Not even a pandemic could stop Insurance Times celebrating technology and innovation talent in the insurance sector, with the awards event held virtually for the very first time. Find out who won the 15 awards up for grabs, and all the reactions from the winners. Who scored a hat trick? And who won the prestigious Technology Champion of the Year?

Yesterday evening Insurance Times held its very first virtual awards – the Technology & Innovation Awards 2020, which garnered significant attention online.

The evening proved to be very lucky for some award winners that secured a double victory or a hat trick after a record amount of entries were received this year. There were 15 awards up in total as well as an additional prize for attendees that were the ‘Best virtually dressed’. If you missed the awards, the video can be viewed below. 

English comedian Ivo Graham returned again to host the event; he is best known for appearing on Live at the Apollo, Mock of the Week and The Dog ate my Homework. Graham also delivered an insurance-based quiz for online attendees to participate in. 

The virtual event kicked off with a thank you to the awards’ sponsors, which included SSP, Carpenters Group, Sonr and Applied Systems, as well as a shout out to all twenty five of the judges that took part.

SBS Insurance Services scored a hat trick, winning Fraud Technology Solution of the Year sponsored by the Carpenters Group, Best use of AI and Best Use of Technology for Customer Experience – Claims (Supplier).

Paul Fairbrass, technical director, SBS said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be recognised in this way at tonight’s online award ceremony. We were extremely pleased to have been shortlisted in three categories, but to win all three is incredible. 

”We’ve invested heavily in technology over the last five years and we’re delighted to be recognised at such prestigious event as the Insurance Times Tech & Innovation Awards. Our only disappointment is that we couldn’t be there in person to enjoy the event and celebrate. Many congratulations to all the other winners.”

Meanwhile FloodFlash won two awards –  they walked (virtually) away with Insurance Start-up B2B which was sponsored by SSP, and later scooped the Best use of Technology for Customer Experience - Claims (General) sponsored by Applied Systems.

Speaking about the insurtech’s double win, Adam Rimmer, co-founder of FloodFlash said: “Chuffed with the FloodFlash team and everything we’ve acheived. Parametric insurance has changed the customer experience for the better and we’ve proved that FloodFlash is at the forefront of that change. The next challenge is to make sure that our future claims are even better. Now to settle into a few bubbles.”

Shepherd also managed to win two awards – Technology Partner of the Year and the Data Excellence Award sponsored by SSP. Adeala Zabair, Shepherd’s head of science said that winning for the latter award it was fantastic for the firm’s “analytical brain” to be recognised. 

Stephen Chadwick, Shepherd’s chief executive, said: “It’s always an honour when Shepherd receive an accolade such as this. These awards highlight what lies at the heart of Shepherd; providing data driven insights combined with a desire to forge meaningful partnerships to lead the charge for a better customer experience in a rapidly changing space.”

Meanwhile, Broker Insights scooped highly commended for Technology Partner of the Year, the insurtech said on Twitter that it “was over the moon”. 

And Collision Management Systems was awarded highly commended for the Data Analytics Excellence award.

The virtual show must go on…

The most prestigious award of the evening, Technology Champion of the Year 2020, was saved to last. After tough competition in this category from the likes of Worry+Peace’s James York, Flock’s Ed Leon Klinger, Aviva’s Maria Crockart and Allianz’s Julie Tongue – it was Guy Farley, chief technology officer and co-founder of Bought By Many that won.

Farley thanked to everyone who voted, he told Insurance Times: “It’s great to win this year’s tech champ award, especially given the fierce competition. I am very lucky to be supported by an impressive bunch of engineers at Bought By Many. Since our launch into pet insurance in 2017, our technology and development team has been at the heart of building a pet insurance experience people love. We were the first company to identify issues with existing pet insurance and offer unique policies.

”We were the first pet insurance provider to offer online claims and we’ve built a proprietary tech platform that allows us to deliver products quickly. This was key during the height of the pandemic as it allowed us to launch products in a matter of days to help customers who were financially impacted by Covid-19. Development teams play a huge role in improving financial services and we’re always looking for more people to join our fight.”

NIG were praised for the Best Insurer Extranet award for the firm’s e-trading platform, called TheHub, while Aviva was awarded highly commended in this category for its platform Fast Trade.

Meanwhile Acturis took ‘home’ Best Broker Software Management House, with SSP securing highly commended in this category, the firm expressed its elation on Twitter by thanking the community for their support. 

Tempcover won Best use of Technology for Customer Experience – Broker, sponsored by the Applied Systems, and CFC Underwriting bagged Best use of Technology Customer Experience for its Connect Platform.

Meanwhile, Arbitrate scooped the Technology Innovation of the Year accolade, sponsored by Applied Systems.

Kovrr won Risk Modelling Technology of the Year Award and accelerator, Insurtech Gateway picked up an award for Investor/Corporate Innovator of the Year, which was sponsored by Sonr.

Stephen Brittain, Insurtech Gateway’s co-founder said he was “delighted” to win Investor Innovator of the Year, for a second year running. ”We thank the judges for recognising the Insurtech Gateway’s role to support and guide early-stage insurtechs as they develop their big ideas into proven business models.

 ”FloodFlash, who took home two awards of their own last night, are a great inspiration for us and the rest of the portfolio. They have proved what can be achieved with a clear focus on solving for the customer, while collaborating with the sector.”

Ivor

Read more… Relive last year’s Technology & Innovation Awards

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Revealed: Technology & Innovation Awards finalists 2020