Digitization in the insurance sector – challenges in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the need for a digital transformation of insurance companies, which has shifted from being a strategic option to a necessity. Dynamic changes are transforming the insurance sector. Insurance market leaders who look boldly into the future have not resorted to observation alone and they take actions that allow them to be more customer-oriented, improve their offers, and increase operational efficiency. The aim of this article is to present the digitization processes taking place in the insurance sector in the face of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and an attempt to answer the following research question: has digitization in the insurance sector taken the right direction and is a response to the needs of the insurance market participants (insurers, insured persons, intermediaries, etc.) as a consequence of the actual epidemic risk (Covid-19) and its consequences. In order to verify the research question and achieve the set goal, a critical analysis of the source literature, the analysis of trends and digital solutions in the insurance sector and the analysis of secondary data were performed. The study was based on data available in national and international reports, including data published by the Polish Insurance Association, OECD or the Geneva Association. The presented results of the considerations indicate that the use of new technologies and ubiquitous digitization have a great impact on customer expectations, which was particularly noticeable in the aftermath of the epidemic risk come true (Covid-19). The article highlights the changes introduced in the organization's processes (the importance of decision support systems in insurance activities), as well as supporting consumer users (the universality of social media, and the availability of speech and image recognition technology).