Insurance tech trends are moving in the direction of convenience for policyholders. From making it easier to get a quote online to offering a wider range of insurance options, these insurtech companies are making insurance of all types more accessible.
Here are a few of our favorite insurtech and healthtech companies we’re watching in 2021.
What is InsurTech?
A combination of the word “insurance” and “technology” insurtech companies focus on automating and streamlining the process of buying or shopping for insurance. Insurtech companies have made it easier than ever to compare all of your insurance options before buying almost any type of insurance coverage because underwriting for these companies is now largely algorithm based.
This means that you can collect quotes from multiple companies in as little as a few hours. When it comes time to sign onto a policy, you can usually complete all of the application steps online.
Healthtech is a subset of insurtech that focuses on healthcare and health insurance services. Healthtech companies might focus on providing comparison services to policy shoppers or software options for healthcare providers.
Top 8 InsurTech Companies
These are the companies, platforms and apps using insurtech to bring consumers and healthcare providers alike the best technology, product and services available.
- Online coverage
1. Best InsurTech for Insurance: Lemonade
Lemonade is an insurtech company providing homeowner’s insurance, rental insurance and additional types of insurance policies directly to consumers. Customers who need to get insurance quickly can benefit from Lemonade’s simple and straightforward application process, which uses a basic question-and-answer format to determine what you’ll pay for your coverage and the types of protections you might need depending on where you live and how you commute.
You can get a quote from Lemonade in as little as a few minutes, and rates are exceptionally affordable. For example, Lemonade makes it possible to find homeowner’s insurance for as little as $25 a month and term life insurance for as little as $9 a month.
Unlike most insurance providers, Lemonade operates as a Certified B-Corp, which means it donates a portion of its underwriting projects to charitable organizations. Some of Lemonade’s currently supported projects include the Malala Fund, the Trevor Project and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). If you’re looking for a way to give back while also buying the insurance coverages you need, Lemonade may be an option worth considering.
2. Best InsurTech for Healthcare Providers: CareCloud
CareCloud is a comprehensive healthtech platform that provides healthcare providers with a wealth of cloud-based services to help connect with their patients online. Some of the services that healthcare providers can access through CareCloud include:
- Telehealth appointments: During the current and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it can be difficult for many patients to make it into the office for standard health checkups and visits. CareCloud provides a more secure method for healthcare providers to reach patients for routine appointments online.
- Encrypted electronic health records: CareCloud’s secure software helps keep health insurance information, payment information and health records out of the hands of hackers.
- Growth analytics: Growth analytic features allow healthcare providers to analyze administrative expenses and limit the amount of money they’re spending on bookkeeping in order to pass savings along to patients and clients.
- Specialized care provider solutions: Specialized solutions (including unique platforms for individualized medical fields and areas of practice) allow healthcare providers to customize and streamline their software experience.
With a wealth of services, CareCloud is changing the way that healthcare professionals manage records, payroll, client scheduling and much more.
3. Best InsurTech for Jewelry and Watch Insurance: BriteCo
- Watch and jewelry coverage
BriteCo leverages insurtech to bring jewelry and luxury watch insurance into the 21st century. Using state-of-the-art predictive technology, BriteCo is able to provide more expansive coverage at lower rates than your homeowners, renters or other valuables insurance. Founder and CEO Dustin Lemick is a 3rd-generation jeweler, bringing a wide scope of knowledge around the needs of his jewelry customers to the world of insurance.
BriteCo covers engagement rings, fine jewelry and luxury watches. Covered perils include theft, loss, damage and unexpected disappearances. Their algorithm-based underwriting process allows you to get a quote using your smart device in under 60 seconds, with active coverage available in less than 2 minutes.
BriteCo is able to provide up to 125% in replacement value due to its streamlined risk assessment process. They'll also update your coverage each year based on the value of your jewelry or watch, saving you from the shock of outdated and inadequate coverage when you finally need to use it. And, they work with your local jeweler, so your replacement will be through the retailer of your choice, not the insurer supply chain.
Protect the valuables close to your heart with bespoke coverage from BriteCo.
- Term life insurance
4. Best InsurTech for Life Insurance: Bestow
The traditional application process for life insurance policies can be long and arduous, including multiple rounds of underwriting and even an in-person medical exam. Bestow makes it easier for anyone to get a life insurance policy, providing users with a 100% online application and approval process. Policies are available from just $10 a month, and policyholders can set a custom death benefit between $50,000 and $1.5 million.
5. Best InsurTech for Accident Insurance: Buddy
Even if you have health insurance, you could still find yourself stuck with a massive medical bill following a traumatic accident. The average health insurance plan now has a deductible of more than $4,000 — and this number doesn’t even include costs associated with missing work or altered travel plans.
Buddy is an on-demand insurance platform that offers limited coverage for accidents and costs associated with select injuries. Policies from Buddy are available for as little as $9 a day, and policyholders can purchase insurance on a day-by-day basis. For example, if a policyholder is planning for a day of rock-climbing, he or she may want to add an additional layer of protection to their health insurance plan with a single-day policy from Buddy.
6. Best InsurTech for Homeowners Insurance: Hippo
Homeowners who are looking for a simpler and easier way to find affordable home insurance are turning to Hippo, a new insurtech company focused on offering homeowners insurance policies that are both comprehensive and affordable. Unlike many home insurance policies, Hippo’s policies include coverage for water backup damage, house cleaning services following a natural disaster and local ordinance requirements as standard inclusions.
In addition to a wider-reaching range of covered home components, Hippo also offers policies with fewer steps than traditional competitors. Using a simple question-and-answer format, homeowners can receive their policy estimate in as little as 60 seconds.
7. Best InsurTech for Saving Money on Car Insurance: Metromile
Another leader using insurtech to enhance the world of auto insurance is Metromile. With Metromile, you’ll pay a base insurance rate calculated based on your driving history plus a fee for each mile that you drive.
Metromile believes that if you drive fewer miles each month, you should pay less for your insurance because the less time that you spend on the road, the less likely it is that you are going to be involved in an accident.
Distance driven isn’t traditionally taken this heavily into account when calculating rates, which means Metromile can help you save on insurance if you don’t drive on a daily basis or you only drive to and from work. Metromile claims that its customers save an average of $741 each year if they drive less than 10,000 miles a year.
8. Best InsurTech for Travel Medical Insurance: SafetyWing
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time traveling, you’ve probably also spent time worrying about what you’d do if you needed medical care in a foreign country. SafetyWing is a travel insurance provider that allows nomads and globetrotters to purchase a limited-time insurance policy to protect their health while they travel.
Policies are available for as little as $40 for 4 weeks’ worth of coverage, and deductibles start at just $250. A policy from BuddyWing also extends to COVID-19 coverage, including medical care and testing.
The Evolving World of InsurTech
Investors aren’t the only ones turning their eyes to the world of insurtech and healthtech in 2021 and beyond. As demand increases for remote services and instant access to insurance options, we anticipate the insurtech market will continue to evolve in the coming years. This may be especially true when it comes to healthtech remote services as the country continues to recover from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
About Sarah Horvath
Sarah is an expert in the insurance, investing for retirement and cryptocurrency space.