News
Progressive, GEICO, State Farm top online user experience
Insurance carriers are focused on support for digital users and increasing chatbot service options, while considering budget constraints.
Keynova Group, a financial services intelligence firm specializing in benchmark insights, released its Q4 2022 semi-annual Online Insurance Scorecard, which evaluates the mobile website and mobile app offerings from the 12 largest U.S. property and casualty firms.
Progressive scored first overall in online user experience. GEICO scored second. State Farm scored third.
"Many insurance companies are refining their customer servicing practices in an effort to rein in costs amid tightening economic conditions and rising claims volumes," said Beth Robertson, managing director, Keynova Group, in a statement. "However, improvements must be implemented with care to avoid diminishing the quality of the digital experience. Leading carriers offer an array of customer servicing options that augment policyholders and prospects' digital channel use."
The report analyzes the digital user capabilities and customer experience to identify trends driving strategy. Scoring is based on an evaluation of approximately 250 objective criteria.
Most expensive NAT CAT events of 2022
Between 1980 and 2022, the NOAA reports the United States averaged 7.9 weather and climate disasters annually with losses surpassing $1 billion. That number has jumped significantly in the last five years, however, with an average of 17.8 of these events each year between 2018 and 2022. That average is even higher when looking at the last three years – 2020 to 2022 – in which there were 60 of these events; an average of 20 per year. In these three years, losses averaged $144.9 billion and deaths averaged 487.
In 2022, there were 18 weather or climate events where losses surpassed $1 billion, according to the NOAA. Overall, these events killed 474 people.
The billion-dollar-plus NAT CAT events in 2022 included 11 severe storm events, three tropical cyclones, one flooding event, one wildfire and one winter storm. Florida was the state hit hardest by weather events last year, with the NOAA estimating around $112 billion in losses.
Global losses from natural disasters totaled around $270 billion, according to a recent report from Munich Re, with the most damage coming from weather events.
In the slideshow above, we’ll look at the most costly NAT CAT events that hit the United State in 2022, according to the NOAA.
Why agencies should leverage tech to retain clients
Times are tough, many things cost more. Replacement costs are rising, supply chain issues are slowing claims resolution, and premiums are increasing. Insurance agencies have a challenge on their hands, facing many concerns from customers.
More frequent and effective communications strategies don't solve the issues, but they can go a long way towards creating stronger, long-term customer relationships. For example, customers want to understand how the economy is impacting their policies. And even if customers aren't proactively calling, agents can reach out. Jordan Burns, owner and CEO of Beyond Insurance Group said, > "Most people aren't focused on the insurance industry, they're focused on their policies. If they see a significant premium increase at renewal, but haven't made a claim, they will have questions. Without an agent walking them through the changes, they are left wondering what happened."
In inflationary times, clients can be price-driven and more willing to switch accounts. Strong relationships are more important than ever. Elijeana King-Thompson, President, Chaisteli Insurance Group explained,> "The foundation of the agency has always been customer relationships. To thrive, agencies need to have conversations, talking clients through the policies and increases. Ultimately it is all hands on deck to see how the agency can help the customer and where there might be savings."
Cyber and business interruption are top risks for 2023: Allianz
Cyber incidents and business interruption have ranked as the biggest company concerns for the second year in succession, according to the 2023 Risk Barometer report by Allianz, with economic and energy risks also on the rise.
Cyber and business interruption were both flagged as top risks by 34% of the 2,700+ risk management experts surveyed by Allianz for the latest edition of its barometer.
However, it is macroeconomic developments such as inflation, financial market volatility and a looming recession as well as the impact of the energy crisis are the top risers in this year’s list, with these risks respectively climbing from tenth position to third, and newly entering at fourth position.
The insurance adjuster talent war
With the departure of the baby boomer generation from the workforce, the insurance industry faces an inevitable employment gap. Intriguingly, the insurance sector employs most working individuals 50 and older, and within the next year, close to a quarter of insurance pros will be looking forward to retirement within a decade.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has named this looming shortage “The Great Resignation.” A phenomenon created by the combination of an aging workforce, the wake of COVID-19, a changing labor market, challenging working environments, little career advancement or increased work demands, millions of baby boomers retiring, and the younger Generation Z increasing their expectations for a better work-life balance.
This amalgamation of events has heightened the desire to work from home; earn a greater wage with improved benefits, promotions and job growth; a lighter workload; and enhanced company engagement when hiring and seeking to retain staff. Unfortunately, combined with the baby boomer exodus in the insurance industry, a loss of experience and expertise is deeply felt. As a result, a war for talent, especially adjusters, has ensued for insurance companies attempting to meet demand. As veteran employees retire, how can insurance companies recruit young talent to serve as the next insurance leaders?
Events
The Future of Insurance USA 2023 (June 27-28, Chicago).
Insurance is at a critical inflection point – whilst the industry finds itself in the midst of a profitability crunch, the demands for digital innovation and CX perfection continue to rise. Carriers must keep their foot on the transformation gas to streamline processes, reimagine products and empower their people.
That's why Reuters Events will gather 450+ senior insurance stakeholders to drive profitable growth at The Future of Insurance USA 2023 (June 27-28, Chicago).
InsurTech/M&A/Finance/Collaboration
Climate InsurTech Sensible Weather closes investment to bring solution to golfers
Founded in 2019 by climate scientist Nick Cavanaugh, Sensible claims it is de-risking weather for consumers and outdoor experience partners.
The company is backed by a National Science foundation grant and $22m in total financing.
Sensible Weather’s first product, the Weather Guarantee, is built upon satellite imagery and climate analytics developed from over a decade’s worth of research in industry and academia.
Sensible Weather has partnered with EP Golf Ventures to enable the company to have access to its Weather Guarantee Protection. This, the climate InsurTech said, will eliminate the burden of issuing rain checks and give golfers the option to protect against the risk of volatile weather when booking tee times and lodging packages online.
EP Gold Ventures, a new investment partnership created by the PGA of America and Elysian Park Ventures, the private investment arm affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group, made the strategic investment.
Sensible Weather’s Weather Guarantees automatically reimburse tee time and other travel-related costs in the case of rain, extreme temperatures or other undesirable weather during a round.
Trium Cyber Selects Origami Risk’s Multi-Tenant SAAS P&C Insurance Core Solution Suite for Underwriting, Billing and Claims Admin
Trium Cyber, a newly established Lloyd’s services company providing cyber insurance, risk management and claims adjudication services announced it has partnered with Origami Risk’s multi-tenant SAAS P&C insurance core solution suite for underwriting, billing and claims administration.
“Origami’s ability to respond quickly to our specific needs and fast-track the implementation of its core solution suite provides us a sound platform on which to operate” -- Josh Ladeau, CEO, Trium Cyber Tweet this Origami has been working in collaboration with Trium Cyber’s team to develop the service company’s core platform. With a versatile solution set, experienced design and implementation team, and proven high-quality support services, Origami delivers tailored configurations and a multi-tenant platform that accommodates a variety of business models and facilitates streamlined underwriting, billing, policy and claims administration.
Backed by Pelican Ventures, Trium Cyber commenced operations earlier this month. Led by Josh Ladeau, CEO, and Jeff Bores, chief underwriting officer, Trium Cyber provides cyber insurance along with complementary risk management advisory services and real-time loss mitigation services to drive rapid claims decisions, favorable loss outcomes, and to support its growth.
“Given the strong market demand for our innovative cyber-risk solutions, we positioned Trium Cyber to hit the ground running with our launch this month,” said Ladeau. “Origami’s ability to respond quickly to our specific needs and fast-track the implementation of its core solution suite provides us a sound platform on which to operate.”
Kin Insurance expands into South Carolina -
The company strives to make home insurance more convenient and affordable by cutting out administrative and agent-related expenses.
Kin’s technology platform draws on thousands of data points to evaluate the risk profile of each home and price policies accurately. Kin said this is particularly important for homes that are hard to insure, including those that are impacted by severe weather events caused by climate change.
The company is entering the Palmetto State to offer a seamless way for homeowners and landlords to protect their most valuable assets, despite being exposed to several risks.
This is because South Carolina is close to the Atlantic Coast, making it vulnerable to extreme weather. It ranks among the top ten states for hurricane risk and the chances of being impact by a tropical storm each year stands at 80%
insured.io | insured.io Introduces Payment Center
insured.io, a provider of cloud-based, customer engagement solutions for the insurance industry, is pleased to announce the availability of a new payment processing feature, Payment Center, which is seamlessly integrated into the company’s Insured Portal.
“The release of Payment Center was on our minds for much of 2022,” said Steve Johnson, co-founder and head of product for insured.io. "Kicking off 2023 with this feature launch is only the beginning. Our product roadmap and implementation plans are stacked for this year, and this is just the first of many major ‘feature drops.’ We are excited to continue to expand and improve our unique offerings for current and new customers!"
insured.io news images Payment Center provides a streamlined experience for managing automatic payments and saved payment methods, as well as an all-new workflow for processing payments. This new workflow not only makes it simpler for an insured to make a payment, it allows insurers to easily create customizations for handling disclosures, content, and bespoke messaging throughout the process. Payment Center also includes a major customer-requested feature which allows insureds to schedule a payment up to 30 days in advance, even if an insurer’s core system does not have that capability.
“We expect Payment Center and the new payment scheduling feature will create a measurable increase in retention, encouraging those who are reticent or unable to enroll in autopay to schedule a single, one-time payment,” said Johnson. “We at insured.io have spent countless hours reviewing usage statistics and analyzing trends in order to continually enhance the already feature-rich Insured Portal and Customer Engagement Platform.”
Insurance startup Raincoat pays customers instantaneously after climate disasters
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, it took Jonathan Gonzalez three days to reach his mother, who was dealing with long-term medical issues at her home deep inside the island. “My biggest concern was whether or not she was going to be okay,” he says.
She had survived the storm, but the hurricane had torn a wheelchair ramp from the side of her home and caused other damage. Gonzalez helped her file an insurance claim, planning to make a quick repair to the ramp so she could leave the house, but had to wait for the insurance company to come acknowledge the loss. The wait took a year, and then the claim was denied.
“The experience sucked,” he says. “I just couldn’t wrap my head around how the situation was this bad. As a society, is this the best we can do?” Gonzalez, a software engineer, started working with two cofounders to design a better system. Raincoat, their insurance startup, is designed to make payments immediately after a climate disaster—and to help cover losses that most insurers don’t, like the loss of income if a storm destroys the power grid (or roads, or an entire tourism industry) and someone can’t work
Gradient AI Closes 2022 with 100+ Customers and 100% Year-Over-Year Growth
Continuing momentum from a successful H1 2022, Gradient AI, a leading enterprise software provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the insurance industry, today announced that it closed out 2022 with more than 100 customers and well over 100% year-over-year growth. The company has experienced four consecutive quarters of record growth, capping off a year of unprecedented success.
“AI is also enabling insurers to meet one of their greatest challenges-- how to mitigate the ever-growing talent exodus created by the Great Resignation, particularly as the baby boomer generation retires.”
“To be selected by many leading insurance providers serves as testimony to our team’s relentless commitment to delivering AI-powered solutions that drive meaningful and positive outcomes,” said Stan Smith, Gradient AI’s founder and CEO. “This significant market adoption has propelled us into a leadership position in providing underwriting and claims solutions for the insurance industry. We expect continued momentum in 2023 as we further innovate and create compelling solutions for our markets.”
Gradient AI’s H2 2022 milestones include:
Revenue Growth, Customers, Staffing
In 2022, the company grew its Q3 and Q4 revenue by more than 100% over the same period in 2021, acquiring new accounts to end the year with over 100 customers. These additions are across its multiple lines of business including Property and Casualty, Workers’ Compensation, and Group Health. To meet this strong demand, the company grew its workforce which now exceeds 100 employees and continues to look for talent with positions open in engineering, field operations, marketing and finance.