On-demand insurance is growing rapidly with predictions that by 2030 the global insurance market will evolve to contain highly dynamic, usage-based products that are tailored to individual customer behaviours and will transition from an annual renewal model to a continuous cycle, with products that constantly adapt to individual behavioural patterns—driven by application of data and individualised risk models.1 The availability of big data in conjunction with technological advances in artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and blockchain create the foundation and operational capacity for new on-demand insurance products and opens doors to new and exciting opportunities within the insurance industry. This article considers on-demand insurance and associated technological developments supporting its global growth and development. In addition to the opportunities afforded through the evolution in this changing or changed insurance landscape, there are risks and challenges to be addressed. Questions arise as to the appropriateness of the data being utilised and analysed, and the predictive models being deployed, in delineating the scope of cover provided, or in determining whether cover is provided at all. Significant privacy concerns arise in relation to big data pertaining to matters such as fairness and discrimination, intrusiveness and contextual integrity of personal data. These and other concerns are considered as are major regulatory responses such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and recommended global strategies to address data protection and privacy—such as that advocated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD) in 2020. In this evolving data-driven global insurance market an insurer’s asymmetry of information relative to any particular transaction being negotiated may be negated or be less significant.*J.B.L. 536 This may in turn demand further reform to rebalance pre-contract information disclosure requirements in the global insurance market. Attention, as this asymmetric balance is reconfigured, needs to focus also upon the insurer’s disclosure obligations, with due process and accountability requiring that a prospective insured has easily accessible information about the processing of their personal data. The article considers also the fraud implications of on-demand insurance and the potential for distributed ledger technology or blockchain initiatives to assist in fraud detection and risk prevention
‘Agreement-based’ constructive trusts have increasingly been applied in the commercial context. Worryingly, they are plagued by fundamental uncertainties over their underlying rationales, ambits, and requirements. Recent cases have revealed the urgency of resolving these uncertainties. This paper demonstrates how sense can be made in this area of law.
