Allstate approved for double-digit rate increases in California, New York and New Jersey  December 18th 2023

Allstate approved for double-digit rate increases in California, New York and New Jersey

Allstate announced Thursday double-digit rate increases for auto insurance in California, New York and New Jersey, following comments CEO and President Tom Wilson made last week that the company would drop insurance customers in those states, if rates weren’t increased.

California approved a 30% increase, New York a 14.66% increase and New Jersey a 20% increase, according to an Allstate press release. It states the rates will be implemented in December with effective dates through February.

The announcement comes just days after Wilson said, during a Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference, that the company would exit those states if auto insurance rates weren’t increased.

“If we don’t get price increases this year, or approved this year, in those states, we’re going to move from just not taking on new businesses to having to say goodbye to existing customers,” Wilson said. “We don’t want to do that. I think the regulators would prefer we not do that. We are not threatening anybody. We are just saying we can’t afford to lose that much money in those three states.”

Wilson said Allstate needed to increase its price for auto insurance by 30% in California and New Jersey to make a profit in those states. New York needs an increase of 18%, he said.

Nearly 104 Million Expected to Take Road Trip Over Christmas, New Year’s in U.S.

Second highest year-end holiday travel forecast since AAA began tracking in 2000. AAA projects nearly 104 million people will drive to their holiday destinations, an increase of 1.8% compared to 2022.

This year’s projected number of drivers is the second highest on record after 2019 when 108 million drivers hit the road for the holidays. As 2023 comes to a close, drivers can expect to pay about the same or less for a gallon of gas than they did last holiday season, when the national average on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day was $3.10 and $3.20 respectively.

Sfara upgrades SDK, further enhancing technology, and now offering the only complete telematics solution for insurance carriers

Sfara now offering the only complete telematics solution for insurance carriers

As a result of rising repair costs—therefore premiums—the insurance industry is facing increasingly tough economic challenges, both today and into tomorrow. The goal of claims digitization is a long-desired path to economic reward. Many leading carriers and industry analyst believe at the heart of this goal resides superior telematics solutions, with smartphone-based FNOL, that can be deployed to all policy holders.

"It takes more sophisticated technologies and approaches to achieve today's complex goals than are available in solutions created for simpler times," said Nino Tarantino.

Sfara's leadership, and much of its staff, comes from the frontiers of telematics: founders, leaders, innovators. They knew the hidden traps in telematics, not only in its technology, but in its execution at the program level. So when Sfara was formed, it built its models around the problems, tackling the most difficult ones first.

Plus, it's all available in a smartphone-based solution, easily integrated into flagship apps with a single SDK, and including Sfara's industry leading false detection suppression technologies.

At the heart of Sfara's ground-breaking technologies is their data hygiene, which they call their Integrated Suppression Framework (ISF). Any data flowing through the ISF they identify as being Framework-cleansed. ISF analyzes, cleanses and removes dirty data, while suppressing false detections. ISF was developed specifically for safety-of-life services for enterprises.

Tesla's massive recall, from the perspective of a claims professional

Insurance experts predict this is a sign of things to come as cars become more tech-laden.

Tesla Motors, Inc. is recalling more than 2 million cars due to its Autosteer feature, which “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature,” according to a letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Only vehicles in the U.S. and Canada are affected by the recall.

According to NHTSA, there is an increased risk of a crash when Autosteer is used and the driver fails to maintain responsibility for the car’s operation. The administration also noted instances where Autosteer was engaged and drivers were unprepared to intervene or did not realize when the feature was turned off.

From 2012-2022, Tesla has sold around 3.61 million units worldwide. Credit Statista

Revealed - insurance's Hot 100 | Insurance Business America

Winners recognized for shaping the future of the industry with innovation and excellence

Insurance Business America (IBA) has released its Hot 100 for 2024, leading insurance professionals who are shaping the future of the industry with their innovation and excellence.

Beginning in August 2023, IBA invited insurance professionals from across the USA to nominate exceptional leaders for the ninth IBA Hot 100 list.

After receiving 100s of nominations, the IBA team narrowed down the list to 100 insurance leaders whose contributions have helped shape the industry over the past 12 months.

The IBA Hot 100 for 2024 is proudly supported by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD).