LifeBid Platform Nears Launch

Life insurance software Platform, LifeBid, is nearing the pilot launch phase for an industry solution aiming to potentially reduce the cost of delivering risk advice by up to 90%.

Presenting to his adviser peers at the recent AFA Conference on the Gold Coast, adviser and LifeBid Director, Brett Wright, reflected that the industry has seen a halving of life insurance new business over the last five years, a decline in inforce business and rising claim numbers, while at the same time witnessing a significant reduction in the number of advisers willing to engage in and provide risk advice at all.

…It’s too long, too complex and just isn’t a viable way of doing business anymore

Wright told the packed audience at the conference that these issues keep advisers as well as industry stakeholders awake at night, in a current regulatory environment which sees advisers take ten to fifteen hours to help the average client with their risk advice needs: “It’s too long, too complex and just isn’t a viable way of doing business anymore,” said Wright.

He described the LifeBid industry platform as an end-to-end risk advice proposition, supported by most insurers, and intended to replace the need to use multiple different systems when providing risk advice and ongoing services, whilst reducing complexities and significantly increasing efficiencies for advisers and their clients.

These processes include meeting compliance obligations, the onboarding of life insurance new business and ongoing management of client policies, renewal processes, claims management and virtually all other life insurance policy administration processes.

Without an industry solution, we’re in real strife

“Without an industry solution, we’re in real strife,” said Wright, who concluded that the middle Australian consumer market had become disconnected from life insurance because those who are asking for help are often being turned away due to the cost to the adviser of providing the risk advice compared with the capped remuneration they would be permitted to receive.

“Life insurance advice can’t survive in its current form without an end-to-end revolution,” warned Wright.

As he did when initially launching the LifeBid proposition, Wright used the analogy of Blockbuster Video and Netflix, where his point was that everyone today wants the Netflix experience, but implied the life insurance consumer is still subject to the out-dated, more manual, Blockbuster-type processes. He also referenced another analogy by relating that what Xero has become for accounting, he seeks the same impact for LifeBid in disrupting the life insurance process.

Wright added that the additional capacity created by this significant reduction in cost and time to advise clients should provide advisers the ability to serve more consumers and to spend more of their time in client-facing engagement.

In a panel discussion following Wright’s presentation, Zurich’s head of distribution, Kieran Forde, said the LifeBid proposition gives the entire sector “…real hope and opportunity to significantly reduce the cost of delivering [risk] advice” – and to change the economics and attract more advisers back into the risk advice space.

…there are already more than two thousand advisers registered on the LifeBid waiting list

Wright told conference delegates the pilot stage of LifeBid will roll out towards the end of 2022 for a selection of practices operating within its working group of licensees, including Centrepoint Alliance, with the intention to offer advisers outside this working group access to the platform in early 2023.

While he cautioned that the timing of the roll out of such a significant project ultimately remains subject to the chain of stakeholders each being able to deliver completed elements, Wright confirmed the project will definitely launch and that there are already more than two thousand advisers registered on the LifeBid waiting list.

In response to a question about costs, Wright said the strategy is to position the LifeBid service as an industry utility that can be accessed by all, with the cost spread evenly and fairly across all stakeholders including insurers, licensees and advice providers. While not yet locked-in, Wright indicated a typical cost per adviser might be in the region of $300 per month and approximately $70-$90 per month for support staff.

Riskinfo will report further developments as the pilot phase of Life Bid is rolled out later this year.