11 Best Insurtech Companies

Insurance is an old industry that has never been quick to change. But, today, many insurtech companies are beginning to take advantage of modern technology to streamline processes and save money.

Insurtech is a broad term for any technology that is applied to the insurance industry. Some companies use artificial intelligence and other data analytics tools to improve their underwriting algorithm. Others are experimenting with wearables and on-device tracking tools.

Today, many insurtech companies make it easy to compare insurers and buy policies completely online. Others offer fully-featured smartphone apps that make it easier for their customers to manage their accounts or make a claim while on the go.

Best Insurtech Companies Overview

11 Best Insurtech Companies

Want to know which companies are leveraging technology the best and shifting the insurance industry landscape? Here are our top picks for the best insurtech companies.

Lemonade

Lemonade is an insurance company that sells home, renters, and pet insurance policies. It belongs on our list of best insurtech companies primarily because of its use of artificial intelligence, as explained below.

Maya, Lemonades AI bot, is able to instantly handle many of the tasks that traditionally require human assistance. This allows Lemonade to both reduce costs and offer faster processes.

Prices start at $5/month for renters insurance, $25/month for homeowners insurance, and $10/month for pet health insurance.

Lemonades claims process offers lightning-fast speed. If instantly approved by Lemonades AI, your claim could be paid out in seconds, not days or weeks. Or, for claims that require a little more information, Maya will pass it along to Lemonades human customer service team.

Check out our full review of Lemonade or Lemonade Pet Insurance

Policygenius

In the past, shopping for insurance could be time-consuming, requiring a lot of phone calls. But Policygenius is shaking up the insurance industry by creating a seamless online insurance shopping platform.

It doesn’t cost anything to use the Policygenius platform as it makes money by receiving referral commissions from its many insurance partners. With Policygenius, you can anonymously comparison shop for a wide range of insurance products including:

• Life
• Homeowners
• Renters
• Auto
• Disability
• Pet
• Health
• And More

Policygenius puts a high priority on rate transparency. Its commissions are already included in the prices that you see. And if one of its partners approves your application at a different rate than you were originally quoted, Policygenius can re-shop your policy to see if another insurer can offer a better deal.

Read our complete Policygenius review

Sproutt

Sproutt is a life insurance marketplace that was launched by a team of entrepreneurs who have experience in data and cognitive computing. And they’ve applied their understanding of big data analysis to develop an AI platform that looks deeper than most actuarial algorithms.

What really sets Sproutt apart from other insurtech companies is its proprietary Quality of Life Index (QL Index). It ranks a person’s physical, mental, and emotional health based on five factors:

• Movement
• Sleep
• Emotional Health
• Nutrition
• Balance

To see your QL Index Score, you’ll need to complete the GAIA (Guided Artificial Intelligence Assessment) which typically takes about 15 minutes. After taking the GAIA, Sproutt can match you up with an insurer and policy that fits you best.

The higher your QL Index Score, the better chance you’ll have of qualifying for a lower rate. Sproutt also offers no medical exam insurance policies (term or whole life) for people who need to get life insurance quickly.

Ladder

Ladder offers life insurance online. It earns a spot on our list of best insurtech companies by leveraging technology both before and after customers have purchased their policies.

You don’t have to pick up the phone to shop for insurance with Ladder. You can apply right from their online application and have coverage in minutes if approved. No contact with a sales agent is required.

But where Ladder really stands out from the crowd is in the coverage flexibility that it offers. Policyholders can ladder up or ladder down their coverage amounts at any time. Simply log in to your account to decrease or apply to increase your coverage whenever your needs change.

Due to Ladders’ advanced algorithms, many applicants may also be able to get approved for life insurance without taking a medical exam for coverage up to $3M.

Check out our Ladder review

Bestow

Bestow is another life insurance company that uses algorithmic underwriting to speed up a process that is often long and laborious. Here are the key details of their policy options:

• Coverage amounts: $50,000 to $1 million
• Premiums: Starting at $16/month
• Terms: 10 or 20 years

By pulling public data about an applicant’s medical history, credit, driving records, and more, Bestow is able to instantly underwrite policies that are just as valid as those that require medical exams.

All Bestow policies are provided by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, which is an A+ rated carrier.

Read our complete review of Bestow

Young Alfred

Next on our list of best insurtech companies is Young Alfred, a home insurance comparison website. Young Alfred says that it analyzes billions of data points to help its customers find the best price on home insurance.

Young Alfred boasts a large homeowners insurance partner list that includes more than 40 providers (all rated A- or better by AM Best or Demotech). In a rarity for home insurance shopping, the entire process is digital. Unless you initiate the call, you’ll never have to speak to an agent over the phone.

Related: The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies

LeapLife

LeapLife is a leading insurtech platform and digital life insurance agency that is available in all 50 states. It was recently acquired by Even Financial, a fintech whose API helps financial service companies find customers and improve their monetization.

LeapLife offers instant-decision life insurance policies. Policies can be purchased completely online from your computer or smartphone. It only takes a few minutes to apply. Or, for extra help or to get answers to questions, you can talk to a life insurance specialist over the phone.

Each of LeapLife’s insurance providers has been thoroughly vetted to ensure that life insurance shoppers get the best rates and service. And customers seem happy with the results. LeapLife currently has a 4.8 (out of 5) star rating on Trustpilot and is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Learn more by reading our LeapLife review

Metromile

Metromile is one of the best insurtech companies today that is focusing solely on the car insurance industry. They offer pay-per-mile insurance that bases the amount you pay on how much you drive.

Here’s how it works. Metromile charges all of its customers a baseline fee, starting at $29/month. Then you also pay a few cents for each mile that you drive during the month. The base and per-mile rate you’re quoted is based on a variety of car insurance factors.

Don’t worry, taking a cross-country trip won’t cause your bill to skyrocket. Every mile over 250 miles per day is free. Metromile says that its customers save an average of $741 per year.

Related: Best Auto Insurance Companies

Embrace

Embrace pet insurance makes our list of best insurtech companies by virtue of offering an innovative digital pet insurance experience. Pet owners can start their quotes online or over the phone. And policies can be fully managed from the MyEmbrace customer portal.

The mobile app (available on iOS or Android) is especially helpful. Using it, customers can make claims on the go, review or change coverage, and more. You can also use the app to contact the Embrace PawSupport telehealth helpline, which is available 24/7.

Related: Is There Pet Insurance With No Waiting Period?

Embrace pet insurance policies cover accidents and illnesses and chronic conditions like allergies, diabetes, and arthritis.

Check out our full review of Embrace

Related: Best Pet Insurance

Oscar

Founded in 2012, Oscar has become one of the fastest-growing insurance companies in the health insurance space. It offers direct-to-consumer health insurance in 18 states (and counting) and leans on technology to offer superior convenience and care.

Using the powerful Oscar app, customers can:

• Review plan details
• View lab results
• Search for in-network healthcare providers (filtering by condition, specialty, location, and more)
• Access their digital ID card
• Contact a member of their dedicated Care Team
• Pay bills

Most of Oscar’s plans also come with free Virtual Urgent Care. This means that you can talk to a doctor at any time (24/7) over your computer or phone to get a diagnosis or prescription. These telemedicine visits cost $0 with no copays.

Related: Best Health Insurance

How We Came Up With This List

Each of the companies on the list uses technology or data to drive down costs or improve their customer experience. Specifically, we chose companies that offered one or all of the following:

• Technology that saves you time: Examples include all-digital sign-up processes, efficient underwriting algorithms, or AI-powered claims processes.
• Technology that saves you money: Examples include usage-driven premiums, comparison shopping tools, or assessment tools/wearables that enable highly personalized premiums.
• Technology that improves your level of care: Examples include online account access and management, fully-featured mobile apps, or 24/7 virtual support.

FAQs

Why is insurtech important?

Insurtech is important because it could provide wider access to insurance for consumers at better prices and higher levels of service. And as traditional insurers slowly adopt methodologies that were first pioneered by insurtech startups, insurance customers should only benefit more.

Is fintech the same as insurtech?

No, but insurtech is considered a branch off of the larger fintech (finance technology) category. A fintech is any company in the financial services sector that uses technology to reduce costs or improve the customer experience.

How is technology changing the insurance industry?

According to McKinsey & Company, insurtech companies are changing the insurance industry in many ways including: increasing connectivity, automating processes, leveraging big data to make decisions, introducing usage-based insurance models, and more.

How much do insurance companies spend on technology?

Gartner Information Technology Research recently forecasted that global IT spending for insurance companies would grow by 4.5% in 2019 to $225 billion. Gartner's also expects that insurance IT services and software spending will increase from 2018 through 2023 by 5.0% and 9.7%.

Final Thoughts

Insurtech companies are doing some amazing things. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be right for everyone. When shopping for an insurance policy, go with whichever company can offer you the best coverage at the lowest price even if that company happens to be a traditional insurer.

But what’s certain is that insurance customers have more options than ever before. So if you haven’t shopped your insurance policies in a while, it’s never been a better time to see if one of the insurtech startups above could offer you better rates or services.

Related:

• Best Digital Insurance Companies
• Best Personal Property Insurance