On-demand insurance and services – a new way to tackle risk?

“On-demand”, “pay-as-you-go”, digitising the route that insurance clients follow: the innovations that have emerged over the last few years regarding insurance and assistance are resolutely focused on flexibility and responsiveness. A report published in 2019 estimates that the on-demand insurance market will be worth some US$190 billion by 2026. What about today? Are the fundamentals of the market being called into question?
Olivier Lair, Head of Strategic Marketing and Business Development at AXA Partners, tells us in an interview.

According to a study published in 2022in the journal Geneva Papers, 76% of people polled view the flexibility of on-demand insurance as its greatest asset.

Olivier Lair : First of all, it's worth clarifying what “on-demand” insurance is – and how it differs from traditional insurance, which is also by definition taken out at clients' request – or indeed what “on-demand” goods or services are. The difference lies in the fact that an “on-demand” policy or service supplements a traditional insurance policy in order to cover a specific requirement that is not included, or to cover a temporary requirement. Vehicle insurance policies are available on the market whereby you pay for some of the guarantees annually, and then you pay a little extra when the vehicle is being used in order to extend coverage.
At AXA Partners, the main on-demand insurance is travel insurance. Since travelling is something in which people engage on a temporary basis, clients purchase special cover for their trip. There are also annual policies which cover all of the trips made during the year.


On-demand policies can also be used for services, particularly emergency repairs and renovation. Furthermore, the on-demand home services market looks set to grow at a CAGR of 60.78% between 2022 and 2027. What is the AXA group offering on this market?

In some countries, AXA is already offering several types of on-demand service, such as on-demand home repairs (which can also include the renovations required after a claim) and road assistance. In France, AXA offers its on-demand home repairs service via the “Mes Travaux” platform, as well as via the MesDépanneurs website (ENGIE). Clients can purchase services from the site individually. These services are coverage for tasks such as changing seals and painting. But they are also available for cars in the event of a breakdown: clients can request breakdown repair, towing, tyre-changing and battery-charging services. These services adapt to people's needs which – by their very nature – fluctuate over time. They supplement annual insurance policies for incidents that are not covered.

Olivier Lair : You would have thought that the flexibility offered by the “on-demand” model would have long won over most of our clients. But traditional annual insurance policies are still the norm. In terms of turnover, on-demand services and policies still only account for a minority.
Although digital technologies make micro-insurance products and on-demand assistance easier to use, they are still in the minority when it comes to mature markets like France. One of the main reasons is that the price of services in the event of claims are still not terribly advantageous compared with a policy that provides coverage for the whole year. However, it is important to bear in mind that there are micro-products available in Asia which are proving more popular. So we should continue to monitor these trends and consumer preferences to ensure that the products and services we sell meet their needs and cater to their new habits.


Nearly 70% of Gen Y clients appreciate being able to renew, modify or cancel their insurance policies digitally. 54% of them say that they have used the mobile application to get insurance cover over the last six months. How is digitalisation helping to improve the user’s overall experience?

Thanks to a new digital self-service system (involving a website, mobile site or app), clients can manage their own emergency situation more effectively. For example, when a client calls their assistance service for an emergency, we tell them that they can also submit their request online. It works very well, particularly with road assistance, where around 50% of requests involve digital. This trend also applies to home repair services. The processes involved in reporting incidents and then tracking progress with claims are also being digitalised. Clients can make a declaration and then track their claim via their mobile phone using apps like WhatsApp or even chatbots. They can then be notified by text when the emergency repairman arrives, for example. In some countries, including Belgium, clients can choose their courtesy vehicle online via a bot.

And in the future, we may find ourselves having to use data collected via connected objects in order to improve our assistance services. This data might be used to detect – for example – the reasons why somebody is stopped by the side of the road (accident, puncture, etc.).These trends are still only in their early stages. And at AXA Partners, we are paying particular attention to these new trends. First and foremost, we want to provide solutions that meet our clients' needs as effectively as possible. That's why we keep abreast of developments on the on-demand insurance market and its innovations.