Shaping the future of open insurance
JAVLN Bytes Shaping the future of open insurance New Zealand’s insurance sector is at an inflection point as open data…
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New Zealand’s insurance sector is at an inflection point as open data frameworks evolve. In a recent industry discussion hosted by InsurTechNZ and Deloitte, JAVLN CEO David Leach joined a panel of experts to explore how this shift may redefine the relationship between insurers, brokers, and clients.
For David, the philosophy is simple: connected systems serve customers better. When data moves cleanly between platforms, brokers can work faster, reduce administrative effort, and spend more time delivering expert advice rather than managing paperwork.
Open insurance is the insurance-specific application of open data. At a practical level, it points toward a future where customers can authorise the secure sharing of their data with accredited third parties under settings aligned with the Consumer Data Right (CDR).
That shift could improve transparency and support better personalisation, helping clients avoid being underinsured or overinsured. However, as the panel noted, this depends heavily on the quality and completeness of the underlying information.
Industry leaders argue that common standards could reduce duplication and improve interoperability. Right now, the sector is still held back by legacy friction, including desktop tools and "green screen" systems that do not always connect cleanly.
David highlighted that without common standards, technology providers are often forced to build custom integrations repeatedly.
We have this real-time API integration to three different insurers... but it is proprietary. We had to build that three times over... and this is not the way it should work.
David Leach, CEO, JAVLNCommon API standards, similar to HL7 in healthcare, would help reduce that repeated build effort and make it easier for data to flow across the ecosystem.
Because insurance data often relates to personal vulnerabilities, trust is non-negotiable. The panel discussion emphasised that the right foundations matter, with security and integrity by design, central to any open insurance model.
Success requires:
The best next step is not endless debate, but a practical, SMART goal that can be delivered within 6 to 12 months. Whether it is standardising a single data set or removing one major source of manual re-entry, the industry needs to move from "getting ready" to "getting started".
The industry can help shape open insurance locally, or it can wait and adapt later to standards set by others.
Read Exploring Open Insurance for Aotearoa New Zealand, the first paper in a series from Deloitte and InsurTech NZ and join the conversation about building a more connected insurance future.
