Relevancy in Insurance. A Conversation with Karl Wiley, CEO of Allstate Protection Plans

As a creator and designer of insurance solutions, I spend a lot of time discussing relevancy in insurance. As I have written and spoken in the past, no one wakes up wanting to buy insurance. There are no RVs in parking lots tailgating or camping out to be first in line for a new insurance product! Even when we voluntarily provide our email addresses to new insurtechs to notify us when they arrive in our state, what sort of emotion goes through us when that email finally does arrive?? Do we act? Probably not. Why?

We don't act mostly because even though the insurance company is ready for us...we won't be ready for them! We will be ready when we need to be ready and not before. It might be when the bill arrives for a renewal, it might be when our lender or property owners asks us to update our insurance info. It might be when my wife reminds me for the 100th time to get more life insurance. Unlike the new iPhone or when tickets go on sale for a concert or sporting event, it is usually an outside force that directs us to reserve a bit of mental energy for risk management.

This is relevancy. This is marketing the product or solution at the moment when the consumer is most likely to be thinking of the problem and/or most likely open to the solution. Warrantying another product at the point of sale is the ultimate form of relevancy. When I buy a product from Amazon or any other retailer, I am envisioning the product, how I am using it and when the warranty offer pops up, I am envisioning scenarios where I will no longer have the product (because it was damaged or lost) and it is at that moment that I am most likely to buy protection or not.

In this episode of The Coverager Podcast I spoke with Karl Wiley of Allstate Protection Plans, which has become a market leader in warranty protection for retailers globally. We discussed the mission, the history and the economics around this type of insurance class (moral hazards and adverse selection exist, but technology can be a very powerful ally to the insurer). We also discussed the importance of relevancy. Relevancy in the insurance transaction (if you don't get them at POS, the likelihood you will get them begins to decay rapidly) and also the relevancy for the retailer and how important a proper warranty program can be the the retention of existing customers and the competitiveness of their differentiation for potential customers.

Connect: 
Karl Wiley (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlwiley/
Allstate Protection Plans (Homepage) - https://www.squaretrade.com/

Musical Credits: 
Shadows by David Cutter Music: 
https://davidcuttermusic.com 
https://soundcloud.com/dcuttermusic 
Free Download / Stream: 
https://bit.ly/shadows-david-cutter 
Music promoted by Audio Library: 
https://youtu.be/qiBHOiEl9EI

Video Credits: Intro Stock Footage by Videvo