Instech London Podcast

Reaching emission reduction and sustainability goals is becoming more important than ever. Supporting the carbon markets, including through new insurance products, can be a key way of doing this.  This week Matthew Grant speaks to InsTech’s own Ali Smedley - Senior Research Analyst and author of “Carbon offsetting: the insurance use case”. To learn more, you can download the report here. Topics include: The difference between a carbon offset and carbon credit Examples of carbon offset projects and their risks What’s happening with carbon insurance at the moment How data and technology companies can support insurers We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit 

While supply chains are under increasing pressure, many losses associated with cargo delays go uninsured. If shipments are late, perishable goods are lost, business is interrupted and budgets are overspent. Henry Gale speaks to Yann Barbarroux, CEO and Co-founder at Otonomi about the insurance product the company has built to cover supply chain delays for third-party logistics companies and freight forwarders. Topics include: Getting cargo underwriters at Lloyd’s comfortable with a delay product Three approaches to distribution for new insurance products How the Ever Given ship stuck in the Suez Canal affected supply chains Customer responses to parametric products Otonomi's experience in the Lloyd's Lab We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world e

Technology comes in many forms - some of it is very visible and accessible - but a lot of the important technology is working away out of sight - and usually out of mind. And many of the most successful companies are those that are building out this critical infrastructure.  Richard Tyler, Founder and CEO of Phinsys and Eric Butler, Head of Americas and Bermuda join Matthew Grant to discuss why Phinsys was launched. Topics include: How to help insurers understand where they have been, where they are now and where they are going From frustrated business user to successful start-up founder - why these companies succeed Connecting the financial plumbing - the benefits of buy versus build We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morni

Send offers modular commercial insurance software to insurers, reinsurers and MGAs. The core offering is an underwriting workbench that supports from initial enquiry to bind. It’s a single place for underwriters to access data, documents and decision points. New insurers can use it as a core system, or for more mature companies, it can be bolted onto existing systems, including legacy. Send was founded in 2017 by three insurance veterans. Topics covered include: How to sort through underwriting information that is unstructured and often unwanted How large insurers are able to accelerate the adoption of new technology How ChatGPT is being used to make sense of email Reducing the cost and risk of deployment How to avoid the challenge of making simple things simple but complex things impossible Revealing Send’s strategy of “continuous development” We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us

Flood events are increasing around the world, with many losses uncovered by insurance. Whilst parametric solutions can help provide new capacity to insure catastrophic risks and widen access to insurance, parametric flood insurance is not yet as widespread as parametric covers for hurricanes or earthquakes, due in part to data and modelling challenges specific to flood.  Henry Gale speaks to Peter Lacovara, Head of Commercial, Floodbase about how the company is working to make parametric flood insurance possible with satellite imagery, machine learning and partnerships with insurers and brokers. Topics include: Peter's experience leading parametric broking in North America at Marsh The types of companies looking for parametric flood insurance Training a machine to find flood water in satellite images What 'fractional flooded area' is and how it can be used as a parametric trigger Floodbase's work with FEMA on the US National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) We’d love to know what you think about this episode -

The Florida insurance market has faced numerous challenges in recent years. For insurers to underwrite profitably in Florida, having the right hurricane reinsurance is essential. David Schmid, Head of Parametric Products, Reask and Brian Espie, Chief Underwriting Officer, Kettle, join Henry Gale to discuss the new parametric reinsurance solution Kettle and Reask have created for Florida hurricane risks. Topics include: Why parametric can help insurers buy reinsurance that reflects their own view of risk The advantages of parametric reinsurance over industry loss warranties (ILWs) The data sources Reask uses to calculate hurricane wind speed at different locations How Hurricane Ian's wind patterns were unusual and why it matters We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a f

Matthew Grant is back talking to another co-founder of a successful technology company. Louw Hopley is Co-founder and CEO of Root which is providing technology to support embedded insurance for companies in South Africa, UK and other countries. Topics include: The advantages of building technology for companies in South Africa What an API really is and how it works The emerging use of Generative AI for writing and testing code Finding your business partner If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech podcast, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this

One of the fundamentals of Insurance is understanding the nature of the risk. What happens when a bookshop adds in a coffee shop - is that riskier? Has this been communicated to the insurer? Does the premium change to reflect that? Matthew Grant is talking to Roger Ferrandis, COO and Co-founder, Wenalyze about how the company is helping insurers identify significant changes in their portfolio. Topics include: How a leading insurer increased annual premium income by repricing its clients' business Building a start-up and surviving two pivots Sources of data around the world Making it easy to integrate into workflows We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit 

With all the new technology emerging - and insurers thirsty for knowledge - there’s a growing need for someone to help figure out how to join it all together. Robin Merttens talks to Daren Rudd, VP Consulting - Head of Insurance Business and Technology Consulting, UK at CGI. You’ll hear about Daren’s personal experience and how he and his colleagues are helping insurers engage with new and innovative technology, data and analytics. Topics covered include: The most notable developments in how insurers engage with digital from the last decade Why technology is the new Lego Why we are looking in the wrong place to solve the industry’s data problem Success stories in implementing IOT for insurers Go digital but allow time to dance  The book recommendation from this week’s guest Daren is Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Business Disruption by Tom Goodwin. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to

This week we’re back talking to Synergy Cloud - it's about claims - and Matthew Grant is talking to Tom Burroughs, Chief Technology Officer, the intrapreneur within the parent company Claims Consortium Group creating a new product and a new business. We cover a range of topics relevant to anyone building or using software, not just in claims, including: What insurance can learn from the travel industry How to build technology in collaboration with the customer It plugs but does it play? Tips for finding the best integrations tools for your product Designing with your customer’s customer in mind Digital collaboration today in a post-pandemic world To learn more about what you should value when you are developing software, podcast guest Tom recommends the Agile Manifesto. If you enjoyed this episode and want to keep listening, we recommend Episode 166 with Jeremy Hyams, CEO of Claims Consortium Group. We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post ab

Reinsurers are often the leaders in innovation - and usually identify earlier trends before they go mainstream. In this episode, Robin Merttens talks to Brian O'Reilly, Head of Innovation and Nicole Van Allen, Associate, to discover what Greenlight Re looks for in its business partners. Topics include: What to look for in founders Why actuaries still have a critical role Where to find the best innovation What the future will look like Examples of companies Greenlight Re has worked with We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech is accredited by The

We’re back talking about life and health for this week’s special edition with Tim Smith and Lisa Balboa from Hannover Re. Robin Merttens leads the discussion. Topics include: The role of a reinsurance company in providing protection for insurers and their clients An update on the use of wearables Making health insurance affordable for many How Hannover Re nurtures innovation We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech podcast, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards

Concirrus was founded in 2012 and has evolved to become one of the leaders in supporting marine underwriting through tracking ships and managing data. Today the company is expanding into a platform for multiple risk types and provides analytics into areas including aviation and liability. The goal is to make all underwriters as smart as the smartest underwriter in a company using AI tools. With his fourth appearance on the InsTech podcast and third dedicated interview, Co-founder and CEO Andy Yeoman explains to Matthew Grant the lessons and insights since founding the business. Topics include:  Creating “decision optimizations solutions” and what they are How to make technology work better for underwriters What it means to move AI from a point solution to a platform solution Lessons from Silicon Valley to Silicon Roundabout When looking to the future, consider the “but for… Why insurers should study the designed instability of the F-35 fighter jet If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on

As climate extremes worsen, insurance plays a more important role in helping people recover from disasters. Yet even many of the most exposed people do not buy the coverage they need, while the global protection gap continues to widen as more homes are developed in high-risk areas. In this episode, InsTech's Ali Smedley and Henry Gale talk to Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, Environmental Defense Fund and author of 'Understanding Disaster Insurance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future'. The book provides an overview of disaster insurance markets and the role of the public sector, then focuses on how innovations in insurance, such as parametric coverage and community-based catastrophe insurance, can build resilience. Topics include: Encouraging risk reduction and mitigation How to design effective parametric microinsurance products Implementing community-based flood insurance in New York City How insurance can help create a nature-positive economy The roles of the public and

Guidewire is known for providing technology to the property, casualty and workers' compensation insurance industry. The company is expanding its analytics capabilities and also has an open ecosystem of partners which offer a variety of hardware, consulting and application services. Matthew Grant is joined by Charles Clarke - Group Vice President, Sales and Advisory and Chris Cooksey - Senior Director, Advanced Analytics. Topics covered include: Overcoming the challenges of interoperability for insurers How to deliver data to underwriters when they need it and where they need it Introducing change one step at a time Opportunities for more industry collaboration The problems Guidewire is solving for its clients You can learn more about Guidewire at our forthcoming event in London on 27 June. Registration details here We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platfor

With all the sophisticated models, data and tools available to insurers, it's as important as ever to know where something is. Managing aggregation is vital for successful underwriting and we are going to be seeing a lot more about platforms that bring together different data sources. In this episode Matthew Grant talks to Jacqueline Legrand, Co-founder & CEO, Maptycs. She had a problem - so she built a company to fix it. Topics include: How a problem for insurance brokers inspired the founder of Maptycs Why understanding risk aggregation is so important What risk managers, insurers and others need to know Why getting simplicity right requires complex coding A partnership strategy to deliver data How to build software that is easy and intuitive to use Data quality is important but API quality is essential To learn more about Maptycs, visit their member profile page here. We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it.  If you like what

Insurance runs on data which has to be moved between counterparties. Insurers, brokers, MGAs and many others still rely on spreadsheets (or worse) to do that, which causes friction and errors. In this episode, Robin Merttens talks to Dave Connors, Founder and CEO of distriBind, about why he set up the company and how they are working with insurers and others to provide a way to move beyond spreadsheets at the pace that suits them best.  Topics include: Avoiding million-dollar mistakes through more robust data transfer Why spreadsheets for data transfer doesn’t work Validation and reconciliation Why the industry has found it so difficult to wean itself off spreadsheets Common data standards - does the industry need them? The benefits of being in the Lloyd’s Lab What the future holds We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it.  If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Gran

We might be buying our personal insurance directly these days, but brokers still play a key role when it comes to all but the simplest of coverage. Costero goes one step further and finds solutions for risks that are unusual, and often hard to place but which are solving some of the world’s insurance protection gaps. Intrigued to learn more? This week Matthew Grant joins Managing Director Jamie Webb and Divisional Director James Gadbury, of Costero Brokers. UK-based - but with global clients. Topics include: The role of a broker for speciality business Why US businesses come to Lloyd’s to find insurance and capacity Supporting hard-to-place risks such as micro-mobility, autonomous vehicles and cryptocurrency  Solutions for new companies pushing the boundaries of insurance such as Coincover, Nirvana, Thimble, ChAI and Aurora Partnerships with Atrium, Markel and others How Lloyd’s is helping create a market and opportunity for new solutions We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and a

No technology innovation survives long without a client. Chaucer Group is well known as a successful Lloyd’s insurer and embodies the spirit of Lloyd’s by underwriting unusual and complex business.  Matthew Grant is joined by Duncan Gemmel, Chief Strategy Officer, and Hayley Maynard, Head of Innovation, Chaucer Group, for a live recording. Topics covered include: How to engage underwriters in new opportunities  Why it pays to go narrow and go deep What Chaucer look for in technology and data offerings The opportunities to provide insurance cover for IVF Treatment, Political Violence, Carbon Offsets and pandemic-related losses Building a business for the future whilst generating results in the short term We’d love to know what you think about this episode - click here and add your thoughts to our LinkedIn post about it.  If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world e

The consequences of non-damage business interruption (NDBI), when events like pandemics don't cause physical damage to a business but do result in significant drops in revenue, have been particularly clear since 2020. Small businesses and gig workers are particularly vulnerable to losses of income during events beyond their control, but these losses tend to be uninsured. OTT Risk, an MGA founded during the Covid-19 pandemic, is developing new approaches to underwriting non-damage business interruption insurance. It's now partnered with Apollo ibott Syndicate 1971, at Lloyd's, to offer revenue protection to the users of digital economy platforms. Topics include  How the principle of parametric insurance is extending from covering catastrophic events to non-physical losses Examples of how small businesses and gig workers could be affected by future NDBI events How digital economy platforms could offer revenue protection to their users The data sources you need to underwrite NDBI insurance OTT Risk's experience