AIG, Fireman's Fund Among Insurers Launching Trov Digital Locker

Some insurers and third parties have introduced online inventory tools to help their customers keep track of their possessions in case of a loss. But for carriers in lines of business that require a little more than self-reported data, a new entrant provides a more robust offering.

The Trov digital locker is geared toward people with high-value collections, like art. The tool allows them to not just inventory their possessions and the purchase price, but also create a floor plan showing where they are in their homes (or in storage). In addition, Trov re-evaluates the value of collections in its system based on seasonal auctions, and can deploy a third-party appraiser to the home of the collector to re-appraise items if the insurer and policyholder agree the time is right.

"For insurers, the value of things you're insuring is opaque in many cases. So we set out to add real-time transparency," says Trov CEO Scott Walchek. "The value of the data we get from the home is qualified -- we are relying on the standard [appraisal practices] for binding a policy today."

But the ability to proactively identify potential items in need of re-appraisal is where the difference comes in, Walchek adds. Next up for Trov is a mobile app that will allow policyholders to send receipts for new purchases directly to agents or brokers and get the process started adding them to the policy.

"We're really looking forward to the mobile application -- a lot of collectors are traveling to art fairs, so if they can just take a photo of new purchases and forward it to their broker, that's huge," says Michelle Impey, fine art director at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, one of five insurers launching on Trov today. (The others are AIG, ACE, PURE, and Hiscox).

Impey said that it was on her visits to the company's stable of independent agents that she first heard about Trov. The distributors appreciate how the tool makes it easier for all parties involved to maintain sometimes sprawling collections.

"In addition to keeping track of the values, owners may move art from one home to the other, or into storage, and it's a great management tool being able to say at a glance we have art here and there," Impey says. "It will encourage clients to keep the documentation up."

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Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio