Hackathon winner
"Instant Quote"
Imagine this: What if, when shopping for a new car, you didn’t have to fill out multiple insurance quotes for each vehicle? Instead, picture walking into a dealership, pointing your phone’s camera at a car, and instantly receiving an insurance quote.
About
During a high-stakes hackathon event, we were challenged to pitch innovative solutions for a "future product" that would address existing customer pain points in a completely new way. The goal was to think outside the box and create something that hadn’t been done before—something that would truly revolutionize the customer experience.
Having worked in the insurance industry for nearly four years, I noticed that the business often became hyper-focused on selling products and highlighting different types of coverage, while overlooking broader customer needs. I decided to step back and really think about the issues car buyers face, aiming to identify an opportunity where our insurance services and technology could make a tangible difference.
Reflecting on my own car-buying experiences, I remembered the hassle of constantly calculating insurance costs while browsing vehicles at a dealership. The process was cumbersome, requiring multiple quotes and added delays. That’s when the idea hit me: what if we could eliminate this friction by using technology to instantly provide insurance quotes while shopping for cars? The solution was clear—we could leverage our insurance expertise and digital tools to deliver a seamless, real-time quoting system right at the dealership. This was an untapped problem we could solve.
How did the technology work?
The technology we employed was quite straightforward. We already possessed the capability to extract data from a driver's license, making that aspect a simple parsing task. We then adapted existing technology to read vehicle license plates, essentially repurposing what was already available.
Once we gathered all the necessary customer information—such as personal details and claims history—during the sign-up process, the only remaining task was to scan the license plate. With each scan, we could easily substitute the plate number and recalculate the insurance quote.
Certain assumptions were necessary, such as the car not being modified. These details could be confirmed later during the insurance purchasing process.
Next steps
This concept was developed during a hackathon event and has since been incorporated into the 2023-2026 roadmap. The business wants to prioritize insurance renewals over acquiring new customers first, as the profit margins are larger for renewals. Nonetheless, having the opportunity to create a tailored product, pitch the idea, and quickly design something I believe to be exceptional was a fun and exciting experience.