News
Progressive Insurance® Teams Up with DC Studios' Superman to Spotlight Accident Response Superpower
Progressive Insurance is teaming up with DC and Warner Bros. and the upcoming DC Studios Superman film to shine a light on its in-app safety feature, Accident Response – a real-time resource designed to help drivers when they need it most. To bring the experience to life, Progressive is debuting a life-sized, comic-inspired diorama at the film's world premiere, giving attendees the chance to strike their best superhero pose.
At the Superman premiere, attendees will step into the action with a photo opportunity inspired by the iconic Action Comics #1 cover, featuring a life-sized diorama of a branded car replica suspended mid-air – offering fans their very own superhero moment.
"With Accident Response, we're putting real help right at our customers' fingertips the moment they need it," said Meghan Walsh, Business Leader, Integrated Marketing at Progressive Insurance. "Teaming up with Superman gives us a bold, fun way to showcase just how powerful that support can feel—because when the unexpected happens, Progressive can help save the day."
Accident Response gives Progressive customers support quickly after an accident—offering to connect them to emergency services and towing and can even start a claim with just a few taps. Designed for speed and simplicity, the in-app feature takes some of the stress out of critical moments, turning your phone into a personal roadside superhero when you need it most.
Insurance Meets Interactive: The General Creates Custom Experience in Fortnite
Road anxiety is on the rise, especially with Gen Z drivers. That's why The General® — an empathetic insurance provider committed to offering flexible, reasonably priced coverage for drivers when they need it most — is expanding its footprint in the gaming ecosystem with the launch of The General Road Test Royale. This custom gaming experience helps drivers tackle road test challenges, inspired by iconic real-world driving locations, in a safe, fun virtual environment.
"At The General, we're constantly looking for ways to meet our customers where they are and, increasingly, that's in gaming environments like Fortnite," said Kale Sligh, AVP of marketing at The General. "With The Glitch, we're going beyond a logo placement to create a true experience that reflects our brand, connects with players' passion points, and gives them a break by offering an escape from the everyday."
In The General Road Test Royale, players are invited to navigate obstacles quickly and efficiently with an equal amount of strategy and caution to earn in-map currency that help unlock new challenges and rewards in-game. Three city maps are available for players to race and practice safe driving on some of the nation's most iconic driving locations: Miami, New York City and San Francisco. The game is paired with fun branded components — such as The General mustache shaped monument and The General helmet map marker — and is open to multiple players, but can also be experienced solo.
Created in partnership with Twitch and Look North World, The General Road Test Royale is unlike any other game, as it rewards players for smart, efficient driving — like staying on course, avoiding obstacles, and maintaining control under pressure. Developed in consultation with National Driving Training (NDT), the game incorporates real-world principles of safe driving in a way that's fast-paced, fun, and engaging.
Lemonade Continues U.S. Expansion With Launch of Car Insurance in Indiana
Lemonade (NYSE: LMND), the digital insurance company powered by AI and social impact, today announced the launch of Lemonade Car in Indiana, marking the latest step in the company’s expanding U.S. footprint. Drivers across the state can now access Lemonade’s full suite of insurance products—all built for the digital age.
As laid out in recent quarterly results and at Investor Day, Lemonade Car is a key growth driver in the company’s strategy. Q1 2025 marked the first quarter where Car’s sequential in-force premium (IFP) growth outpaced the rest of Lemonade’s book—underscoring its accelerating momentum.
Following the recent launch in Colorado, Indiana is the next step in a series of state rollouts planned for 2025. With this addition, Lemonade Car is now available in states representing approximately 42% of the U.S. car insurance market. Hoosiers spend an estimated $5 billion annually on car insurance, and Lemonade’s existing customers in the state already account for hundreds of millions in annual premiums—making Indiana a natural fit for the company’s expanding car product.
Climate/Resilience/Sustainability
Ember to Opportunity: How Wildfire Mitigation is Fueling Growth in Insurance Tech and Resilient Construction
The relentless rise of wildfires in California—driven by climate change, drought, and urban sprawl—has transformed disaster preparedness into a multibillion-dollar imperative. With 2025's January wildfires alone causing over $250 billion in damages and destroying 16,251 structures, the state's real estate and insurance sectors face unprecedented pressure. Yet within this crisis lies a golden investment opportunity: specialized insurance technologies and fire-resistant construction materials are emerging as critical growth sectors, backed by regulatory mandates and soaring demand for resilience.
The Wildfire Crisis: A Catalyst for Change California's wildfire patterns have shifted from seasonal threats to year-round emergencies. The 2025 January wildfires, fueled by Santa Ana winds and a record-dry start to the rainy season, underscored the stakes: - Structural Damage: Over 16,000 homes and businesses destroyed, with median property values exceeding $2 million in areas like Malibu and Pacific Palisades. - Economic Toll: Estimated at $250–$275 billion, eclipsing Hurricane Katrina's $200 billion cost. - Insurance Gaps: Insured losses hit $75 billion, but 40% of affected homeowners lacked full coverage, exposing vulnerabilities in the FAIR Plan and traditional insurance models.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Liberate and Five Sigma Forge Strategic Partnership to Revolutionize Insurance Claims Automation with Voice AI
Liberate, the leading conversational voice AI platform for insurance, has announced a strategic partnership with Five Sigma, the AI-native claims management technology innovator, to deliver a fully automated, end-to-end claims experience for insurers and their policyholders.
This collaboration brings together Liberate's cutting-edge voice and digital AI intake capabilities with Five Sigma's integration-friendly claims technology, including Clive™, the insurance industry's first AI Claims Adjuster, and Five Sigma's AI-Native Claims Management Platform (CMS). Together, the two companies are redefining how insurance claims are handled, creating a seamless experience from first notice of loss (FNOL) through resolution.
"By integrating our conversational AI into Five Sigma's Clive and claims management platform, we're enabling insurers to deliver next–generation claims experiences, reducing friction, slashing wait times, and delighting callers, all without adding headcount," said Amrish Singh, CEO and Co–Founder of Liberate.
In moments of crisis, such as accidents or property damage, policyholders often experience heightened stress, making it challenging to articulate details through written communication. Voice interactions offer a more natural and immediate way for claimants to convey information, facilitating quicker and more accurate claims processing.
Nevertheless, many insurers have yet to adopt voice analytics capabilities, potentially missing out on opportunities to enhance customer experience and streamline operations.
Research
Pricing trends mixed in second quarter: MarketScout
Average commercial lines insurance renewal rates rose 2.8% in the second quarter, down from 3% in the first quarter, but the increases varied by line and account size, MarketScout said Monday.
Commercial auto continued to see the most significant rate increases, at 6.7%, the same as in the first quarter, said the report from MarketScout, a unit of Novatae Risk Group.
Among other major lines, umbrella and excess rates increased 5% in the second quarter, down from 6.7% in the prior period; general liability was up 3.7%, compared with 2.3%; commercial property again rose 3.6%; directors and officers liability rates increased 1.3%, compared with 1%; cyber liability was up 1%, compared with 1.7%; and workers compensation again was flat.
By account size, rates increased 3.7% for accounts up to $25,000 in premium, compared with 4.7% in the prior quarter; 3.3% compared with 3.7% for accounts up to $250,000; 3% in both quarters for accounts up to $1 million; and 3% compared with 2.3% for accounts over $1 million.
US Homeowners Insurance Rates Rose 40.4% in Six Years: Report
U.S. homeowners insurance rates rose 40.4% over the past six years, with the biggest increases hitting in the last two years, a new report shows.
LendingTree’s 2025 State of Home Insurance Report shows rates from 2019 through 2021 remained stable, with increases of 2% in 2019, 2.1% in 2020, and 3% in 2021. Then rates started rising in 2022 with increases of 5.4%, 11% in 2023, and 11.4% in 2024.ARTICLE
Another Home Insurance Crisis Brewing? – NMP
Homeowners are either postponing important maintenance on their properties or doing the work themselves, all because it is too expensive to do otherwise, according to a new survey of 1,000 owners.
The delays are quietly putting their homes and their values in danger, perhaps ushering in a new era of risk. Guardian Service, a company that helps homeowners shop for insurance coverage, calls it a “silent insurance crisis.”
The survey found:
- Nearly three out of every four owners polled are putting off renovations or repairs because of economic uncertainty;
- Nearly a third said they were willing to wait another two years if necessary to make major upgrades to things like leaky roofs and outdated electrical systems; and
- About one in eight are deferring such projects indefinitely.
- Home improvement budgets have been sliced, too, the pollsters found — on average by 42%. And when it comes to saving money, nearly two-thirds of homeowner respondents said they did the work themselves rather than hiring an expensive professional tradesman.
“DIY fixes aren’t a sign of resilience,” Guardian Services’ Kara Credle told National Mortgage Professional. “They’re a warning sign. With 62% of homeowners tackling critical repairs themselves, not by choice but necessity, it’s clear financial pressure is forcing risky workarounds that could cost more down the line.”
Another revealing finding: Nearly one in four homeowners admitted they’ve avoided filing an insurance claim because they were afraid their home’s condition might trigger an inspection or even a denial — or worse, higher insurance premiums.
New IIHS measurement technique points to growth in vehicle blind zones
The forward blind zones of six top-selling passenger vehicles grew substantially over the past 25 years as pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities soared, a comparison technique developed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.
A recent study led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center is the first to use the new method that IIHS developed for measuring a driver’s direct area of vision around a vehicle. The technique promises to enable much broader studies of the role that vehicle design plays in driver visibility and crash risk.
Over multiple redesign cycles from 1997 to 2023, forward visibility within a 10-meter radius fell as much as 58% for three popular SUVs, the researchers found. For a top-selling pickup, close-proximity visibility declined by a smaller 17%, but even the earliest model had extremely large blind zones. In contrast, the early models of the two cars provided relatively good visibility that fell less than 8% in later generations.
“The across-the-board decrease in visibility for this small group of models is concerning. We need to investigate whether this is a broader trend that may have contributed to the recent spike in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities,” IIHS President David Harkey said.
“This study also illustrates that the new method developed by IIHS gives researchers a straightforward, repeatable way to assess driver visibility,” he added.
Life, Health & Accident
"We're gonna need a bigger boat" - AI Governance
"We're gonna need a bigger boat."
That's what Chief Brody realized in Jaws when he finally understood the true magnitude of what they were up against.
I see the same realization dawning on insurance executives when they truly grasp what robust AI governance entails.
The current approaches simply aren't sufficient.
Imagine you've deployed AI solutions across your insurance operations, congratulating yourself on digital transformation progress... ...while beneath the surface, governance gaps are creating risks far larger than anticipated.
This isn't hypothetical concern. The regulatory environment is rapidly evolving, with enforcement actions already hitting organizations with inadequate AI controls.
The governance gaps I'm consistently seeing: - AI systems making decisions without proper human oversight mechanisms - Missing documentation of model limitations and potential biases - Insufficient processes to monitor for regulatory compliance drift - Unclear accountability for AI outcomes across departments - Reactive rather than proactive risk management - A one-size fits all approach to AI
The challenge isn't building AI capabilities – it's building the governance infrastructure to manage them responsibly. And like Brody's realization about needing a bigger boat, the solution isn't incremental improvement. It requires fundamentally rethinking your approach.
Warning signs your current framework is insufficient:
- You can't clearly explain how AI decisions are validated
- Your compliance team struggles to articulate AI-specific controls
- Model documentation exists but isn't connected to governance processes
- You're more focused on capabilities than consequences
The stakes? Regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and the erosion of customer trust that took decades to build.
What's your experience? Has your organization recognized the need for more robust AI governance, or are you still focused primarily on implementation?
Comment below or reach out directly.
Kaenan Hertz | Insurtech Visionary & Founder | Strategic Advisor to C-Suite Leaders | Empowering Insurance Innovation & Market Relevance with AI & Blockchain
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Did You Know?
On 40th anniversary of ‘Back to the Future,’ Allstate celebrates its role in creation of DeLorean time machine
On the 40th anniversary of the "Back to the Future" movie premiere, Northbrook, Illinois-based insurance giant Allstate is traveling back to the past to reveal its little-known role in developing the DeLorean, the futuristic but short-lived, gull-winged, stainless steel car that served as Doc Brown's time machine.
Without Allstate, Marty McFly might never have left 1985 or perhaps he would have traveled back in time in a Buick, forever disrupting the space-time continuum of the seminal movie trilogy.
"The cars exist because of the partnership Allstate had with DeLorean," said Sandee Lindorfer, vice president of auto claims for Allstate.
In the words of Doc Brown, "Great Scott!"
"Back to the Future" hit movie theaters on July 3, 1985. A customized 1981 DeLorean DMC-12, which took audiences on joyrides to 1955, 1885 and 2015 over the course of three films, was already relegated to the junkyard of automotive history by the time the movie premiered.
In the mid-1970s, Allstate worked with John DeLorean, an automobile executive and engineer, who left GM to launch his own namesake vehicle. The insurance company invested a reported $500,000 in a safety car project, developing prototypes with advanced seat belt restraints, airbags and improved bumpers.
"We sponsored three prototypes with the DeLorean-Allstate safety car agreement, and we brought one of the prototypes to Congress to show them what could be done around smaller vehicles being more safe and having better fuel economy," Lindorfer said.
One prototype evolved into the sleek DeLorean DMC-12, which went into limited but ill-timed production at a Northern Ireland factory during a recession in 1981, generating buzz but few sales
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