Collaboration of WTW and Klarity for Enhanced Pricing Precision
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Klarity have teamed up to revolutionise life insurance underwriting by incorporating individualised health data from wearable technologies into the process.
Klarity's risk scoring model, built on over 12 years of health data and including metrics from wearable devices such as resting heart rate, heart recovery rate, physical activity, and sleep patterns, produces personalised mortality risk scores. This innovative approach enables more precise risk segmentation and pricing alignment for life insurers compared to traditional underwriting metrics like cholesterol levels, BMI, or family history.
The collaboration between WTW and Klarity was demonstrated using US datasets, including the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), showcasing the superior ability of Klarity's model to predict individual mortality profiles. This advancement allows insurers to better price life insurance policies by integrating continuous, real-world health data drawn from smartwatches and wearables, thus improving underwriting outcomes.
WTW also integrates these insights into its broader digital platforms, such as Gemini, which streamline underwriting and support insurer capacity management in volatile markets.
Another significant development comes from WTW's collaboration with Sapiens. This partnership aims to enhance real-time pricing and speed to market for insurers. WTW has also announced the launch of the newest version of its market-leading Radar software, featuring a fully integrated Python capability. Sapiens will join WTW's Insurance Technology Partner Network.
WTW has also partnered with BUPA UK to use Radar Live as their lead pricing platform for health insurance. The new version of Radar, Radar 4.14, is designed to provide greater accuracy and personalization in pricing depending on the customer's individual needs.
The use of wearable technology and data analytics in life insurance underwriting is set to provide numerous benefits. Analyzing data from wearables provides real-time insights that can help predict an individual's lifestyle and health risks, improving the precision of risk assessments and pricing of life insurance policies.
Moreover, this approach could potentially qualify more individuals for better rates using the new model. For instance, some residual non-smokers were found to have risk profiles similar to risks classified as preferred and, in some cases, best preferred based on traditional criteria alone.
The model also helps to flag more extreme outliers within each class, ensuring that insurers can accurately price policies for all types of customers.
WTW's Senior Director, Insurance Consulting & Technology, Mary Bahna-Nolan, believes the life insurance industry has a unique opportunity to harness the power of data to deliver more personalized outcomes. Will Cooper, Founder and CEO of Klarity, shares this sentiment, stating that the model enhances underwriting accuracy, strengthens customer engagement, and loyalty.
This partnership between WTW and Klarity validates the model's performance in North America, marking a significant step forward in the integration of wearable technology and data into life insurance underwriting processes.
[1] WTW Press Release: Willis Towers Watson and Klarity Partner to Integrate Wearable Technology and Data into Life Insurance Underwriting Processes, 15 February 2023
[2] Sapiens Press Release: Sapiens Announces Partnership with Willis Towers Watson to Enhance Real-time Pricing and Speed to Market for Insurers, 15 February 2023
life insurers can now align their pricing more accurately with individual mortality risks using events like the collaboration between Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Klarity, which integrates data from wearable technologies into underwriting. This advancement, demonstrated using US datasets, also allows for better customer engagement and loyalty in the health-and-wellness sector.
The partnership between WTW and Sapiens aims to speed up real-time pricing for insurers and further revolutionize the industry by leveraging technology in underwriting processes. WTW's Senior Director, Mary Bahna-Nolan, and Klarity's Founder and CEO, Will Cooper, both agree that the life insurance industry has a unique opportunity to harness data, leading to more personalized outcomes.
