Why Prevention Is the New Battleground for European Insurers

Alejandro Martínez · 2026-10-24

France FinTech brought together insurance leaders at Les Furets on October 14, in partnership with Oliver Wyman, for a thematic meeting on what's become a central issue for the industry: prevention. How can prevention become a lever to reduce risk and keep the insurance model sustainable, while preserving the principle of mutualization? The discussions, which included insurers, insurtechs, and fintechs, made one thing clear: prevention is now a condition for the sustainability of the insurance model. It has to be long-term, personalized, measurable, and genuinely useful to policyholders. ### Prevention: The New Frontier of Insurability Jérémie Viscuso, Partner at Oliver Wyman, opened the morning with a keynote on the tensions weighing on the insurance model. His core point: prevention only works if it's sustained over time and becomes a recurring practice. The challenge is to support policyholders day in and day out to reduce the frequency or severity of claims. This shift is driven by economic pressure. Insurers have gotten much better at assessing, pricing, and managing risk. Models are more sophisticated, data is more abundant, and claims management tools are more powerful. But measuring risk better doesn't mean reducing it at scale. Rising claim costs could make insurance less accessible, even when coverage is available. Repeated premium hikes eventually make coverage hard to afford, even if capital remains available. Prevention thus becomes a lever for competitiveness and accessibility. "The best claim is the one that never happens," Viscuso said. But that logic requires rethinking the relationship between insurer and insured. Prevention must allow insurers to be present in policyholders' daily lives to reduce exposure, limit claim frequency, and keep prices acceptable. Insurers that don't interact with customers daily need partners on the ground—service companies, maintenance providers, or contractors who can intervene close to where the risk is. Technology can help personalize prevention. The needs of a baker, a locksmith, or a homeowner exposed to flooding are not the same. AI enables more targeted recommendations and adapts interactions to each policyholder's profile. It paves the way for more targeted, operational, and easily deployable prevention. But it doesn't replace human support. When it comes to understanding a risk, financing repairs, or changing behavior, trust and expertise remain essential. ### Health: From Reimbursement to Continuous Support Fabrice Staad, CEO of Alan France, illustrated this transformation in health insurance. Alan's model is built on an integrated platform that combines prevention, insurance coverage, and access to health services. The goal is to reduce fragmentation in care pathways and give policyholders a single entry point for their health questions. This approach addresses two difficulties: - **Healthcare access:** Access to care remains unequal, and some pathways are long or complex. - **Economic pressure:** Rising healthcare costs weigh on employers and employees. Prevention becomes a way to improve health outcomes and control costs. By engaging policyholders continuously—not just when they file a claim—insurers can help them stay healthier and manage chronic conditions better. That, in turn, reduces the need for expensive interventions down the line. ### The Road Ahead The message from the event is clear: prevention is no longer a nice-to-have. It's a strategic imperative. Insurers that embrace it—by building long-term, personalized, and tech-enabled prevention programs—will be better positioned to keep insurance affordable and accessible. Those that don't risk being left behind as risks intensify and costs rise. The challenge is significant, but so is the opportunity. Prevention could be the key to preserving the mutualization principle that underpins the entire insurance model.