Insurance in France: market and information technology overview

In a recent report, technology research and advisory firm Celent estimates IT spending in the French insurance market to be about €8.0bn. Here, Nicolas Michellod, a senior analyst with Celent’s insurance group and the author of the report, Insurance in France: market and IT overview, identifies distribution and sales, product design, and claims management as the top investment priorities that IT is due to support in the eyes of French CIOs. In an environment where French insurers’ IT budgets will not increase drastically in the next five years, Mr Michellod believes that the optimisation of client service will be the main concern influencing new IT investments. In the extract below, he looks at distribution models, administration structures, the identification of profitable risks and innovative products, and the compliance challenge of Solvency II as IT drivers in the French insurance market

The French insurance market is the fourth largest in the world after the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom but before Germany and Italy. Almost 80% of premiums are generated by the life insurance sector, which experienced strong growth between 2003 and 2006.