What does Twitter and your tweets have to do with your insurance rates? There could be a close relationship.
According to web strategist, Jeremiah Owyang, there could be a deep connection between our insurance rates and what we say on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook. In his resent blog post, Jeremiah notes that insurance companies already influence rates based on historical behavior.
Jeremiah predicts there are three ways companies can influence rates based on social data:
- Monitor and glean intelligence
- Penalize ill-behavior
- Reward members with pro-wellness activity
photo credit: Ross Catrow
In my experience working at an insurance company, we used statistical information to tie behavior to rates. For example, data showed customers with lower credit scores submitted more claims. Therefore, our rating included credit scores and low scores resulted in higher insurance rates.
What implications do you see this having on social networking behaviors? Will your behavior change do to these concerns?