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Insurers optimistic about hiring, revenue - Insurance News
Insurers are showing hiring optimism as 67% of them have plans to increase their staff during the next 12 months, driven by the property/casualty segment at 69%. In addition, 79% of companies expect to grow revenue during the next 12 months. This is according to a study by The Jacobson Group and Ward, part of Aon plc.
Commercial lines P/C companies are ,most optimistic when it comes to increasing revenue, as 81% expect growth, compared to 78% of balanced lines companies and 67% of personal lines companies, the survey said.
In addition, 93% of life/health companies expect an increase in revenue, and 50% of the companies stated that change in market share will drive their expected revenue changes. Thirty-five percent also cited pricing factors.
How AI regulation in insurance is taking shape
It's not new that insurance regulators are grappling with how (and how much) to regulate artificial intelligence's use in the business of insurance. This year is no different, but some of the big ideas on which regulators previously focused are beginning to inform more practical and detailed efforts to provide concrete guidance or, in some cases, actual regulatory requirements. Two developments in 2023 especially will inform the approaches that regulators will take in the years ahead.
First, insurance regulators via the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) are drafting a model bulletin on artificial intelligence use with the aim of guiding companies in establishing governance systems and regulatory expectations for such systems. As explained during the 2023 Spring National Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, the NAIC's Committee on Innovation, Cybersecurity and Technology is taking the lead on producing a commissioner-driven deliverable that likely will be exposed for public comment sometime this year. Much like the NAIC's AI Principles adopted in 2021, the bulletin likely will provide high-level, principles-driven guidance that will serve as a good guide for companies seeking to understand, at a minimum, what kinds of questions and information regulators will ask when seeking more information about artificial intelligence and machine learning products.
Auto Insurance Shopping Rises as Consumers Seek Better Rate
Auto insurers have been forthcoming in their desire to achieve rate to match increases in claims costs and, so far in 2023, consumers are not standing by.
According to a quarterly report from J.D. Power, in collaboration with TransUnion, the quote rate for auto insurance in the first quarter 2023 was 12.4% and the switch rate was 3.9%. The quote rate is a new high in the three-year history of J.D Power’s quarterly loyalty indicator and shopping trends (LIST) report.
“A new record in our data series was seen in March as 13.1% of consumers reported shopping for auto insurance in the 30 days prior to responding to our survey,” said J.D. Power.
TransUnion data showed Gen X and Gen Z led the way in price shopping, and Western US was the most active for auto insurance shoppers. J.D. Power noted that Progressive surpassed GEICO in 2022 to now hold the largest market share among personal auto insurers, and this latest quarterly report was the first to find that GEICO did not capture the largest share of any large competitor’s defectors.
Software developer for the insurance industry Guidewire welcomes new data partners
Guidewire provides AI, analytics, and technology to approximately 520 insurers across 38 countries to help them improve their digital operations.
The company claims its solution ecosystem is the largest in the property & casualty (P&C) industry, with over 175 solution partners providing over 185 integrations in the Guidewire Marketplace.
Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partners provide software, technology, and data solutions as well as insurance support services. Its solution partners aim to help drive business value and innovation for insurers by developing and delivering integrations, extensions, apps, and other complementary solutions for Guidewire products.
Driving Change: Insurance Innovation Strategist, Peggy Klingel, Talks Ecosystems, Diversity and Disruption
Peggy Klingel is a key figure in the insurance space when it comes to driving change and adopting innovations. Insurtech Insights caught up with her to find out more.
Peggy Klingel enjoys a challenge, and the often complex-to-navigate space between legacy systems and insurtech innovation, has been her career home for the past few years. Her most recent project was a six-year implementation at Allstate Insurance, which involved building a startup engagement programme and working with insurtechs to streamline the technology.
Attention to detail and knowing the numbers has been key for Klingel, who started out as a trained accountant and then moved into sales – but found it somewhat soulless. She has now discovered her happy place in the insurance industry, and is passionate about the cause because, “it is full of great people with an important mission to help others in a time of need.”
In an age that increasingly demands more from technology and people, she sits at the intersection that navigates both sides of the coin.
Performance data key to fast, reliable digital-insurance services
Imagine being able to access on-demand insurance via a mobile app for impromptu events like borrowing a friend’s car. Or being able to buy a policy in seconds — without paperwork or phone calls — thanks to AI-fueled apps that gauge consumer behavior based on their devices.
This is today’s insurtech world, where technology-based disruptions like these are driving the future of property and casualty coverages.
This increased reliance on technology has a lot of upside. Specifically, digital insurance companies can better meet evolving customer expectations; differentiate in a crowded market; access opportunities in emerging markets; and even achieve higher levels of environmental sustainability.
But so much reliance on technology does come with a dangerous downside. Greater digitization of apps and services, combined with an increasing number of customers using them, leads to exponentially growing volumes of performance (speed, availability) data providing key insights into the health of these apps and services.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
What implications may SVB collapse have on insurtech?
Technology is an exciting and challenging industry, with nearly 600,000 tech companies in the U.S. Expectedly, many tech professionals fall in love with the space, eventually launching their own tech companies. And who's to blame them? Experts expect the U.S. tech industry to grow by 5.4% this year, which is unsurprising as it currently accounts for roughly 35% of the total world market.
However, headlines, like the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), have sent tremors throughout the tech landscape. As a result of the banking collapse, we can see more clearly the vulnerable areas where tech companies could sharpen their risk management approach. This post covers a few of these exposures and viable solutions to combat new threats.
Carl Niedbala, Co-Founder and COO, Founder Shield
Betterview Launches AI-Powered Roof Age Solution
The solution uses AI and computer vision to analyze high-resolution aerial imagery, enabling precise determination of roof age data.
Betterview (San Francisco), an InsurTech provider of actionable property intelligence to property/casualty insurers, has launched and AI-powered roof age solution designed to enable property/casualty insurers to make informed decisions across the policy lifecycle, protecting customers, and improving loss ratio. The solution uses AI and computer vision to analyze high-resolution aerial imagery, enabling precise determination of roof age data.
INSHUR Acquires U.S. Transportation Agency ABI; Raises $26 Million
INSHUR Acquires U.S. Transportation Agency ABI; Raises $26 Million
INSHUR, a global on-demand insurance provider, has acquired American Business Insurance Services in order to expand its operations across the U.S.
The company also reported that it completed a capital raise of $26 million, which was supported by existing investors including JVP, Munich Re Ventures, Viola Fintech and MTech Capital. The recent capital raise is an up-round to INSHUR’s Series B in June 2021.
Established in 1983, ABI is a Westlake Village, California-based agency for commercial transportation insurance in the U.S., insuring more than 50,000 vehicles.
This news is the latest in New York-based INSHUR’s growth strategy as it seeks to further its embedded insurance platform serving the on-demand driver economy across the U.S., U.K. and the Netherlands.
The acquisition of ABI will enable INSHUR to leverage its technology and partnerships to serve on-demand drivers and fleets in 50 states, according to the company. INSHUR said ABI will give it more access to claims data for fleet managers and on-demand drivers, and also enable it to promote safe driving practices through its underwriting capabilities.
WINT and HSB offer water damage warranty to protect contractors and developers from rising water damage costs
WINT Water Intelligence, a leader in cutting-edge water management and leak-prevention solutions for construction, commercial, residential and industrial applications, and HSB, a multi-line specialty insurer that is part of the Munich Re family, announce the launch of a groundbreaking initiative to protect general contractors and developers from the steeply rising costs of water damage in the construction industry.
Water damage continues to be a source of significant risk in buildings and on jobsites. As insurers face rising payouts for water damage claims, deductibles have climbed sharply, resulting in a severe impact on profitability for contractors and developers. The new partnership provides financial relief of up to $250,000 through an industry-first warranty program leveraging HSB's extensive data-based insurance solutions and WINT's advanced AI-based leak-mitigation technology.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions Launches Total Property Understanding for the U.S. Home Insurance Market
Today, LexisNexis Risk Solutions® announced the launch of LexisNexis® Total Property Understanding™, a new comprehensive property intelligence solution to help enable U.S. home insurance underwriters to narrow in on properties needing additional evaluation based on risk, capture comprehensive interior, exterior and aerial data from those properties through a consumer self-guided survey tool, and access AI-enabled insights to fast-track decision making. The solution expands the capabilities from the recent Flyreel® acquisition and can be used at new business or renewal to help carriers amplify their underwriting workforce and help significantly improve return on underwriting investment.
"Total Property Understanding is an answer for home insurance carriers who have been struggling to get timely and accurate data insights needed to help improve property underwriting," said Cole Winans, vice president, Home Insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "In many cases, insurers are still relying on limited boots-on-the-ground inspections and manual processes that provide only a partial understanding of the risk. By combining the AI capabilities of Flyreel with insights from hundreds of interior, exterior and aerial property data attributes, we are introducing a more comprehensive solution in property risk assessment while helping consumers better ensure their coverage needs are known and accounted for."
Safe Security Raises US$50 Million Series B Round for AI-Driven Platform to Manage and Mitigate Cyber Risk
Safe Security, the leader in AI-based cyber risk management SaaS platforms, today announced the close of a $50 million Series B round led by Sorenson Capital, with participation from Eight Roads, venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments, Telstra Ventures, WTI, and all existing investors. This latest round brings the company’s total funding to over US$100 million.
With the current macroeconomic climate, cybersecurity teams are re-evaluating their cybersecurity investments, which are flush with point solutions that do not provide holistic cyber risk visibility and points of attack exposure. Alongside this financial pressure, external cyber regulation and guidelines stemming from the White House and regulatory bodies, like the SEC and the National Cyber Strategy, are forcing organisations across every industry to rethink their cyber risk management strategies.
Legacy solutions are ill equipped to respond to these new requirements for real time, data-driven cyber risk management. These legacy solutions require organizations to manage multiple spreadsheets and aggregate results, which are highly manual and subjective. They simply do not work. A new approach is now required.