Innovation in Insurance Awards 2023 Winners Revealed  June 20th 2023

Innovation in Insurance awards 2023 winners revealed

Qorus-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards

On 14 June Qorus and Accenture awarded the most innovative projects developed by insurers that are disrupting the industry for the better.

352 entries from 223 institutions in 43 countries entered the competition in 2023 and 21 made it onto the podium!

For this 8th edition, we held the ceremony at the iconic Gessi Milano. A unique place to celebrate and reward these unique projects.

Let's discover, or re-discover, this magnificent evening and our top-3 winners!

Guidewire's PartnerConnect program honored

Insurance software provider Guidewire has been named a winner of the 2023 ASAP Alliance Excellence Awards by the Association of Alliance Professionals (ASAP).

The company was recognized for its "Innovative Best Alliance Practice" during the awards ceremony, which celebrated outstanding achievements in alliance management.

“We are thrilled to be selected as a 2023 ASAP Alliance Excellence Award winner,” said Lisa Walsh, group vice president of global consulting alliances at Guidewire. “It is an honor to be named ‘Innovative Best Alliance Practice’ and we are proud of our PartnerConnect program, the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry's leading ecosystem of consultants, industry experts, and solution providers.”

Guidewire’s PartnerConnect program features a network of over 22,000 trained and certified consulting partner staff. These partners offer a wide range of consulting services, including business transformation, strategy and implementation, and related delivery services, Guidewire said.

AM Best: U.S. Cyber Insurance Segment Reflects Hard Market, Profits

Last year marked robust growth in the U.S. cyber insurance market, with direct premiums increasing by 50 percent to $7.2 billion, brought on by better underwriting and improved loss ratios, according to Best’s Market Segment Report.

Direct premium written tripled in the past three years due to demand “outpacing broader commercial lines by a wide margin.”

Following two difficult years, major improvements were seen in 2022 with continued rate increases, better underwriting scrutiny and a slowdown in ransomware attacks. The loss ratio fell 23 percentage points to 43 percent on standalone policies, the report noted, and 18 percentage points to 48 percent on package policies.

Inside the mind of fraudsters: What were they thinking?

Insurance fraud costs a staggering $308.6 billion annually, an expense borne by insurers and policyholders alike, and consumer beliefs surrounding how acceptable insurance fraud is may or may not be changing.

A new study, “Who Me? Who Commits Insurance Fraud and Why,” conducted by Dynata in conjunction with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud and Verisk, involved responses from more than 1,500 consumers who were asked about their views on insurance fraud.

In addition, Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope, a renowned author and educator with expertise in forensic accounting, interviewed five fraudsters convicted of insurance fraud. Her findings provide more insight into why individuals choose to perpetrate fraud, how they execute their crimes, and how they justify their actions.

The way a person views insurance fraud often depends on their age. At a time when information, music, photos, games, television shows, movies and more are available seemingly for “free” on the Internet or by using a friend’s login, many Americans don’t consider copyright infringement or the use of streaming services without paying to be “theft.” By the same token, other types of theft — lying on applications, increasing the value of stolen items, reporting items not really stolen, or destroying property for an insurance payout are not viewed as a serious crime — and certainly not as insurance fraud.

Consumers aged 55 or older were the most likely to view insurance fraud as a crime (95% for ages 55-64 and 96% for those aged 65+). The numbers begin to drop a bit with the age ranges, with 87% of those aged 45-54 considering it a crime, while only 75% of those aged 35-44 thought it was. There was a slight drop to 74% for those aged 25-34, while almost 65% of those aged 18-24 considered it a crime.

While the overall findings indicated that 84% of the U.S. population believes insurance fraud is wrong, Matthew Smith, executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud says in a press release that the remaining “16% who disagree could represent as many as 53 million Americans.” As the population shifts to fewer Baby Boomers and more Gen Y and Gen Z consumers, how they view insurance fraud will also change.

Some homeowners are going 'naked' without insurance in states where it's too expensive

Droughts and wildfires. Floods and hurricanes.

As the losses from these natural disasters skyrocket, a growing number of insurance companies are declining to offer or renew coverage in California and Florida, leaving 60 million Americans with dwindling options to comprehensively and affordably protect their livelihoods.

The numbers tell part of the story: In California, there have been eight disaster events since 2020 that have caused between $20 billion and $50 billion in damages combined.

In Florida, 16 severe storms or hurricanes since 2020 have caused between $100 billion and $200 billion in damages. That includes Hurricane Ian, which has emerged as the third-costliest storm in U.S. history.

The retreat of household-name insurance companies is one reason homeowners in Florida and California are seeing eye-watering increases in premiums — raising fresh questions about whether the already oaring cost of living in these two states is sustainable for its residents.

The financial toll is real

In California, the average annual home insurance premium is now $1,300 — up 16% from 2019 levels, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a group that represents the insurance industry. As more insurers have exited California's borders, the state's FAIR Plan Association, which was established for California homeowners who are not able to find insurance in the traditional marketplace, has seen enrollment numbers approximately double since 2019.

If that sounds like a lot, it's got nothing on Florida, where the average homeowners insurance premium is now $6,000 — up 200% from 2019, according to data from the Insurance Information Institute.

The ADAS Revolution in Auto Repair

The ubiquity of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) is forcing major changes on collision repair facilities -- and they're just beginning

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In the last five years, calibrations during repairs for auto collisions have moved from the exception to almost the rule. Technology exists to ensure necessary calibrations are completed 100% of the time and are recorded for all relevant parties, to instill confidence in the repair.
• The wave we are witnessing with scanning is now seeing initial liftoff with calibrations. A more systematic look at the best way for each facility to execute and manage calibrations is needed to improve the customer experience, particularly with regard to quality and cycle time.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become an established feature in late-model vehicles, composed of an integrated suite of sensors, cameras, radars and more. Some of the earliest versions of ADAS appeared in the early 2000s with various forms of night vision, cruise control and lane departure warning systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) led two major ADAS initiatives in the 2010s – the first, in 2014, required all new vehicles with a gross weight at or less than 10,000 pounds to include “rear visibility technology” by May 2018. This was followed in 2019 by the voluntary commitment by 20 automakers to equip all new vehicles with automatic emergency braking (AEB) by September 2022.

As the list of now-standard safety systems only continues to grow, it is complemented by a bevy of systems designed for the sole purpose of improving safety. (Figure 1)

Of course, as collisions continue to occur with great frequency, these systems must not only be repaired or replaced when damaged but also calibrated to ensure proper functionality before the vehicle returns to the road. ADAS adoption may have ramped up in a relatively short time, and corresponding collision repair needs may be a steeper ramp due, in part, to the sheer complexity of these new systems.

The Prevalence of Scans

Diagnostic scan procedures are becoming more frequent as part of the collision repair process. This is especially true for late-model vehicles that are more likely to come standard-equipped with ADAS technology and other safety features. Each quarter, the percentage of claims where at least one diagnostic scan is completed steadily rises. Only 3.3% of claims included a scan procedure in Q1 2017. By Q4 2022, 57% of claims included a scan, with vehicles less than four years old being scanned 65% of the time. (Figure 2)

Chart showing repairable appraisals by vehicle age group

Auto manufacturers either recommend or require that scans be completed pre-repair and following the completion of repairs. OEM-certified repair shops are required to perform scans with the OEM’s software, and many Multi-Shop Operators (MSOs) have a standard policy requiring pre- and post-repair scans, which means repairable vehicles should receive at least two scans per VIN number. This might explain why you’re more likely to see scans included in the first estimate rather than in subsequent supplements. (Figure 3)

Kyle Krumlauf is the senior industry analyst at CCC Intelligent Solutions

What does Gen Z want from an insurance career?

In order for the insurance industry to progress, it must expand upon its rather conservative image to showcase the breadth of opportunities and the diversity of folk who drive this profession forward, one executive has suggested.

“We need to challenge the narrative of the industry,” said Grace Grant (pictured), executive director of Gamma Iota Sigma, a collegiate fraternity that spans 100 chapters and a network of over 5,000 students across North America. Its main goal is to promote and sustain student interest in careers in insurance, risk management, and actuarial science.

“There is more to insurance than its traditional and outdated image of being a boring industry that is male dominated,” she said.

During an interview with Insurance Business at RIMS in Atlanta, Grant spoke about how insurance needs to be viewed as a viable career path rather than an incidental professional recourse, while also revealing how shifting values in the younger generation will change the industry.

“This should be the first career choice”

In various conversations at RIMS with individuals from across the professional spectrum, a common revelation during introductory “ice breakers” was that securing a prominent and ultimately fulfilling position in the industry was not an intentional goal during collegiate life.

“That is a common talking point we want to eliminate,” Grant said. “This should be a first career choice, rather than an area that one enters with curiosity and a little bit of hesitation.”

The diversity of thought, skill and opportunity the industry affords should be the main topic of discussion to sustain interest within collegiate and high school level students who are figuring out their career projections.

“There’s so many different specialties and niches to explore,” Grant said.