protecting homeowners with IoT innovation
VYRD was created to serve the challenging Florida homeowners insurance market, and they partnered with Supercharge to rapidly build a market-ready portal to service customers in time for hurricane season.
Disrupting the Florida homeowners insurance market
The homeowners insurance market in Florida is notoriously difficult for carriers to service. High incidents of fraud and high operating costs have stifled business - causing property insurance companies to cancel policies, leave the state, and liquidate at an increasing pace.
Through a joint partnership, SiriusPoint and Bolttech launched VYRD, a digitally-enabled Florida Homeowners Insurance carrier, the first Florida-domiciled Property and Casualty insurer licensed in the state in over three years.
VYRD set out to build a market-leading digital experience — delivering IoT features like smart home monitoring to help customers protect their property and prevent claims altogether
As a business, VYRD strikes an important balance between being insurance domain experts and forward looking tech innovators.
VYRD’s focus on speed to market complemented Supercharge’s rapid delivery model — together we created a desperately needed option for Florida residents who have experienced increasing cost and decreasing choice for protecting their homes.
services
digital product strategy
UX and visual design
user research and testing
technology architecture
mobile and web development
data architecture and engineering
quality assurance
deliverables
intuitive self-service portal with complex integrations into policy admin, TPA, CRM, and IoT device systems
web application and cross-platform application published to iOS and google play stores
multi-provider IoT device strategy that automates communications and initiates FNOL
centralized data warehouse and business intelligence dashboard
Delivering an intuitive customer self service portal that meets real customer needs
Customers frequently mistrust insurance carriers, and this is especially true in Florida, where dropping coverage has become regular and insurance-focused lawsuits are more common than anywhere else in the country.
VYRD and Supercharge collaboratively conducted qualitative research with Florida homeowners to better understand their perceptions, experiences, and needs related to insurance.
We uncovered pain points, functional needs, and emotional needs to ground our product decisions in their real-world context.
Our research found four pain points of customers: uncertainty about the carrier, uncertainty about insurance, lack of transparency and the burdens the solution puts on customers.
When it comes to emotional needs, customers expect peace of mind, and the feeling of safety and fairness when opting for a carrier.
Customers typically desire a sense of security and protection, along with efficient and user-friendly processes. On top of these, they expect readily available assistance when encountering obstacles.
The centerpiece of our work with VYRD was an intuitive, thoughtfully designed customer self service portal that required a complex set of 3rd party integrations to accelerate enrollment, simplify bill paying, and streamline the claims process.
The experience had to provide simplicity and transparency to encourage trust and utility with Florida homeowners.
IoT and Data transformation: VYRD's revolutionary platform for claims reduction and water damage mitigation
In addition to the core integrations with their policy admin system, third party claims administrators, payment providers, etc., VYRD created an opt-in IoT device program - providing water detection sensors to customers for their homes.
Through this partnership, VYRD customers can sign up to receive free water sensors and are guided through the installation process.
The ultimate vision is to mitigate costly damages down the line, reducing claim volume and severity for non-catastrophic damage.
Additionally, better communication within the claims journey allows us to recommend preferred vendors at the time of need, an important aspect of reducing potential fraud that is originated by untrustworthy vendors.
When there is a leak detected, customers are immediately notified and can request assistance or even have VYRD send out a team to mitigate the issue.
IoT Flow:
- Once the sensor detects a leak, VYRD’s customer receives automated communications from VYRD
- VYRD’s communications escalate through progressive touchpoints, and if unanswered, VYRD’s claims management partner is brought in for mitigation services
We built the foundations of the sensor program in our first release of the app, with an eye toward continued IoT expansion to areas like remote water shutoff and further automating claims.
The idea itself is not new: many companies on the market offer leak sensors, pipe-freeze detectors, and shut-off valves.
VYRD goes beyond promoting and distributing IoT devices with their own proprietary data processing and mitigation platform.
For this, we built a centralized data warehouse to clean and combine data sources (policy admin, claims, IoT sensor, web experience) that automates KPI reporting and enables contextual customer communications.
By implementing this solution, VYRD is the first to be informed about any incident, delivering a range of business benefits as a result:
- Claim expenses can be lowered due to early recognition and mitigation - most leaks cause serious damages only when left unchecked
- They can proactively initiate FNOL, creating a better customer experience
- Real-time data about water-related incidents can reduce fraudulent claims and increase claim speed
- By proactively reaching out to the customer, VYRD can guide them toward the best mitigation solution. Their preferred vendor network ensures that customers use high-quality, fairly priced companies for mitigation and restoration work.
Empowering homeowners in a crisis with VYRD's innovative platform
Through our partnership with VYRD, we were able to rapidly spin up the customer self service portal in time to serve customers affected by Hurricane Ian - and we’re continuing to onboard new customers and drive VYRD’s expansion into new territories throughout Florida. We’re excited to deepen our partnership and continue to enhance VYRD’s digital expertise over time.
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