InsurTech/M&A/Financeđź’°/Collaboration
Mustard partners with insurtech Battleface
Mustard Underwriting, which specialises in providing insurance solutions to the sharing economy and digital marketplace, has partnered with Battleface as the insurtech launches its travel insurer platform in Australia.
The platform provides flexible travel insurance and “turns the archaic model of one-size-fits-all on its head,” Battleface says, as its partners build their own tailored products.
Ohio-based Battleface has so far also partnered locally with AWAI Travel to provide pre-trip cancellation insurance as standard with every purchase, and Wise & Silent which has built its own products on top of battleface’s API.
“Battleface offers an incredibly competitive product that allows for easy integration into a customer user journey,” Mustard Founding Partner and Global Head of Partnerships Jon Calverley said.
“The Battleface team have been extremely aligned at designing tailor-made product solutions to meet the different needs of our customers. It was also incredibly important for us to find a partner that prides itself on claims management and Battleface are best in class.”
Climate risk startup Mitiga gets $14.4M to help businesses face an uncertain future
One pretty obvious aspect of the climate emergency which may have flown under your radar is that human-driven global heating is disrupting traditional approaches to risk modelling around natural disasters since probabilistic models based on stuff that happened in the past start to come unstuck atop so much unprecedented change.
Step forward Mitiga Solutions, a climate tech startup out of Barcelona, Spain that’s just raised a €13.25 million (~$14.4 million) Series A funding round to grow usage of its risk modelling tools. The round was led by Kibo Ventures, with Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Nationwide Ventures, Faber Ventures, and CREAS Impacto also participating.
The startup is taking a data-heavy, physics-based approach to predicting climate-driven risks, such as wildfires, extreme weather and even volcanos, so it’s also modelling climate variability that’s being driven by climate change — applying high performance compute-driven risk modelling augmented with AI, including techniques like transfer learning so it can offer predictions in regions of the world where there’s a lack of high quality data to inform its models.
Insurity to Provide Sure Claims Payments as a Standalone Offering
Insurity (Hartford), a provider of cloud-based software for insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs, has announced that its Sure Claims Payments solution is now offered as a standalone digital solution. Sure Claims Payments, powered by Dream Payments (Toronto) and connected to J.P. Morgan Payments (New York), enables property/casualty insurance organizations to pay claims in as little as 30 seconds with integrated digital payment options, according to an Insurity statement.
Insurity says that Sure Claims Payments achieves kind of speed and ease increasingly demanded by policyholders, significantly improving the end user’s experience through a digital disbursement process that includes the delivery of claims payments through multiple electronic channels, including Real Time Payments (“RTP”), ACH bank transfers, and virtual cards to both insurance claimants and vendors. It also maintains an on-demand check fulfillment capability to avoid penalties should a payee not accept payment promptly.
Pushing the insurance industry forward
The University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business has partnered with the Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA) to develop innovative new insurance technology businesses, the latest step in its ongoing support of the state’s insurance industry.
“This partnership will help support entrepreneurial ventures in insurance technology to help strengthen an industry that’s vital to the Iowa economy,” said Amy Kristof-Brown, dean of the Tippie College of Business. “We are bringing our insurance expertise and entrepreneurial knowledge to help develop this important industry.”
“We’re looking forward to tapping into the resources that Tippie can offer our start-ups, and at the same time provide experiential learning opportunities that University of Iowa students can’t get anywhere else,” said Jim Lewis, a director of the GIA.
The partnership is the latest in Tippie’s expanding connections to the state’s insurance industry. The college will start a new risk management and insurance major this fall, and it’s also a part of the Insure Your Future program with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which gives Iowa students an opportunity to intern with insurance companies in the state.
Now entering its 10th year, the GIA selects and hosts six to 10 startup businesses in a 100-day program that provides a $50,000 investment and key insight from a powerful ecosystem of insurance professionals and other alumni founders who provide advice and connections to their future customers. Lewis said the accelerator focuses on insurance technology businesses that will push the industry forward and prepare it for the future.
One80 partners with insurtech for loss run software
Loss Run Pro, a provider of software for managing loss run process, has announced that One80 Intermediaries will be bringing Loss Run Pro’s software service to its retail agency force.
Loss Run Pro is the first software-as-a-service product that allows property-casualty insurance carriers to manage their loss runs in one place.
One80 Intermediaries is a wholesaler and program manager with offices throughout the US and Canada. It offers placement services and binding authority for P&C, professional and personal lines, life insurance, and travel/accident and health coverages.
“We are thrilled to be working with One80 Intermediaries,” said Reghan Brandt, CEO of Loss Run Pro. “We are extremely excited to partner with a company that is so committed to their agents and helping them grow their businesses. We look forward to working with them as they continue to change the way commercial insurance is done.”
News
2023 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study | J.D. Power
Historic rate increases in the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry have pushed a record-high1volume of shoppers into the marketplace to seek new quotes and switch carriers.
According to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study released today, insurers have been doing a good job addressing those shoppers’ needs via the digital channel. When it comes to servicing existing customers on digital, however, overall satisfaction declines this year.
“The industry is seeing historical levels of customer churn right now, which puts a spotlight on the critical role insurer digital channels play in not just attracting new customers, but also onboarding them, and in retaining existing customers,” said Stephen Crewdson, senior director, insurance business intelligence at J.D. Power. “When it comes to shopping, insurers are starting to get the formula right, but they are still lagging far behind the best-in-class offerings in other industries like banking and airlines when it comes to servicing existing customers. That needs to become a focal point if insurers really want to build lifetime customer value.”
New research shows 40% of drivers are stressed about affording car insurance
A new survey has found that 40% of insured drivers are stressed about paying for their policies, underscoring growing tension in the auto insurance sector.
The Policygenius study also found that 43% of drivers are paying more for their car insurance than they were last year. Its poll revealed that among drivers aged 18 to 34, 45% of people considered driving without insurance throughout the past year, and said 17% have actually done it.
“Our survey found that people are changing their behaviors, and sometimes even going so far as to take a major financial risk by driving completely uninsured,” said Andrew Hurst, a Policygenius licensed property and casualty insurance expert. “Car insurance is getting expensive for most people but there are ways you can make your insurance more affordable.
Insurers face challenges in battle against high premiums
Insurers attempting to hold the line on premium increases are staring down a number of industry trends conspiring to undermine that resolve, according to a number of industry execs.
Supply chain woes, worker shortages, already high premiums for electric vehicles and a growing incidence of unsafe driving are all exerting pressure on the industry to raise premiums.
US consumers keep vehicles for a record 12.5 years on average
Americans in the waning days of the COVID pandemic are keeping their combustion-engine vehicles longer, according to a new study.
The average age of U.S. cars and light trucks this year climbed to a record 12.5 years, reflecting the impact of supply constraints on dealer inventories of new vehicles in 2022, as well as reduced consumer demand from higher inflation and interest rates, according to the study by S&P Global Mobility.
Americans in the waning days of the COVID pandemic are keeping their combustion-engine vehicles longer, according to a new study.
Despite six straight years of increases, average vehicle age is expected to drop over the coming year as rising availability and renewed demand push new vehicle sales above 14.5 million in 2023, the S&P research said.
How Will Economic Pressures Affect P&C Industry?
How could the current economic environment affect workers compensation – and the property and casualty insurance industry overall – in 2023?
Earlier this month, insurance veteran Robert Hartwig forecasted answers.
Hartwig, a clinical associate professor of finance and insurance at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, laid out his predictions at the NCCI Annual Insights Symposium in Orlando.
Despite banking and national budget debacles, financial market volatility and a mild recession likely looming, Hartwig’s prognostication was largely optimistic.
“The P&C insurance industry is strong, stable, sound and secure,” he said.
Economic Overview
At last year’s AIS conference, Hartwig told attendees the U.S. was not and would not enter a recession in 2022. That proved true. At the same time, however, consumer sentiment is still relatively low today.
“It’s near 20-year lows,” Hartwig explained, “although it’s come up a little bit in the past year, in part because inflationary pressures have begun to ease. And it is those inflationary pressures that are making people really feel down about the economy.”
POST-DISASTER CONTRACTOR FRAUD COSTS AMERICANS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR
Post-disaster contractor fraud costs hardworking Americans billions of dollars every year.
To address this growing problem, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is focusing on educating homeowners on how to avoid becoming a victim of deceptive contractors after a natural disaster as part of its third annual Contractor Fraud Awareness Week.
Unfortunately, these catastrophic events provide an opening for dishonest contractors looking to take advantage of homeowners. In 2021, insurers paid $92 billion in catastrophe losses, with upwards of 10% or $9.2 billion lost to post-disaster fraud. This can add hundreds of dollars to a homeowner's annual premium. NICB's Contractor Fraud Awareness Week runs from May 22 to May 26, 2023, and includes partnerships with thirteen states that have issued official proclamations recognizing the importance of combating post-disaster contractor fraud.
Post-disaster contractor fraud costs hardworking Americans billions of dollars every year.
"Catastrophic events impact millions of Americans every year," said David J. Glawe, President and CEO of NICB. "From hurricanes to floods and everything in between, these events are often scary and life changing. But what makes these events even worse is what happens afterward as homeowners affected by these natural disasters are targeted by dishonest contractors. Often before the flood waters recede or rescue operations are complete, unscrupulous contractors prey upon individuals who are at their most vulnerable. Before hiring anyone, call your insurance company first. If you didn't request it, then you should reject it."
What opportunities ESG presents for insurers
It's no surprise that neither traditional nor digital insurers want to miss out on the opportunity ESG provides.
As the insurance market continues to embrace environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), both traditional and digital insurers are discovering that while there are many benefits to implementing ESG and related programs into their existing practices, it can also be a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it is widely understood that companies which prioritize and put ESG at the forefront of their business are often the same companies that promote long-term financial health, reflect a resiliency to risk and deliver value to their investors. In fact, a recent study conducted by PwC found that 85% of companies understand that ESG will have a direct impact on their business. So why are some still dragging their feet when it comes to implementing ESG?
Robert Paxton, Head Of Strategy And Business Development – Global, Charles Taylor Group
Swiss Re decides to leave Net-Zero Insurance Alliance
Reinsurer Swiss Re on Monday became the latest major company to leave a global climate alliance focused on reducing emissions that has faced growing political pressure in the United States.
Swiss Re said in an emailed statement it had decided to leave the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, without giving a reason for the decision.
The move to leave the NZIA, part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero set up by United Nations climate envoy Mark Carney, follows the exit of members Munich Re at the end of March and Zurich Insurance and Hannover in April.
“Our commitment to our sustainability strategy remains unchanged,” Swiss Re said in an emailed statement.
A spokesperson declined further comment.
While Zurich had said it was leaving to focus on helping customers in the transition to a low-carbon economy, Munich Re said it was leaving because of anti-trust concerns.
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