich their insights, but these datasets must be compatible with existing data structures and systems or managed effectively to allow for this. Many insurers already trust Dun & Bradstreet to help overcome this. Our DUNS® Number (a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses), along with our analytics and solutions allow businesses to connect their data with our data and insights on over 590 million entities – establishing a clean and consolidated data foundation on which to base risk and growth decisions. We can then provide enriched information for each record, for example family tree relationships, financial risk, ESG performance and more.
Creating Unified Data Ecosystems
Participants discussed the importance of building ‘unified data ecosystems’ to centralise and standardise information. The sentiment was that these systems not only improve data quality but also facilitate real-time ingestion and analysis, enabling faster, more informed decisions.
Middleware, APIs, and cloud-based platforms such as Databricks were highlighted as essential tools for bridging the gap and making this possible, though their implementation can require significant investment and alignment across teams.
Unlock The Full Potential of Data
Looking ahead, the consensus among participants was clear: the insurance industry must continue to invest in innovative technologies and collaborative strategies to unlock the full potential of data. By addressing challenges head-on and embracing opportunities for improvement, insurers can position themselves for success in an increasingly data-driven world.
The ITC London roundtable served as a valuable forum for exploring these critical issues, fostering dialogue among industry leaders committed to driving progress through data innovation.
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