News
![Day One Report from Connected Claims USA 2023, Austin, TX](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895340/original_ratio_extra_large_7a4531f7-f3c6-4b3f-a0d7-f1ce9fcc9383.jpg)
Day One Report from Connected Claims USA 2023, Austin, TX
Thomson Reuters Connected Claims is bringing together the industry’s top claims leaders and innovators in Austin, Texas right now.
I make sure to attend sessions at these conferences because I know how essential it is to keeping a pulse on the industry and infusing my life with inspiration. If you’ve seen the agenda, you’ll quickly recognize how valuable it is to be here.
And It’s already proved its value. The fireside chat with Alan Demers, CPCU, AIC and John Goodson, Chief Product and Technology Officer, CCC Intelligent Solutions just happened and had me leaning in the entire time.
They shared insight on the challenge of balancing loss adjustment expense with achieving excellence and the gravity of choosing technology that can adapt because the technology available today will be different tomorrow. It was an invaluable discussion around the key metrics used to evaluate claims performance and the investments made to overcome tech gaps and even retrenchment from what’s been implemented. I’m already re-energized. 🙏 Alan, John, and Thomson Reuters.
Marissa Buckley, CMO, InsurTech Hartford as posted on LinkedIn
![Day One Report from Connected Claims USA 2023, Austin, TX](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895350/original_ratio_extra_large_dc9b18c8-5879-4bd4-9659-5b904c11380b.jpg)
Day One Report from Connected Claims USA 2023, Austin, TX
What is the potential for AI and automation powering the future of claims management?
Well, Andrew Cohen, President, Snapsheet Inc; Sean Burgess, Chief Claims Officer, Lemonade; Bob Valliere, EVP Chief Operations Officer, CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer; Gloria J DiCandia, Head of Claims Experience & Process Optimization, USAA and Lisa Wardlaw, President, 360 Digital Immersion are on stage now to answer this question in the keynote. #CCUSA
Reuters Events Insurance, as posted on LinkedIn
As Auto Insurance Premiums Spike, Some American Drivers Choose the Risk Being Uninsured Over Financial Hardship
Auto insurance is meant to protect drivers from many of the financial risks associated with driving. But as premiums have soared seemingly overnight, American insurance customers have had to make the difficult choice between their monthly budget and peace of mind on the road.
As inflation has affected all sectors of the economy, the costs of repairing and replacing damaged vehicles, medical costs and all other costs associated with an auto insurance claim have increased substantially. Consequently, auto insurance premiums have increased at an unprecedented rate during the past two years (7.9% in 2022, and another 5.9% in the first six months of 2023). As a result, an increasing number of insurance customers in the United States are finding they are no longer able or willing to pay for auto insurance.
According to data collected by J.D. Power, the number of American households with at least one vehicle who say they do not have auto insurance has risen in the first half of 2023, up to 5.7% from 5.3% in the second half of 2022. What’s more, the percentage of customers who say they are shopping for auto insurance is 12.5% through the second quarter of 2023, an all-time high.
Best’s Special Report: U.S. Homeowners’ Segment Challenges Stress Carrier Operating Results
Elevated frequency of natural catastrophes and secondary perils in the first half of 2023 continue to drive deterioration within the U.S. homeowners insurance segment’s financial results, according to a new AM Bestspecial report.
These issues affecting the segment’s underwriting results are being exacerbated by rising loss costs, inflation, and supply chain disruptions that continue to pressure earnings, making it challenging for homeowners’ insurers to maintain rate adequacy.
The Best’s Market Segment Report, “Homeowners Carrier Challenges Stress Operating Results,” notes that AM Best recently revised its outlook on the U.S. homeowners’ market segment to negative from stable.
Key factors supporting that change include pressure on regional earnings from elevated catastrophe activity, increased frequency of losses from secondary perils, inflationary pressures on prevailing claim costs, challenging reinsurance market conditions, and higher retentions and co-participation levels given reinsurance pricing trends.
2023 U.S. Home Insurance Study | J.D. Power
Erie Insurance Ranks Highest in Both Homeowners and Renters Insurance Segments
Homeowners and renters across the country have been receiving letters from their insurance providers letting them know they are being dropped as a combination of catastrophic events, rising costs and regulatory pressures have strained property and casualty (P&C) insurance business models. According to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Home Insurance Study, released today, the phenomenon represents opportunity for the carriers that remain, but comes with a need to understand the potential effect these actions have on customer perceptions.
“We’ve all seen the headlines about insurers leaving states like California and Florida where catastrophic weather claims have been at an all-time high, but this pattern is playing out nationwide, affecting thousands of homeowners in every state,” said Breanne Armstrong, director of insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “Insurers are reworking their actuarial maps, confronting state regulations that cap rate increases and struggling with profitability. For customers, this combination of steadily rising rates and sudden abandonment can create irreparable damage to brand loyalty and perceptions of trust. However, it also creates an opportunity for carriers that can come in and absorb these customers.
This could be a real make-or-break moment for many carriers.”
![Natural disasters cost Allstate $864M in two-month span, triggering rate hikes](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895279/original_ratio_extra_large_1038b1fa-0aaa-4767-b327-97da7f54bc9c.jpg)
Natural disasters cost Allstate $864M in two-month span, triggering rate hikes
Allstate reported $551 million in catastrophe losses in August alone, prompting the insurer to implement 7% rate increases throughout five locations.
When announcing its catastrophe losses, which totaled $864 million pre-tax for July and August combined, Allstate said the Maui wildfires accounted for about half of last month’s losses.
Favorable reserve reestimates for prior estimates helped offset the payouts, said Allstate, which has reported catastrophe losses and subsequent rate increases during every month of the year.
“Allstate continued to implement significant auto and homeowners insurance rate actions as part of our comprehensive plan to improve profitability,” said Jess Merten, Allstate’s chief financial officer. “Since the beginning of the year, rate increases for Allstate brand auto insurance have resulted in a premium impact of 8.6%, which are expected to raise annualized written premiums by approximately $2.23 billion.
![Travelers Risk Index: Amid Fluctuating and Emerging Business Risks, Cyber Threats Remain a Leading Concern](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895297/original_ratio_extra_large_d5a88a5d-ed88-48bf-84e2-073c0df2820c.jpg)
Travelers Risk Index: Amid Fluctuating and Emerging Business Risks, Cyber Threats Remain a Leading Concern
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) today released its 2023 Travelers Risk Index results, and for the ninth straight year, cyber threats were one of the top three business concerns among the 1,200 survey participants from small-, medium- and large-sized companies.
“A well-designed, multi-layered cybersecurity program can help mitigate the threat of a cyber event, and we encourage organizations to work closely with their independent insurance agent as we all navigate an evolving cyber landscape.”
Of those taking the national survey, 58% said they worry some or a great deal about cyber, ranking it just behind medical cost inflation (60%) and broad economic uncertainty (59%).
Tim Francis, Enterprise Cyber Lead at Travelers, said, “Cyber risks have extremely serious consequences – one attack can weaken an organization or potentially put it out of business. Fortunately, there are effective measures that companies can take to address vulnerabilities and successfully manage through a cyber event.”
Respondents expressed confidence that their company had implemented best cyber practices. However, according to their responses, at least 25% of businesses have not taken essential steps, such as installing firewall or virus protection and implementing data backup and password updates. A much larger percentage say they don’t use endpoint detection and response (64%), conduct cyber assessments for vendors (57%) or customers’ assets (56%), have an incident response plan (50%), or utilize multifactor authentication for remote access (44%).
Commentary/Opinion
When Will the Hard Reinsurance Market End?
Higher retentions on property-catastrophe reinsurance programs are here to stay going into next year’s renewals, reinsurance brokers predicted recently.
But whether it would be possible to cede some more of the losses they are experiencing from secondary perils like severe convective storms with their retentions wasn’t the only question on the minds of cedents.
During virtual briefings hosted by Guy Carpenter and Aon in the run-up to the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo, broker executives faced a more direct question: How long will the hard market last?
It was the second question posed to Guy Carpenter executives and the first posed during the Aon briefing, after executives delivered opening remarks about more orderly renewals, reinsurer profits, record catastrophe bond volumes and storm losses.
“It’s a function of supply and demand,” responded David Priebe, Guy Carpenter’s chairman. “We are starting to see some capital come in, but not nearly at the quantum that I think will dilute the current situation,” he said.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
![Chubb and SentinelOne collaborate for better cyber risk management](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895335/original_ratio_extra_large_f732c916-e122-465d-bb00-7822e7c72ae0.jpg)
Chubb and SentinelOne collaborate for better cyber risk management
Chubb (NYSE:CB) collaborates with SentinelOne (NYSE:S) to streamline cyber risk management practices for U.S. businesses.
Chubb's cyber insurance policyholders will have the ability to share their enterprise "health assessment or security posture" data with Chubb (CB) through SentinelOne's endpoint protection and automated incident response solutions.
"The incorporation of SentinelOne's endpoint protection and incident response gives Chubb policyholders streamlined and potentially discounted access to a full suite of integrated cyber risk management solutions," said Craig Guiliano, VP of Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence at Chubb.
"Policyholders will be empowered to defend faster, at a greater scale, and with higher accuracy across their entire attack surface. The other major benefit to the policyholder is the comprehensive view of an enterprise's cybersecurity health for improved policy accessibility."
![Bold Penguin Partners With NEXT Insurance To Expand Product Offerings On Terminal](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895188/original_ratio_extra_large_6ec07430-7ef0-4792-a7e4-d8d70d1feb92.png)
Bold Penguin Partners With NEXT Insurance To Expand Product Offerings On Terminal
Bold Penguin has partnered with NEXT Insurance, a leading technology-first small business insurer, to enhance small business coverage options on the Bold Penguin Terminal. Founded in 2016 by insurance agents for insurance agents, Bold Penguin is on a mission to simplify small commercial insurance for carriers and agents. Through this partnership, Bold Penguin users will gain access to NEXT’s General Liability and Professional Liability products. This relationship also provides access to agents seeking additional markets, allowing them the opportunity to get a NEXT sub-appointment quickly through Bold Penguin, resulting in more quote opportunities.
With the integrated Bold Penguin product suite, agents can increase productivity and efficiency by eliminating the need for double data entry in the Bold Penguin Terminal.
“Our partnership with NEXT Insurance was a natural fit from the beginning. Our mutual goals of empowering small business owners, and the agents that serve them, is a win-win for all parties. Expanded coverage options will be an invaluable resource for our users, especially in regard to quoting and binding in current hardening market trends, and beyond,” said Nicole Farley, Bold Penguin’s Vice President of Carrier Operations.
![Sensible Weather secures strategic investment from Amex Ventures to bolster climate finance platform](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895088/original_ratio_extra_large_2292ecf6-55b7-4c59-a71b-e3adec767e60.jpg)
Sensible Weather secures strategic investment from Amex Ventures to bolster climate finance platform
Sensible Weather, a climate finance platform dedicated to empowering individuals to confidently engage with the world around them, has recently announced the closure of a strategic investment from Amex Ventures.
This funding round also witnessed participation from Sensible’s seed and series A lead investors, Wonder Ventures and Infinity Ventures, as well as the new investor, Industry Ventures.
This significant injection of capital is set to fortify Sensible Weather’s mission of delivering seamless products and services that assist in mitigating the disruptive impacts of adverse weather conditions on travel, events, and outdoor experiences.
The centerpiece of Sensible Weather’s offerings, their inaugural product known as the “Weather Guarantee,” serves as a source of assurance and protection for consumers.
By integrating the latest weather forecasting, financial, and risk management technologies, the Weather Guarantee proactively issues reimbursements to users when their planned experiences are at risk due to unfavourable weather conditions.
Events
![The Future of Insurance Canada 2023 | November 15–16, 2023 | Sheraton Centre |Toronto, Canada](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895262/original_ratio_extra_large_95c452aa-6dd6-4b9e-9808-117f9f752e95.jpg)
The Future of Insurance Canada 2023 | November 15–16, 2023 | Sheraton Centre |Toronto, Canada
Customer-Centred. Growth-Driven. Tech-Empowered.
Insurance today is anything but as usual. Spiraling costs, accelerated customer expectations, and mounting tech debt leave carriers struggling to reach profit targets. Failure to reimagine digital experiences, develop agile products, and inject innovation today means carriers risk extinction tomorrow.
Grasp the opportunity today’s uncertainty offers, and take the steps needed to deliver seamless omni-channel CX, expand into new markets, and deploy transformative tech to revolutionize the entire insurance value chain:
Register here
![MSO Symposium | Monday, October 30th | Mirage Convention Center | Las Vegas](https://dxj7eshgz03ln.cloudfront.net/production/link/image/895277/original_ratio_extra_large_db47f5fa-b8cf-4294-aa8b-af92e0f2318e.png)
MSO Symposium | Monday, October 30th | Mirage Convention Center | Las Vegas
The Premier Executive Event in the Collision Repair Industry
The MSO Symposium is an annual event directed by many of the most experienced, high-growth executives of the leading Multi-Shop Operations, or MSOs in the automotive collision repair industry.
Industry leaders sitting on the MSO Symposium’s advisory board participate in directing event content, speakers, and event networking activities. These leaders include executive representatives from large, small, and regional MSOs across North America. Active participants include Caliber Collision Centers, Certified Collision Group (CCG), Classic Collision, Crash Champions, Gerber Collision & Glass, among many others.
Announcements on the event program are available by signing up here for our e-communications. This ensures you receive up to date news coverage on this year’s program, the MSO Symposium’s sponsors, and plans for 2024