Chain-Finance: Blockchain Technology for Insurance Markets

"Blockchain technology could favour the emergence of alternative risk management models shifting away from risk pooling, the predominant model in insurance. Such blockchain-based risk management models could include self-managed or administered risk protocols, peer-to-peer insurance platforms and even fully funded solutions." - Long Finance, December 2014

"Insurance is gaining momentum in the use of blockchain and slowly figuring out the true business use or to some degree what the use case should be. I have no doubt that within the next few years it will be a major technology in the insurance ecosystem." - Abizer Rangwala, Managing Director of Accenture’s Insurance IT Strategy.

"In theory this technology could allow for the creation of DAOs [Decentralized Autonomous Organizations] which are corporate entities that possess no full-time human employees while still being able to perform all the same functions as traditional corporations. Insurance is an obvious first use case of truly programmable money and provides a great opportunity for smart contracts to demonstrate the extent of their capabilities" - Joshua Davis, "PEER TO PEER INSURANCE ON AN ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN"

The question that we are addressing at this first-of-a-kind event is whether or not blockchain technology could be used in the context of insurance markets. The structure of the insurance industry involves a lot of assessing and managing risk based on whether an event may or not occur.

Fraud is rampant in insurance and claims management at a significant overhead. Can blockchain mitigate fraud, facilitate risk assessments and improve claims management? We will explore these areas.

You may have heard of mutual insurance where an asset pool is shared among industry players to be drawn upon an event occurring and affecting one of the players. Blockchain is a coordination machine.Thus can it facilitate a better more efficient mutual insurance model?

Mis-selling insurance is a big problem - we have all heard of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Can blockchain help to avoid such practices by registering contracts on a shared ledger?

Claims management involves a diversity of problems from distinguishing the fraudulent from genuine claims and managing a costly administration process. The first part of the claims management system is about identifying when/if an insured event happened. This often involves supporting evidence, police reports etc. Once the claim is ready, it is submitted to the insurance firm for processing. Can we envisage a more streamlined system? For example, an insured individual experiences an insurable event and records on mobile device. This is verified remotely, and that verification unlocks the distributed application triggering a direct payout.

What about transparency between the insurer and the insured? Most people don’t check the terms of insurance before buying a contract. Can the distributed application/smart contract offer better transparency before purchasing?

Blockchain technology could create the first ever global insurance contract posted on a blockchain. Just like Overstock issues bonds and stocks on a blockchain, could you have an insurer sell their product on a blockchain, creating a globally accessible market for insurance? This is another area to explore.

What about peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance? Can blockchain offer advantages to ‘crowd-insurance’ markets? Our event will follow the standard Chain-Finance format:

• Exploring the insurance market challenges and opportunities for technology
• Looking at blockchain technology at a high level to determine its relevance to the insurance market so identifying potential use cases
• Hearing a News Update from our Chain-Finance journalist, who will give you an overview of actual blockchain for insurance use cases. 
• Then blockchain protocol exposé where you will hear from the developers of technology protocols and on how their stack can be used in insurance.
• Next we will hear actual use-cases being built in the blockchain insurance market
• Q&A; session then go for informal networking

Come and join us to learn more about this industry as it starts to emerge. Network and walk away with one of our Chain-Finance brochures containing exclusive interviews with participants. We look forward to seeing you there.

Speakers: 

• Michael Mainelli - Long Finance - Author of "Chain Of A Lifetime: How Blockchain Technology Might Transform Personal Insurance"
• Gary Nuttall - running a blockchain proof-of-concept for Lloyds on insurance
• Thomas Bertani- Oraclize & insurETH