Unipol (Italy) currently has 25% of the national market share in motor insurance but is competing with international players. It is the market leader in blackbox (telematics) technology and has an excellent reputation for underwriting, claims and service.

A few years ago, Unipol established an internal innovation hub. It is essential to innovate as the market is challenging. Digitalisation is important, but customers still want to speak to a real person. Fraud is also a major issue. The competitive landscape is changing as car manufacturers and car dealerships are beginning to steal insurance market share. The population in Italy is ageing and regulation is becoming stricter but Unipol is hoping that these factors do not give any advantage to the new players entering the market.

Unipol is a very large organisation and the pace of innovation is now on another level. It continually tests numerous opportunities, of which just a few will be implemented. It constantly looks for new ideas from, and collaborations with, Silicon Valley companies. Advanced analytics are key to all its initiatives.

New mobility and housing/property are two areas of interest with 20 parallel pilot initiatives currently being tested, one of which is a microinsurance app giving instant low-cost coverage.

As customers move away from ownership into long term rental, the quality of relationships is now the most important thing.