A lot of experts have their own outlook on what the future would look like five or ten years from now. Every year, certain reviews and statistics are being presented to help businesses prepare for what their future would be not only on insurance companies but also to other industries. With simpler financial needs and a reliance on the online environment to conduct a great deal of their business, the potential is ripe for insurance companies and agents to capture this market.

1. Future Customers

Future customers will rely more on the internet, most probably Google to research and learn more about a company's profile before making a purchase. They are less likely to talk to agents anymore since the people in the future are predicted to be busier than ever and would only want the product and the cost.

In order for their agents to take advantage of this possibility, insurance companies like Axis Capital, with their group of insurance and reinsurance companies from its main office in Bermuda to branches in Singapore, Australia, the United States and United Kingdom has set up trainings and online accounts for them to interact with these growing kind of customers. Now there are field agents and virtual agents as well which can take calls and inquiries in as far as Guam or Jakarta, Indonesia.

2. Future Products

Since future customers are expected to have a mindset of being "too busy to die", life plans' policies are also expected to be simplified, probably downplaying the role of financial advisers.

Also, as many are filing complaints on the incapability of a premium of a specific home insurance to include flood or catastrophic events without corresponding warning, casualty insurance would probably be one of the highest in-demand products. Protection will be the driving force behind most products, as customers will not be interested in learning about cash value accumulation, tax advantages, or maturity dates. What customers will care about knows that in the event of a catastrophe, his or her family would receive a specific amount of money.

3. Future Underwriters

The future may include a hybrid type of underwriter, perhaps a piece of technology accompanied by human review. More companies are making a push towards speedier underwriting and customers love the idea. Health care reform, which is relying heavily on electronic components, may assist in this process by pushing for one big network of up-to-date health records. In the further future we can look forward to technology creating a way for underwriting computers to instantly know where the individual's health stands, where it's going and rate him accordingly.

According to a study by Tara F. Bishop, M.D., M.P.H., of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, and colleagues, insurance acceptance rates are lower for psychiatrists than for other types of physicians.

AXIS Capital is a group of companies with branch offices in Bermuda, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Singapore and the United States, a global insurer and reinsurer, providing clients and distribution partners with a broad range of specialized risk transfer products and services. (The company also services SE Asian countries such as KL Malaysia, Bangkok Thailand, Jakarta Indonesia and many more.)

There have been current calls and complaints for augmented access to mental health services, however low insurance acceptance creates a barricade to these services, according to the study background.

Researchers used data from a national survey of office-based physicians in the U.S. to compute rates of recognition of private non-capitated (no set dollar amount) insurance, Medicare and Medicaid by psychiatrists vs. physicians in other specialties. The review also matched characteristics of psychiatrists who endured insurance and those who did not.

According to the study's results, the percentage of psychiatrists who undertook private non-capitated insurance, Medicare and Medicaid in 2009-2010 was lesser than the percentage of physicians in other specialties (55.3 percent vs. 88.7 percent for private insurance; 54.8 percent vs. 86.1 percent for Medicare; and 43.1 percent vs. 73 percent for Medicaid).

"Nonetheless, our findings suggest that policies to improve access to timely psychiatric care may be limited because many psychiatrists do not accept insurance," the authors conclude. "If, in fact, future work shows that psychiatrists do not take insurance because of low reimbursement, unbalanced supply and demand, and/or administrative hurdles, policy makers, payers and the medical community should explore ways to overcome these obstacles."