Insurance App Development: What You Need to Know

Apps by Insurance Types

There are multiple insurance types available in the market, and you can digitize the customer experience for all of them. Let’s define the primary use cases for each type where insurance application development can favor all parties. 

Life Insurance

This type of insurance service implies regular communication with an agent to choose a suitable policy, make regular payments, and resolve customer support issues. A mobile application for life insurance helps make all of that easier and faster:

• A customer can select a suitable life insurance policy in the app after filling in all necessary parameters. There is no need to visit the insurer’s office.
• A policyholder can choose the preferred payment plan and a suitable payment method and make all payments online. A mobile app can also send reminders when it’s time to make the next payment.
• The app can automatically calculate the interest rate, and customers can check their interest without contacting a consultant.
• A customer can contact support at any moment, using the built-in chat option, chatbot, or a contact form.

Life insurance is not a service that requires everyday interaction between the insured and insurers. However, it can significantly improve customer satisfaction and help optimize business in terms of operational expenses.

Health Insurance

Health insurance covers various healthcare expenses for routine visits, prescriptions, surgeries, emergency stays, etc. Healthcare insurance app development provides for:

• Browsing insurance coverage types and choosing a suitable option
• Selecting an appropriate policy based on a questionnaire
• Managing policies
• Making insurance payments online
• Reporting accidents to get compensation
• Reporting claims
• Plan appointments

Vehicle Insurance

Some features are similar to other insurance types, like filing a claim or making payments. However, there are a few unique features for car insurance that can be optimized if you build an insurance app:

• Document auto accidents right in place by uploading photos, videos, geolocation, and all other necessary details.
• Order roadside assistance
• Check the available repair locations and filling stations

Get more details on the features and steps for car insurance app development in our dedicated post.

Property Insurance

Insuring homes, commercial property, works of art, and any other types of property becomes more convenient using a mobile application. Besides standard self-service options like selecting a policy, making payments, filing claims, etc., a property insurance app provides:

• Reminders for regular maintenance activities to keep the property in a proper state
• Track leakages and breakages that can lead to severe damages with the aim of telematics
• Water, gas, power backup for optimized resources consumption

Other insurance service types can also be improved with a mobile application like umbrella insurance, renters insurance, travel insurance, and pet insurance. Consumers demand innovations, 24/7 access, and self-service. If you make an insurance app for your clients, you’ll cover all these demands at once.

Types of Insurance Apps

The process of providing insurance involves a few different roles, including a client (the insured party), an insurer (the insurance company), and providers of services under the policy.

When talking about mobile applications for insurance companies, there are three major types:

• A customer service application: this is an application that any consumer can install on and access through their smartphone.
• An agent application: it is a dashboard where agents manage their client activities, check payments, track new leads, make analytics, etc. Companies often prefer not to create a custom agent platform, as many ready-made CRM and ERP systems provide necessary features.
• A provider’s app: usually it is some web-based application or a part of the insurance company’s ERP system where healthcare, car repair, and maintenance providers process orders, track payments, provide the necessary documentation for claims processing, etc.

Within this classification, insurers often request a custom app development, as automation and improvements for customer experience are among the top priorities in the industry’s delivery model transformation. Therefore, investing in developing an insurance application will provide many benefits:

• Automating user experience helps reduce human resources and expenses.
• Speeding up claims processing and other processes keeps customers more satisfied and increases the company’s resources for growth.
• A mobile app is a powerful tool for engaging customers, improving retention, and effectively performing up-sale and promotion campaigns.
• Being available 24/7 through a mobile app, an insurer gets more loyalty from customers.
• A company can track user data and activity to get a detailed customer portrait, provide a personalized experience, and gain valuable insights for future growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown accelerated digitization in insurance. It forced even the most conservative companies to adopt digital tools as the only possible way to keep in touch with customers without physical contact.

Technology Trends for Insurance App Development

The insurance industry is going through a digital transformation. COVID-19 accelerated the natural move to more progressive technologies. Here are the latest technology trends that will have the most significant impact on the industry over the next few years:

1. Moving to digital channels of operation. Customers want less paperwork, fewer visits to the insurer's office, and less direct contact with agents. They also prefer to make payments online through mobile. All this is becoming a standard.
2. Personalization: modern technologies allow collecting detailed behavioral information to provide personalized insurance assistance to each customer. And this is what consumers demand.
3. Self-Service: clients do not want to depend on consultants and agents. In many cases, they are more comfortable making decisions and requesting services themselves.
4. Cybersecurity: digital transformation causes new security risks by sharing financial and personal information through digital channels.New solutions must compensate for those risks.
5. Artificial Intelligence: chatbots, virtual assistants, self-learning analytics, big data risk assessment, and other numerous applications of AI will find their place in insurance soon.

We’ve already reviewed the insurance industry transformation through innovations. Check “12 Best Insurance Technology Trends for 2022” to find out more about this.

Best Insurance Application Samples

Looking at examples of existing solutions will give insights into your own insurance application development. Here are a few samples of different app types from proven industry leaders.

Allstate Drivewise

Drivewise app, owned by Allstate Insurance Co, gives auto insurance holders a set of exciting features:

• Digital insurance ID cards
• Claims reporting
• Paying bills
• QuickFoto Claim: the ability to file a claim within a phone camera
• Access to roadside assistance
• Real-time accident support
• Driving tips
• Direct contact with a dedicated agent.

Besides insurance-related purposes, Allstate Drivewise is used for various engagement activities like collecting rewards for safe driving.

Lemonade

Lemonade is the most famous application for home insurance used by owners and renters who wish to keep their property secured from accidents and different types of damage. The app offers:

• Personalized policy selection
• Policy management
• Quick payments
• Filing a claim
• Live chat support

Lemonade claims that its application is the most user-friendly and quick. Users get what they need without unnecessary fuss, paperwork, and other time-consuming routines.

Revolut

Revolut specializes in alternative banking services, and its mobile application primarily helps to manage money. Additionally, the company provides traveler’s insurance on a pay-per-day basis. As a result, tourists are protected while traveling to different locations. The application automatically issues a policy when a user crosses the new country’s border.

Users can cancel the issued insurance and refund payments within 8 hours if they do not need coverage in some transit country. Additionally, tourists can use Revolut for money services while abroad.

Must-Have Features for an Insurance Application

To define the development scope and choose the right technologies for the future insurance application, first plan the desired features. It would be helpful to outline all the features you would like to see in the app and then select the ones to deliver asap in an MVP version.

It will reduce the insurance app development cost, and this way, startups can check how customers will perceive a new product before spending the entire budget. Based on their feedback, you will see what additional functionalities they wish to have in the next upgrades. Here is a list of must-have features for an up-to-date insurance app.

The Most Common Features for the Insurance Mobile App

1. Sign-up/Sign-in with Advanced Authentication

Sign-up and sign-in are the first steps in the user journey through the application. It should be easy, flexible (a few options to choose from), and highly secure. Using facial recognition, finger swipe, or voice recognition for authentication is now highly welcomed. However, users do not like to store or enter text passwords, preferring logging in via social networks or biometric data.

2. Insurance Categories and Policies

If the company provides coverage in different insurance types and offers various policies, you should give app users the ability to review available options and filter the ones they might be interested in.

3. Personalized Policy Selector

Today’s customers are eager to get personalized services, getting what they need in the shortest possible time. Many apps offer relevant products based on a questionnaire the user passes to satisfy that requirement. This way, there is no need to spend hours observing available products and choosing by yourself.

4. User Dashboard

This screen shows the user's activities within the app: purchased policies and their details, payment history, uploaded e-documents, filed claims, etc. Any information related to a user should be displayed here, available for viewing, sorting, filtering, etc.

5. In-App Calculator

This feature helps users do all the required calculations related to the chosen policy. For instance, calculating regular payment amounts depending on the selected plan. It would be great to have such an option inside the app so that users don’t have to leave the app to make calculations elsewhere or call the insurer’s office.

6. Document Scanner

It would be great for users to scan the necessary papers using the phone camera right from the application. In addition, the scanned docs should be stored so that a user can share or review them at any moment.

7. In-App Document Management

If the aim is to reduce paperwork, building a mobile app for insurance to manage all related documentation in soft copies inside the app makes sense. This way, no critical documents can be lost, and there is no need to sign anything in the office.

8. Easy Claim Processing

Depending on the type of insurance you provide, implement an easy way to file a claim through the application. For example, if it is vehicle insurance, there needs to be the ability to upload photos and videos from the accident site. Also, make sure to inform the user about each claim’s processing status.

9. Online Payments

Integrate multiple payment gateways so that your clients can perform payments securely through the app. Of course, it would be great to store the payment history and invoices in the system too.

10. 24/7 Support Options

Implement a live chat with a bot or a human consultant, a contact form, and a callback button to let users get qualified assistance whenever they need it. Let them choose the way they are comfortable with.

11. Push Notifications

Remind clients about the need to make the next payment, claim status changes, exciting specials, and other essential updates without opening the app. In addition, push notifications should be optional so that users can disable them if they wish.

These are general features typical for any type of insurance. However, there are also industry-specific functionalities. For instance, a car insurance app needs geolocation tracking, integration with Google Map, and AI-based motion sensors to record the driver’s behavior on the road. A health insurance application may require searching for doctors, contacting them and booking an appointment, searching for a suitable specialist based on symptoms or a problem, etc. Take your time to think over specific features for your type of service.

The Mobile Development Stack for an Insurance Application

The available options for mobile technology stack depend on the platform and the development approach you choose. For example, you can create a separate native application for the Android and iOS platforms or develop a cross-platform software rendered on both platforms from a single codebase. The suitable approach depends on your project requirements, and it is better to consult experts to choose the right one.

Android Tech Stack 

If you’re going to develop a native insurance app for Android, here are the core technologies to use:

• Programming languages: Java or Kotlin
• App development tools: Android Studio
• UI frameworks: Android UI, Jetpack Compose

iOS Tech Stack

Here are the preferable technologies to develop an insurance app for iOS:

• Programming languages: Swift
• App development tools: Xcode, AppCode
• UI frameworks: SwiftUI, UIKit

Cross-Platform Tech Stack

Cross-platform applications target both Android and iOS platforms within a single codebase. This approach saves development time and cost, which is vital for the quickest possible time to market. Yet, it has certain limitations in providing a native-like user experience and using device hardware and platform-specific capabilities. If you and your developers decide to follow this approach, the possible tech alternatives include:

• React Native: the most popular JavaScript-based framework for building cross-platform apps.
• Xamarin: the code with this framework is written on C# and then cross-compiled to native applications for iPhone OS and Android. Typically it is a choice of C#-savvy developers.
• Flutter (Dart): a cross-platform development kit from Google. It promises native-like performance with optimized loading and operation speeds on both platforms.

Besides the core development technologies, you will need integrations with multiple 3rd party libraries and APIs. They serve to implement AI-based functionality, geo-based capabilities, payment gateways, etc. The art here is to make the whole bunch of tools perform stably well and not cause any code conflicts.

How to Create an Insurance Mobile App

The process of mobile application development for the insurance sector is split into five major stages.

Stage 1: Strategy

This initial stage involves much research to underline goals and choose the right approach for achieving them within the future product:

• Set your app goals by asking yourself what problems it will solve for customers and what commercial goals your company wants to achieve.
• Research your target audience in detail to understand what features they need, how they will interact with the app, and how to engage and retain your customers in the long run.
• Research competitors: define the strengths and weaknesses of their mobile apps and find your competitive advantages.
• Outline the scope of work with all required features and technical requirements.
• Choose a suitable development approach and tech stack.
• Hire developers to implement your project.

Stage 2: Design

At this stage, the team begins implementing the insurance app design. Traditionally it consists of a few sub-steps:

• Clarifying the requirements.
• UX planning: defining the app architecture and preparing wireframes and a prototype of the future app screens with all key UI elements and interactions between them.
• UI Design: creating all necessary graphics based on wireframes. The iterations usually continue until the client approves the final design version.

UI/UX designers continue working on the project with developers, explaining the UI logic, required interactions, and other mechanics to ensure they implement it correctly.

Stage 3: Development

This stage contains front-end and back-end development processes that are usually parallel and coordinated by a project manager. As a rule, it is the longest and most challenging stage because all theories and prototypes are translated into an actual product. Finally, the output of the development stage is the completed application code ready for testing.

Stage 4: Quality Assurance

The QA team thoroughly tests future insurance applications for usability, bug-free performance, compatibility, and security. While QA may take about 25% of the time for development, it is a critical stage. Proper testing can help you save a lot of money in the future by detecting all possible issues before the public release. In addition, insurance is a synonym for reliability and stability. That is why your application should work flawlessly to satisfy customers.

Stage 5: App Release and Ongoing Support

After the app is ready to enter the market, you should submit it to app stores. Next, the marketing team should run promotional campaigns to raise and support interest in your new product. Then track user reviews to understand how to improve your application further. The customer demands constant changes. And it is vital to keep track of the latest trends and make timely upgrades with new on-demand features.

The Insurance App Development Cost

The project cost will depend on the chosen mobile platforms, the app complexity, selected tech stack, the time frame, and many other factors. It also depends on the required team size. The faster your app needs to reach the market, the more programmers and designers you’ll need to hire.

This is how the cost of developing an insurance application is formed

To develop a mobile app for an insurance company at a normal pace, you’ll need to hire the following specialists:

• A project manager
• UI/UX designers
• Android developers
• iOS developers
• Back-end developers
• QA specialists
• Online marketing experts

The budget required for such a project starts from $30,000 if you develop an MVP version with essential features and hire a team in Western Europe with rates at $40-$50/hour. The full insurance app development cost starts from $60,000. The final price may grow if you require top-notch features like AI-based virtual assistance, telematics, big data, etc. To get a more precise estimation, share your insurance application requirements with the KeyUA engineers.

Final Thoughts

Building a mobile insurance application is aimed to satisfy the customers’ demand for self-service, 24/7 insurance assistance, advanced personalized customer care, and other up-to-date perks. On the other side, this digitalization move can bring multiple benefits for an insurance company. To match customer expectations and your business goals, hire a dedicated team of mobile development experts, designers, and marketing experts.

KeyUA professionals are ready to assist you at every stage of the development process. Based on your project requirements, we can provide reliable technical and intellectual assistance to bring your insurance app to life.