Antton Peña: How Technology and Data Are Revolutionizing Drone Insurance

Advances in data and technology may herald a step-change in
commercial insurance, Antton Peña and Rayno Mostert from drone
insurance company Flock argue in this week’s podcast

From self-driving cars to drone deliveries, practical
applications for advanced autonomous vehicles are rapidly
increasing around the world. Innovation is at the core of Flock
Founder Antton Peña’s mission to reinvent drone insurance, as he
explains in this week’s episode of the Business of Data podcast,


“It’s no longer simply about entering a few input fields and
getting a price,” Peña says. “It’s about understanding how the
technology you have got changes risk and about how [that
technology] will change risk in the future.”


Drones are now delivering tests and medical supplies in the UK
and around the world. This new application of drone technology
has only become more urgent in the wake of the global pandemic.


“There has been a big push to use this technology,” explains
Peña. “Things like drug delivery tests for the NHS that have been
done by drone.”


Central to Flock’s innovative approach to drone insurance is a
fresh take on how to appropriately assess risk in the absence of
relevant historical data. The company’s approach has been to
develop a simulation-like approach that accounts for a vast
number of factors to quantify the probability of a crash.


“If you don’t have historical claims data you need something more
granular, something that models the risk from the ground up,”
explains Flock Actuarial Data Scientist Rayno Mostert.


As well as innovating in technology Flock is leading the field in
use-based insurance plans. Mostert believes that the pandemic has
highlighted the need for the insurance industry to account for
use in the way it bills its clients.


“We’ve seen in the past few months motor insurers refunding
clients due to reduced exposure, Mostert concludes. “I see that
essentially as recognition that the [insurance] industry says the
way to fairly price insurance is by looking at how much your
customer is using.”
Key Takeaways


With new applications come new challenges. As
autonomous vehicles increase in number around the globe so will
the need to find innovative approaches to regulation


Innovating requires educating. It is not
enough to build sophisticated technology; you need to educate
your partners and your customers on the benefits too


The insurance of the future accounts for use.
The pandemic has prevented many businesses from operating
commercially – is it time for a new approach to insurance
payments?