Tips From The Top

We know smart homes can reduce energy costs for our clients. Integrated climate control systems give home owners the ability to monitor and adjust how their homes use energy, their energy sources, and how and when that energy is used most efficiently. We love seeing how our clients can save money through an integrated home system that most efficiently uses energy for ideal climate control.

Now, a new industry study shows smart homes may be good for reducing home owners’ insurance costs, too.

Home insurers are beginning to recognize that a smart home makes good financial sense – and it’s worth incentivizing an integrated smart home for clients. Conning, a global investment management firm with a long history of serving the insurance industry, released a report this month charting how the growth of smart home technology is gathering momentum among home owners’ insurance providers.

Already, according to the report, insurers are partnering with smart tech manufacturers and offering incentives to policyholders to use the tech. Some insurers are even investing in smart device manufacturers. The report predicts that in the future, smart homes may transform the entire relationship between insurer and policyholder.

As smart home integrators, we are really excited by the potential opportunities for our clients around their home insurance. We are especially interested in what Alan Dobbins, Director of Insurance Research at Conning, had to say: “While much work is still to be done—particularly around integration of disparate data sources—a foundation is forming that will allow dramatic changes in the relationship between homeowners insurers and their customers.”

As integrators, one of our key priorities is uniting systems for our clients, bringing together their smart home systems into one streamlined platform that is easy and intuitive for them to use, and also protects their privacy and data. If this can translate to saving money on home insurance down the line, that’s good news. We also appreciate the report’s insights that smart homes can improve risk management. There’s even a discussion in the report that with data analytics, future insurance agreements could be expanded. Risks that are currently excluded could be added to the insurance contract, resulting in better coverage for the home owner. The report sees that what was once focused on post-event loss payment could evolve into an ongoing risk management partnership.

Collaborations between insurers and smart device manufacturers could reduce ownership costs. Smart homes could improve risk management and pricing for home insurers.

To learn more about how your home’s use of smart technology can save you money, call us at Jackson Hole AV. We’d love to discuss the possibilities.