(Re)defining Empathy in Insurance May 8th 2025

"Empathy" in Insurance

(Re)defining Empathy in Insurance - InsurTech Consulting

The expression “empathy in insurance” is as abused and misunderstood as “innovation in insurance”. The underlying intent and value of both are important but vague, and contradictory at times and often misapplied by industry practitioners.

Insurance innovation began to emerge with the insurtech wave roughly a decade ago. Insurance carriers added “innovation” in job titles, opened “labs” and launched corporate venture funds attracted by the prospects of modernizing insurance. Despite these advances, outsiders and many insurance insiders appropriately viewed “insurance innovation” as an oxymoron, challenging the notion that the industry is or can be legitimately innovative. This was most evident when sincere expressions of cheerleading for true breakthroughs evoked gushing terms like; “transformational”, “revolutionary” and “game changing”.

The same can be said about the debate over empathy in insurance, including empathy in claims. Escalating this debate is the introduction of conversational AI, emergence of generative AI and opposing views on just where and how far to apply these in insurance. A popular explanation from insurance executives is that artificial intelligence should have boundaries to certain functions or in replacing people. Rather, they advocate equipping people to perform better in their jobs by automating repetitive, menial tasks in order to concentrate on more valued work. And, connecting information in new ways, faster, better and cheaper while keeping humans-in-the-loop is the popular current thinking. Afterall, insurance is considered a relationship business.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

by Stephen Applebaum and Alan Demers

Technology is the key to empathy in insurance

Insurance must bring back empathy to close the life insurance trust gap.

Most insurers cite customers as their No. 1 priority and many reference their customer-centric mission statements that, in some cases, date back more than a century. However, one look at social media and recent news stories reveals that customer experience is still a sore spot.

JD. Power’s 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study found that only 29% of customers say their insurer makes complex policies simpler, and fewer than three-fourths say their policy completely meets their future needs.

LIMRA and Life Happens’ 2024 Insurance Barometer Study found that only half of American adults have life insurance, while 42% say they need or need more life insurance.

EY’s 2024 Global Insurance Outlook reported “historically low levels of customer trust” in insurance. All this reveals a significant disconnect between insurance and its core purpose of being a financial safety net that supports policyholders during difficult times.

The solution? Technology.

Turning to an intangible and nonhuman tool to reinstate empathy within the industry may sound counterintuitive. But the truth is that technology can reaffirm the insurance industry’s commitment to supporting consumers by enhancing customer experience. The fantastic work done by advisors, service representatives and everyone who encounters clients continues to be vital. However, it’s through streamlined processes, improved analytics and diversified communication channels, that distributors can make great strides in helping policyholders once again trust their carriers to support them when they need it most.

Brian Carey is vice president, insurance solutions engineering, of Equisoft

Empathy Meets Automation: Humanizing AI in Claims

When disaster strikes, what matters most – speed, or support?

The events that bring someone into contact with an insurer are often deeply personal—a car crash, a fire, a serious injury, or even the sudden loss of a loved one. In these moments, the person experiencing the loss isn’t immediately thinking about how fast or efficient the insurance process will be. They’re looking for clarity, reassurance, and a sense that someone is truly in their corner. And yet, the speed and smoothness of that process can shape the emotional toll—either easing the burden or adding to the stress.

AI technologies continue to influence the insurance industry, redefining the efficiency of operations like claims processing and underwriting. Yet these technologies, however advanced, often lack the empathy, emotional intelligence, and innate human touch that people crave as they navigate the sensitive fallout from loss of property, loss of life, disaster recovery, and more. It’s unsurprising that a recent KPMG study on trust in artificial intelligence found that three in five people are wary about trusting AI systems and 71 percent expect AI to be regulated.

To fully capitalize on the promise of AI, insurers must prioritize more than just efficiency – they must ensure that the AI-driven processes they adopt not only enable fair and accurate decisions, but also convey a sense of empathy and provide support to policyholders and claimants.

Empathy in Claims and Disaster Recovery

The majority of insurers (76%) globally use AI to automate at least one business function and improve customer service. But are enough of them meeting ethical standards?

Financial Results

Lemonade Q1 2025 Results: Surpasses $1 Billion in Premiums, Eyes Positive EBITDA by End of 2026 - Insurtech Israel News

Lemonade, the AI-driven digital insurance company, today reported its results for Q1 2025:

A 27% increase in In Force Premium (IFP), reaching a total of $1.008 billion — crossing the $1 billion milestone for the first time, 8.5 years after selling its first policy.

Revenue grew 27% to $151.2 million.
Gross profit rose 11% — despite the California wildfires — to $38.6 million, while adjusted gross profit grew 25% to $46 million.
The loss ratio (claims paid vs. revenue) for the quarter stood at 78%, including wildfire impacts, while the trailing 12-month figure is 73%
An adjusted EBITDA loss of $47 million was in line with forecasts, factoring in about $22 million in wildfire-related costs. The net loss for the quarter was $62 million.
As of the reporting period, Lemonade counted 2,545,496 customers.

Shai Wininger, Lemonade’s Co-Founder and President, said: “We are pleased with our Q1 results, which continue to reflect positive trends on our path to positive EBITDA by the end of 2026. This marks our sixth consecutive quarter of accelerated growth, aligned with our strategy to keep leveraging tech advantages to ensure profitable and balanced growth.”

Tech Trend Radar 2025 – The Future of Insurance | Munich Re

[Ed. Note: Highly Recommended - Brilliant, in-depth expert analysis of Insurance technologies, current and emerging, effectively presented]

Our expert assessment of the insurance technology trends 2025

Which innovations will shape insurance in 2025? Discover the game-changers in our Tech Trend Radar 2025 — your guide to the technologies that matter.

The Tech Trend Radar 2025 was developed by experts from Munich Re and ERGO to identify and assess the most relevant insurance technology trends for the upcoming year. Created by insurers for insurers, the Tech Trend Radar 2025 aims to sharpen awareness, steer discussion and initiate new business opportunities that appeal to all insurance clients. The trends include a brief description, associated opportunities and risks, and selected use cases. Furthermore, the report provides an assessment of a trend’s maturity:

Hold - Add it to your watch list
Trial = First initiatives should be underway in the most affected business areas
Assess - Consider what it may mean for your business
Adopt - Start taking full advantage of this technology

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

AI in Insurance

Best's Review Explores the AI Race in the Insurance Industry

The May issue of Best’s Review examines AI developments in the insurance industry:

“Insurance Industry Embraces AI Innovation as Technology Advances ‘Exponentially’” looks at how insurers have welcomed artificial intelligence to help customers and better understand risk.
“Regulating the Bleeding Edge: Laws Progressing To Keep Pace With AI’s Technological Advancements” explores how different states are implementing guidelines surrounding insurance carriers’ use of AI.
“Atradius Exec: ‘Black Box’ Concerns Slow AI Adoption in Insurance Sector” explains why, despite a massive appetite to explore and implement AI, little action has been taken with it.
“CyberCube’s Millaire: AI To Create Trillions of Dollars in New Economic Activity” features an interview about how AI will present transformational opportunities for cyber insurers to provide new products and services.
“Harvard Fellow: AI Impact Will Trigger an Overhaul of Insurers’ Risk Frameworks” explains how AI will be used in insurance and how humans need to evolve with the development of generative AI.

CCC Intelligent Solutions Joins AI Governance Alliance to Advance Responsible AI Across the P&C Insurance Industry

Participation in World Economic Forum Initiative Reflects CCC’s Commitment to Shaping the Future of AI in Auto Insurance and Collision Repair

CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc. (CCC), a leading cloud platform provider powering the P&C insurance economy, announces today that it has joined the AI Governance Alliance (AIGA), a global multi-stakeholder initiative led by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The AIGA brings together more than 600 members from 500 organizations — uniting leaders from industry, academia, government and civil society to promote the responsible development and deployment of AI that drives industry and economic growth.

A pioneer in the development of AI purpose-built for the P&C insurance economy, CCC will contribute its industry perspective to help shape the frameworks, policies and technical standards guiding AI’s evolution across sectors. This engagement also provides CCC with access to global insights that can help strengthen the value it provides to customers seeking to accelerate their AI journeys.

“Our customers are embracing AI-enabled innovation to modernize operations and better serve their own customers,” said John Goodson, chief product and technology officer of CCC. “Joining the AI Governance Alliance is a strategic investment in their journey, helping our customers apply AI more effectively as they prepare their organizations for what’s next. It also supports our broader vision of shaping a world where life just works for our customers and theirs.”

The AIGA was launched in 2023 following the Responsible AI Leadership Summit. It promotes the advancement of AI systems that are transparent, accountable and aligned with human and societal values. Its primary workstreams focus on responsibly integrating AI across industries, shaping robust regulatory approaches through resilient governance, driving national competitiveness and advancing technical standards to support the responsible scaling and use of advanced AI systems.

For more than a decade, CCC has been leading the development and deployment of AI solutions that help predict vehicle damage and costs, convert damage photos into line-by-line estimates, generate subrogation demands, identify potential injuries, automate total loss predictions and deliver data earlier in the claims and repair process. In 2024, CCC introduced the CCC Intelligent Experience (IX) Cloud™ with event-driven architecture that overlays onto CCC's existing cloud applications, customer workflows and customer and partner systems. The CCC IX Cloud infuses the latest AI into workflows and provides insights into business events to help insurers, repairers, OEMs and other industry partners do their best work when others need them most.

“As we continue to evolve our platform, AI plays an increasingly central role in how we help customers drive better outcomes at scale,” said Goodson. “Participating in the Alliance allows us to align that innovation with best practices, while staying focused on the industries we know best.”

Facing the Silver Tsunami: How Agentic AI Can Help Carriers Overcome the Adjuster Workforce Crisis with Digital Coworkers

The Retirement Risk is Real

The insurance industry is confronting a significant workforce challenge: the impending retirement of a substantial portion of its claims adjuster population, often termed the “Silver Tsunami.” This term encapsulates the impending wave of retirements among experienced professionals, particularly within claims operations.

Recent data underscores the urgency of this issue. According to Zippia, 62% of claims adjusters are aged 40 and above, with a substantial portion nearing retirement age. This demographic trend is not isolated; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that nearly 400,000 insurance professionals will retire by 2026. Such a mass exodus threatens to create a significant talent gap, particularly in claims operations where institutional knowledge and experience are paramount. Carriers face potential disruptions in claims processing, increased operational costs, and loss of institutional knowledge.

Agentic AI offers a transformative solution for carriers, MGAs, TPAs, IA firms, and even third-party service providers. By automating repetitive tasks and augmenting human adjusters, these intelligent agents can enhance productivity, reduce errors, and ensure continuity in claims operations. Implementing Agentic AI now allows carriers to capture institutional knowledge before it exits the workforce, ensuring a smoother transition into the future.

To explore how Agentic AI can transform your claims operations and ensure long-term resilience, visit Agentech.com}

How AI is Shaping Sustainable Practices, Profits in Collision Repair - Autobody News

AI can speed up and optimize estimating, repair planning and scheduling, improving customer experience and increasing revenue for shops, while reducing carbon emissions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to reduce carbon emissions in the collision repair process while improving efficiency for customers and increasing the bottom line for shop owners.

Bill Brower of Solera is an industry leader in vehicle lifecycle management and AI-driven claims automation. He appeared on an episode of The Collision Vision podcast, driven by Autobody News and hosted by Cole Strandberg, as part of its “Sustainability in Collision Repair” series.

Solera provides risk management and asset protection software and services to the global automotive industry and property insurance marketplace. Brower said part of its mission is to help collision repair shops track and lower their carbon footprint to help the environment.

To that end, Solera has developed a solution called Sustainable Estimatics that tracks the amount of carbon generated in a collision repair.

“Bill has his car damaged. It's estimated for repair at $5,000,” Brower said. “What [Solera is] able to do now is to also share how much carbon is generated. Maybe that's 150 kilograms of carbon in that collision repair. In doing that, we provide transparency for the insurance company and the body shop, so that they can understand some of these factors -- not only the metrics that are used in calculating a repair cost, but also how much carbon is generated, and look for ways that could actually lower that carbon in the collision repair.”

P/C Q1 insurtech funding hits highest level since 2022 - Business Insurance

Property/casualty insurtechs raised $1.13 billion in the first quarter, the highest level since the third quarter of 2022, Gallagher Re said in a report released Wednesday.

Overall, the insurtech sector raised $1.3 billion in the quarter, the reinsurance business of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said in its InsurTech report.

The majority of investments, 61.2%, went to artificial intelligence-centered companies. Five reinsurance investors made three or more tech investments in the first quarter, Gallagher Re said.

The quarter also saw three “mega round” deals worth more than $100 million, which had not occurred since the fourth quarter of 2022. All three deals went to property/casualty insurtechs: Quantexa ($175 million), Openly ($123 million) and Instabase ($100 million).

The broader funding in the first quarter resulted in an increase in deal sizes, rising 42.1% from last year’s fourth quarter to $15.77 million.

The 43 deals in the first quarter were up from 26 in the prior quarter.

Geographically, the global insurtech deal share for the U.S. rose 8.8 percentage points in the first quarter to 58.8%, the highest since the third quarter of 2017.

Claims

CLARA Analytics Unveils AI-Driven Subrogation Detection for Insurance Claims

Triage Enhancements Help Insurers Recover Millions in Missed Opportunities

CLARA Analytics (“CLARA”), a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for insurance claims optimization, today announced game-changing subrogation detection capabilities that promise to help insurers identify millions in previously missed recovery opportunities. The enhancements to CLARA’s flagship CLARA Triage product automatically identify potential subrogation and risk transfer opportunities, providing narrative assessments and numeric scores that help claims adjusters to focus on cases that offer the greatest potential.

"The market has a significant gap in regard to subrogation opportunity identification. Our mission is to transform the way claims management teams work with their subrogation partners to deliver transformative financial results."

With the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) estimating $15 billion in annual missed subrogation opportunities due to manual workflows and documentation issues, CLARA’s new technology directly addresses one of the industry’s most significant financial challenges. Existing users of CLARA Triage have improved their combined ratios by 2%-5% after a year of claims development.

“CLARA’s core values include constant innovation and an obsessive focus on our customers’ needs,” said Heather H. Wilson, CEO at CLARA Analytics. “The market has a significant gap in regard to subrogation opportunity identification. Our mission is to transform the way claims management teams work with their subrogation partners to deliver transformative financial results. Our new subrogation detection capabilities are a major step forward in that journey.”

{MORE](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250507693577/en/CLARA-Analytics-Unveils-AI-Driven-Subrogation-Detection-for-Insurance-Claims)

Telematics, Driving & Insurance

Roadzen Partners with One of the World’s Largest Telematics Providers to Launch Connected Vehicle Protection in the UK

Roadzen Inc. (Nasdaq: RDZN) (“Roadzen” or the “Company”), a global leader in AI at the intersection of insurance and mobility, announced today that its wholly owned UK-based subsidiary, Global Insurance Management Limited (“GIM”), has partnered with one of the world’s largest telematics providers to deliver an integrated, technology-led vehicle protection solution for the UK automotive retail and finance markets.***

The new solution combines real-time telematics-enabled asset tracking with Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance. Designed for seamless integration into both auto dealership showrooms and online OEM sales channels, the bundled product offers vehicle owners theft deterrence, real-time monitoring, and financial protection—all through a single, digital-first platform powered by Roadzen’s Global Dealer Network (GDN) platform. With dealership clients already onboarding, Roadzen believes that the partnership is poised to generate seven-figure revenues annually.

The strategic three-year partnership leverages GIM’s digital insurance distribution with the telematics partner’s best-in-class connected vehicle security technology, already deployed by more than 30 global vehicle manufacturers—including each of the top 10 OEMs—as well as major fleet operators across industries. It directly addresses a growing challenge in the UK, where rising vehicle theft is driving insurance premiums higher. The UK motor insurance market exceeds £17 billion annually, offering a substantial opportunity for innovative, tech-led solutions. The initial rollout will focus on the UK, with phased expansion into European markets planned.