Blockchain is anticipated to fundamentally alter the way the insurance and reinsurance industries function by enabling tighter communication between stakeholders, including suppliers, reinsurers, and brokers.
Blockchain’s main characteristic, which supports the security and accuracy of transaction data, is the development of trust between parties exchanging information.
Blockchain in reinsurance streamlines crucial procedures like compliance checks and cuts down on compliance check processing time and cost.
Businesses all around the globe continue to undergo a change thanks to blockchain technology.
Although blockchain is a commonly used phrase in the most recent advancements, many individuals are unfamiliar with the idea.
In other words, many people are unaware of what blockchain technology is.
Simply put, a blockchain is a distributed database system that stores records of transactions and other activities. As a result, it enables signing, trading, and confirming without needing a middleman.
Blockchain makes it possible to perform commercial transactions securely and transparently without needing a middleman.
The technology is ready to significantly improve the way we do business in practically every area, based on the highlighted attributes.
The insurance sector is one of the businesses that is anticipated to see changes in how stakeholders engage with one another.
Brokers, reinsurers, and suppliers are a few of the ecosystem partners that make up the insurance sector’s stakeholders.
The Difficulties Facing the Insurance Sector
The issues with the present insurance arrangement continue to have numerous loopholes that undercut the multi-trillion dollar global sector in many ways, despite the rising technology usage in the insurance industry.
For instance, customers still contact brokers to buy new insurance policies, and policies are still processed using paper contracts, which are prone to mistakes.
Efficiency assurance is made more challenging by the complexity of insurance processes.
Customers, brokers, insurers, and reinsurers are all involved in constructing the principal product, risk management.
Every stage in the insurance processing process risks information loss, policy misunderstandings, and protracted settlement periods.
Insurance and Blockchain
Trust, transparency, and immutability are three of blockchain’s core characteristics that are relevant to the insurance sector.
Blockchain technology functions in a manner that offers a single source of information that is updated in real-time, enabling parties to retain the detailed asset, contract, and data ownership records without the need for middlemen. Micro Insurance providers like Smart Cover are already leveraging the use of Blockchain technology to provide a better and more transparent service to their customers.
Blockchain in the insurtech sector offers a single data source (truth), which significantly lowers friction in business operations.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DTL) networks are facilitated and automated by smart contracts that are enabled by blockchain technology.
As a result, several insurance business subsectors might benefit from blockchain applications, including:
- Risk mitigation and risk management to improving efficiency.
- Using a smart contract for property and casualty (P&C) insurance to increase efficiency
- Health insurance to promote interoperability and secure health records
- Life insurance may assist in automating death claims, freeing up family members from the laborious process.
Reinsurance Using Blockchain
As per British Insurance News, inefficiencies in risk knowledge, placement, claims settlement, and compliance provides the biggest problems for reinsurance.
Reinsurance is a crucial component of the insurance chain, and smart contracts on the blockchain are seen to have significant potential to change this industry.
According to research, blockchain technology may assist shorten the time and cost associated with processing orders, settling disputes, and aligning important procedures like compliance checks.
A greater understanding of risks and identity is also seen to be possible with blockchain, especially in light of the volume of data that is exchanged across many parties, including customers, brokers, reinsurers, and outside service providers.
Since each entity needs several data entries and reconciliation, blockchain technology is a good choice to address the underlying issues.
Blockchain may speed and ease risk transfer from one insurer to another, which is now a laborious procedure for settling insurance claims.
Blockchain records every transaction, including premium payments and losses, on the ledger of the insurer and reinsurer using smart contracts.
The procedure does away with institutions’ need to coordinate individual claims and paper records.
Through the data exchanged across fixed registers, reinsurers may also distribute money to claims in real time.
They won’t have to depend on the main insurer for information on every claim, allowing them to quickly and effectively resolve disputes.
How Can Blockchain Aid Developing Nations Get Insurance?
In underdeveloped nations, the vast majority of people lack access to health insurance.
Due to significant administrative expenses and the possibility of corruption, health insurance is quite expensive.
Customers contact insurance agents at traditional insurance businesses using a “pen and pencil” technique, who then undertake liaison tasks to provide the best possibilities for the consumer.
Birth certificates, treatment logs, and past insurance coverage are examples of medical documents that are vulnerable to loss and destruction.
The developing world will find this paradigm particularly challenging.
Consistent phone and internet access is a challenge in most developing countries.
A solution is offered by smartphones and cloud-based blockchain programs.
Final Reflection
Although blockchain may not be able to address all of the problems that insurers are now facing, it is a crucial fundamental technology that has the potential to advance stability, transparency, and confidence.
The capacity to automate the procedure makes the insurance sector more effective, which is a total advantage.
To prepare for a soft launch as a SAAS model in 2022, one of our group companies, Smarttek, is now doing further research and development in the field of blockchain.
