We regularly curate the latest news and insights to create the largest platform for knowledge-sharing and development within the world’s insurance industry.
Covid-19 has accelerated online shopping and customer convenience has become critical. But even before COVID, Wolt, Zoom, and current consumer habits, all the signs were there, way before the race for digitalization. In fact, shortly after the emergence of social media in 2003-2004, businesses realized its potential and started utilizing it for marketing and business purposes.
Over the past few years, insurers reexamined their strategies amid new demands and increasingly digital customer interactions, with underwriting departments, in particular, experiencing waves of changes. Now, new research shows the results of insurers’ efforts in transforming their underwriting businesses, and the small commercial segment is entering a new phase of automation.
While ransomware attacks continue to dominate headlines, another type of cyber risk is on the rise: social engineering.
The pace of change has quickened over the last few years in the insurance industry. Driven by competition from Insurtechs and global tech giants such as Amazon; insurers, brokers and managing general agents (MGAs) have found themselves at the heart of a technology whirlwind – exploring how innovations like cloud core system architectures, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning could help them get the most out of their data for the benefit of customers.
Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance released The State of Digital in Independent Insurance Agencies, which highlights how digitization is necessary to stay relevant, but most agencies have slowed adoption of digital tools since 2020.
According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud and its most recent report estimating the economic impact of insurance fraud in the U.S., the estimated yearly cost related to insurance fraud has increased from $80 billion in 1995 to $308 billion in 2022. That is a staggering number –that the consumer absorbs in the form of increased premiums – to the tune of around $3,700 per year for the average U.S. family.
Commercial lines property and casualty insurance holding company, W. R. Berkley, has been making plans and positioning itself to take advantage of rising prices in the property catastrophe arena, with the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), W. Robert Berkley, saying that it could become a meaningful part of what the firm does in the short run.
Mobile technology and innovative apps are key elements in the ongoing digital transformation of the insurance industry.
Business has always had innovation, but innovations seem to come in waves.
With inflation currently remaining above historical peak, Swiss Re’s Head of Northern, Central & Eastern Europe, Frank Reichelt, discussed with Reinsurance News about what coping mechanisms the company have had to adapt to keep ahead.
At its 10th Allianz Motor Day, Allianz addressed the question of how sustainable car insurance can be, calling for an increase in so-called “green repairs” to vehicles.
Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, today announced the formation of Ferian Re, an independent Bermuda-based Class 3B reinsurer that will provide capacity across Coalition’s cyber programs.
Insurers need to rethink their approach to innovation. The speed of change in technology, an evolving competitive landscape, increased customer expectations, and the new reality of a permanent hybrid workforce have challenged insurers across all functions.
To outsiders, IBM may be best known for its once-ubiquitous electronic typewriters. In the 21st century, however, the company has evolved into a multinational computer technology and IT consulting business, and it is a major player in the insurance industry.
The analysis, sponsored by Socotra, found that the benefits of shorter time-to-market exceeded the costs by as much as 40 times.
Analysts at JP Morgan are confident that the reinsurance market will show further hardening in 2023, despite already seeing several years of prices increasing.
The global travel insurance market size is anticipated to reach USD 63.9 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2022 to 2030.
As we move into a new phase of innovation after the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, insurers need to look ahead to determine what their technology priorities should be today.
Over the past decade, auto insurers have introduced and continuously refined usage-based insurance programs. Powered by telematics technology, which transmits data in real-time (or close to it), UBI promises policyholders some more control over their insurance price in exchange for that data.
Meeting the risk management needs of today’s small businesses requires just as much finesse and sophistication as carriers tend to offer to large enterprises.
Senior executives are “certain” that cyber will become a prominent line of business for Swiss Re in the long term, even as the reinsurer opts to stay underweight in this class for the present moment, until more data becomes available.
Today’s property and casualty insurance programs are combatting a number of challenges.
Greg Case, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of brokerage Aon, believes that the insurance and reinsurance industry is faced with a “generational opportunity” to make a difference.
Businesses are juggling a lot right now. First there was the COVID-19 pandemic, then global supply issues. An economic recession, labor market issues, rising inflation and other geopolitical headwinds soon followed.
Results of New Research Reveal Differences – from Gen Z to the Silent Generation – to Help Agents and Brokers Build Trust, Connection and Credibility.
Nonprofit organizations play an important role in our communities, enriching lives, protecting vulnerable populations and environments, and providing volunteer and financial support to countless other worthy causes. Many nonprofit organizations, however, are struggling amid the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, facing greater demand for services while also experiencing staffing challenges, increased expenses and declines in revenue.
Aon plc AON recently set up a Strategy and Technology Group (STG), which will function under the leadership of Colin Forrest. It aims to benefit property & casualty, life insurance and reinsurance clients by offering various insight and software solutions.
Many insurance companies are not well prepared for the risks ahead, according to a 2022 cybersecurity benchmarking study. In fact, 31% of insurance organizations feel they are not well prepared for the threat landscape they face today.
Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have opted to maintain their negative view on the global reinsurance sector, but have said there are encouraging signs that the market could finally be facing a turnaround.
In a latest report, French reinsurance agency SCOR has addressed the potential challenges for the market amidst the rising concern of cyber-attacks on digital supply chains.
According to Krishnamurthy, insurers are acknowledging the staying power of insurtech and its valuable ability to disrupt the insurance industry. Insurtech companies are, however, typically founded to target a specific pain point for insurers – and Krishnamurthy believes that this may no longer be enough.
After strong growth in H2 2021, the number of deals in Europe dropped to 67 in H1 2022 from 74 in the previous six months. The UK was the most active country for M&A, followed by France, the Netherlands and Spain.
The economic viability of the insurance industry’s current business model has been under discussion for several years.
The insurance business is undergoing digitization, and that, in many ways, is fundamentally changing how the business is done.
In recent years, e-mobility has achieved a breakthrough in many markets around the world. The question is no longer if electric vehicles (EVs) are coming and will replace traditional powertrains, but rather how they are coming and when they will take over the largest share of the global powertrain mix. For details on how to differentiate between non-plug-in electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles, see below.
S&P Global Ratings report that persistent pressures from inflation, tightening financial conditions and slower economic growth in China and other markets are likely to cause constraints on operating conditions for property/casualty (P/C) insurers in emerging markets.
Poor claims experiences could put up to $170 billion of insurance premiums at risk in the next five years, with process inefficiencies in underwriting potentially risking another $160 billion over the same period, according to a new report from Accenture.
Cowbell Cyber, a provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized businesses, has announced the launch of its product on the Amwins Professional Lines portal.
In today’s environment, marked by sky-high inflation, market volatility and overall business complexity, insurers are working tirelessly to assess and manage new levels of risk.
An increase in inflationary pressures such as the rise in gas prices, the acceleration of extreme climate events and the soaring cost of manufactured goods have caused insurance rates to rise to record levels this year.
The firm claims that Anthemis led the round, which was also supported by SoftBank Group’s SB Opportunity Fund, Banco Popular, the largest bank in Puerto Rico, Consorcio, 305 Ventures, a Miami-based venture capital firm, and first-check investor Divergent Capital.
The recent Qorus Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards highlighted the world’s leading insurance changemakers. The winners of each category stood up against tough competition with initiatives that were not only innovative, but effective and with measurable impact.
Innovation in the insurance industry is not just important, it is essential. A more dynamic market has meant insurers are venturing into non-traditional sectors as well as looking for more advanced ways of serving existing markets. The industry must ramp up its innovation efforts if it is to tackle increasingly threatening risks, such as climate events and cyber-attacks.
Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg said the insurer is seeing favorable returns, but additional rate is needed to “keep pace with loss costs, which are hardly benign.”
Climate change has led to more intense wildfires, flooding and hurricanes – and they’re only projected to get worse. But major insurance carriers are often hesitant to insure customers in disaster-prone areas.
The European electric vehicle (EV) market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with 2 million electric car sales in the first quarter of 2022, a rise of 75% compared to the same period in 2021.
Developed by a senior team of actuaries and data scientists at Akur8, the objective of this new paper is to familiarize practitioners with Penalized regression as an extension of established actuarial techniques, instead of considering it one among several new modeling techniques from the Machine Learning and Data Science literature. Akur8 is excited to publish this information in an effort to help expand the literature available to the actuary and insurance community on this important topic.
Embedded insurance is a growing focus area of digital distribution across the insurance industry. By making insurance available in conjunction with other products on existing online services, customers can easily add insurance protection that fits their needs and budget as part of a customer journey linked to an established need.
Embedded insurance, a way for carriers to sell policies to customers at the point of sale of consumer goods, is quickly evolving, with “billions of dollars of potential” in areas like auto, home, and business insurance, according to an executive with Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer.
The term “digital innovation” is used a lot. Within the insurance sector, it can describe everything from the digitization of a paper-based form to the digitalization of an entire workflow. It is often used interchangeably with “digital disruption” and the transformational change brought about by new entrants like insurtechs.
Insurers and insurance providers in the U.S. continue to see a number of key trends that are reshaping the way industry professionals analyze risk.
While the market for cyber insurance is expected to remain challenging “for the foreseeable future,” there is optimism for rate stabilization as organization focus on cyber hygiene, according to broker Marsh.
The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of the insurance industry. Driven by industry trends, customer expectations, and regulatory pressures, digital innovation has resulted in the creation of a new space called InsurTech that is aimed at the seamless delivery of insurance products.
“Awareness of insurance and its value has never been higher,” said Lloyd’s of London CEO John Neal, as he addressed delegates at the Marsh McLennan Rising Professionals’ Global Forum, referring to how recent events have shaped “the most uncertain landscape seen for generations.”
Aon’s latest global M&A Risk in Review report finds reasons for optimism in 2022, but the broker cautions dealmakers that headwinds persist in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Insurtechs determined to disrupt the insurance industry have not succeeded so far, but a future wave of insurtechs could emerge to achieve a similar goal, carrier executives said recently.
The paradigm shift from traditional to digital means of carrying out operations is leading the industries through a pathway of growth and development. In the new era of technological advancements, the insurance sector is in the midst of a radical, digitally infused shake-up.
One of the key drivers of digital transformation at the origin of the success of the new economy is the customer experience. It is now becoming one of the spearheads of the digitization of the insurance industry. The journey? The product? The touch points? Which factors really improve the loyalty of these 2.0 consumers?
The personal lines segment is known for leading the charge with innovations and technologies – a reputation that only strengthened during the pandemic.
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) now offers a new way for auto insurers, automakers, rideshare, fleet, wireless, and safety companies to automatically engage with their customers through its DriveWell platform and, in the event of a crash, would automatically gather sensor information for collision repairers and insurers to reference.
Ellen Robles shares how Employee Resources Groups foster an inclusive environment and help build careers at AIG.
Insurance has always been a data-driven business, from ancient waybills recorded on papyrus under the Code of Hammurabi, to the charters of the first property insurers after the Great Fire of London.
The insurance industry has reached a point where many executives are also technologists, even if their title has a different designation. What’s driving this, in part, is multiple disciplines working together to further technological progress.
New Capco global insurance survey identifies clear opportunities to enhance consumer education, digital experiences and transparency.
Allstate protection plans accounted for more than 140 million (or nearly three in four) of Allstate’s global in-force policies last year, and growth is set to continue, Allstate Protection Plan president and CEO Karl Wiley told Insurance Business.
Speaking at the recent S&P insurance conference, Chubb Ltd. CEO Evan Greenberg says insurance companies that have declared net zero targets are overpromising and leave themselves vulnerable to litigation.
Tesla has begun rolling out its insurance plans in a handful of U.S. states over the past few years, as one more piece of the company’s growing ecosystem. While it’s still in its infancy, Tesla Insurance could be crucial to keeping rates low and driver safety high, as detailed by a few of the automaker’s executives in recent months.
The macroeconomic challenges of recent years have shined a spotlight on the need for insurance companies to adapt to an increasingly digitized marketplace.
Crypto assets and quantum computing have been flagged by analysts at Swiss Re as two of the most significant emerging risks for insurers and reinsurers, with the potential to create new risks within the global financial system.
Israel’s insurtech ecosystem continues to grow and develop. Because insurance affects all facets of our lives, it is a multi-faceted industry that includes many nuts and bolts. Here is a complete map of the Israeli insurance / insurtech ecosystem:
Though insurtechs are recognized as a disruptive force in a long-established industry, less is known about the actual technologies these companies are using to differentiate themselves from traditional competitors.
Tokio Marine HCC – Cyber & Professional Lines Group (CPLG) offers hands-on assistance and a thoughtful, tech-driven approach to underwriting. Its success has landed it on IBA’s 2022 list of 5-Star Cyber Insurers.
Tokio Marine HCC – Cyber & Professional Lines Group (CPLG) offers hands-on assistance and a thoughtful, tech-driven approach to underwriting. Its success has landed it on IBA’s 2022 list of 5-Star Cyber Insurers.
The now familiar industry story is that big insurance companies with their juggernaut size and legacy technology find it very difficult to undergo a digital transformation to unlock all their data and improve customer service.
The demand for embedded financial services has been seen across the industry, with the insurance sector being no exception. Embedded insurance has the potential to remove the hassle from a purchase, create tailored products, allow the insurer total control of what they want to sell, and help close the ‘protection gap’.
Since I started my career three decades ago, there’s always been this paradoxical rhetoric about the insurance industry’s risk averseness, mainly stemming from the absence of a flurry of innovative products, services and processes.
A new report from Swiss Re states that reinsurers and insurers can play a key role in the development of the hydrogen economy through risk management knowledge and transfer.
Customer satisfaction in digital offerings from insurers declined this year, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study.
Differentiated products and services are key to growth among life and annuity carriers.
Tech-driven innovation is fundamentally reshaping the insurance industry. Emerging capabilities including telematics, artificial intelligence and machine learning have transformed nearly every aspect of the insurance value chain and continue to create new omnichannel experiences for customers.
Elon Musk took a moment this week to talk about something other than Twitter: his carmaker’s effort to cut out the middlemen and lower premiums.
Jamie Hale is the CEO and co-founder of Ladder. He has also served as a partner at Aldenwood Capital and Jasper Ridge/Oak Hill Investment Management.
Allianz SE says car-shipping incidents are now a major cause of loss for the insurance industry after a cargo ship with about 4,000 Volkswagen AG vehicles caught fire and sank in the Atlantic two months ago.
As the InsurTech industry approaches the next wave of innovation, experts say this could mean navigating rough waters.
Some of the most important questions insurance company CEOs ask their reserving actuaries are: “How much adverse development are we experiencing?” “What is driving these results?” and “Are any parts of the business heading into trouble?”
Some of the most important questions insurance company CEOs ask their reserving actuaries are: “How much adverse development are we experiencing?” “What is driving these results?” and “Are any parts of the business heading into trouble?”
Hanson encourages professionals to “never give up learning. There will always be someone out there who can do it better, more efficiently, or in a newer way. Your openness to new talent, new perspectives and new ideas will make you a better professional, teammate, and friend.”
Insurance executives are recognizing the power of innovation to accelerate the pace of company change. Yet for innovation to deliver long-term value, it must become embedded in a carrier’s DNA.
Millennials will constitute a significant chunk of the insurance market for the next few decades, and how they engage and make decisions differs from previous generations.
There wasn’t much discussion about car insurance at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting this year, but when the subject came up, Warren Buffett acknowledged the continued dominance of a competitor, a mutual assurance.
AXA shareholders approved all resolutions submitted to them by the board of directors at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting Thursday.
Elon Musk trumpeted Tesla’s early inroads into automotive insurance last week. Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate owns Geico, has cast serious doubt on whether Tesla and other automakers can break into the industry and turn a profit.
Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) has selected 12 startups to collaborate on novel ways to serve customers, create more frequent meaningful touchpoints with them, and challenge the boundaries of insurance.
It’s not hard to understand and forecast why usage based insurance (UBI) — otherwise known as behaviour-based insurance or pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) — is becoming popular among North American drivers and rest of the world.
Nowhere is the insurance gap more pressing than in the case of flood insurance.
Tesla is “trying to turn a nightmare into a dream with Tesla Insurance,” chief executive Elon Musk said Wednesday.
Harsh market conditions, innovative entrants, and demanding clients are a few forces driving transformation in the insurance industry, but every challenge presents an opportunity.
What makes a true digital payment experience in insurance? Although the past few years have been characterized by rapid digital payment options, the real game-changer has been the focus of market leaders to embrace the transformation of the actual payment experience – both for premium and claim payments.
Insurers have made significant investments in improving their data assets over time. Large-scale IT projects are replacing legacy systems, data lakes and warehouses are being built and new policy and claims administration systems have been installed. All with the promise of improved data quality and greater data availability.
The COVID-19 pandemic has likely led to more distracted driving. April marks Distracted Driving Awareness Month and insurers have released data and studies that reveal what behaviors are leading to unsafe roadways.
For any life insurer, future success means resonating with demographically diverse generations of new consumers where they live—and that’s increasingly in a digital world.
In this blog series, we’ve looked at the latest entry in the only longitudinal survey of underwriters in North America. The study, which is run in partnership with Accenture and The Institutes, provides vital context for tracking the trajectory of underwriting, which is the heart of any insurance carrier’s business.
Since the onset of the pandemic, many businesses across all industries stayed afloat by fundamentally understanding the way people shop and purchase and transforming their processes to meet that need.
Challenger firms are helping to change the industry, but incumbents will take the rewards, says John Chambers.
Covington & Burling LLP attorneys suggest how the insurance industry might respond to the unique risks that are sure to arise from commerce in the metaverse.
It’s been just over two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. As a result, we’ve seen major shifts in how people expect to work, play, shop and take on risks. It’s become clear that many of these new expectations are here to stay with varying degrees of impact on all industries.
The frantic pace of insurance industry M&A activity that emerged in 2021 shows no signs of slowing down, as firms look to expand their operations and take advantage of new growth opportunities in a variety of areas.
Insurtech has become a major part of the insurance market, with record-breaking amounts spent on technology-based innovations that can revolutionise the sector. It’s an area ripe for investment – with more than $1bn (£760m) spent every month on investment into insurtech startups in 2021, according to reinsurance broker Wills Re.
As the world constantly evolves and changes, so too does the life insurance industry, which is preparing for a multitude of challenges, particularly in three areas: interest rates, regulatory mandates and technology (software, underwriting tools and distribution platforms).
Survey indicates pandemic may have accelerated shifts in buyer preferences for a wider array of coverage, service, and distribution options.
Lloyd’s, the world’s leading marketplace for commercial, corporate and speciality risk solutions, has today announced the next eleven InsurTech start-ups that will join the eighth cohort of the Lloyd’s Lab in its ten-week programme, which brings together InsurTechs, insurers, and brokers to test out new, innovative solutions. The teams will be working to create insurance products to address the issues and challenges facing the Lloyd’s market.
Is adequate risk transfer in the face of rapid technological change even possible?
The vehicle salvage process has long been the inefficient, paper-based and nearly-forgotten tail-end of an auto insurer’s coverage obligation. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
According to this report the industry is expected to grow by 31.9% on annual basis to reach US$56,979.8 million in 2022. According to this report the industry is expected to grow by 31.9% on annual basis to reach US$56,979.8 million in 2022.
In 2020, while both metros and non-metros reported nearly the same number of covid-19 claims, the trend changed in 2021 as non-metros reported 17% more claims than metros.
Lloyd’s of London has said it is working with the UK government to implement sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine as fast as possible, including cancelling Russian firms’ insurance cover.
As PWC notes in its report, Top Insurance Industry Issues 2021: “More change has occurred in the industry in the past year than in the previous several years combined and its pace is only accelerating.” These changes are necessary for insurance agencies to scale, add new risk products, and provide a modern, digital-first customer experience.
Insurers and reinsurers holding large books of East European business are being urged to stress test their portfolios against the threat of Russian and Ukrainian cyber attacks.
It’s 3 am, you are thinking about your client meeting – is your data in order? If it is in your inbox, various word templates or on paper documents, it’s not a surprise that you are awake at this hour.
As property and casualty insurance carriers look to reduce growing loss ratios in 2022, many have shifted their focus away from growing their customer bases and toward increasing their profits. But for carrier marketers, the path to efficient customer acquisition isn’t as simple as merely cutting budgets.
Over the past few years, the economy has reeled from inflation, labor shortages, global conflict, and, yes, the Covid-19 pandemic. Even before the uncertainty of today’s climate, women were grappling with unique setbacks: earning lower wages, shouldering the bulk of unpaid labor, and facing more student loan debt than men.
Now is an excellent time for people in the insurance industry to start studying what trends may become prominent during 2022.
The insurer has redeployed finance employees to work on acquisitions or product development, CFO says
For consumers who have found that costlier insurance is just one of the expenses that make electric cars trickier to love, this is the year when relief may be coming.
CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its 2021 CoreLogic Climate Change. Catastrophe Report, revealing over 14.5 million single- and multifamily homes were impacted by the largest natural catastrophe events of 2021, with an estimated $56.92 billion in property damage.
When Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz co-founded Accel, a core principle of their approach to investing was a thesis-based method called a “Prepared Mind”. Referencing the Louis Pasteur quote “chance only favours the prepared mind”, this method remains integral to how we approach, learn about and invest in new opportunities today.
As consumers, we want a personalized experience whenever we shop online, stream videos, or even get a cup of coffee. And we want the companies we do business with to anticipate our needs, and, increasingly, to reflect the values we hold dear.
2021 was a historic year for investment in insurtechs. Funding reached a record-breaking $15 billion in Q3, according to Forrester – more funding than in 2019 and 2020 combined. As this booming market evolves, the value of innovation by insurtech startups is becoming clear.
Last month Fitch Ratings held its 2022 Insurance Insight Series, and the first event on deck was a webinar about how the insurance sector will evolve over the next year.
The insurance industry struggles to create economic profit. But amid COVID-19’s enduring changes, opportunities await.
The insurance industry struggles to create economic profit. But amid COVID-19’s enduring changes, opportunities await.
Insurance carriers focused on building alliances with insurtechs last year as they explored emerging technologies and capabilities, rather than making outright acquisitions.
The InsurTech ecosystem in Asia is relatively smaller as compared to that in Europe and North America. However, the InsurTech industry in Asia has witnessed a significant boom in 2020. According to Venture Scanner, Asia’s largest InsurTech hub is Singapore, followed by Indian cities Mumbai and Gurgaon.
Charles Taylor, has entered into a partnership with Fraud Keeper (FK), acquiring a majority share of the company. FK’s automated fraud detection software triages, validates and fast-tracks genuine claims. We present a cutting-edge SaaS platform based on automation and artificial
Wouldn’t it be nice, if, instead of relying on adjusters and restoration companies to surmise how much damage was actually caused by a water leak, an insurer could stop the leak almost before it starts.
What makes an insurance carrier an insurance carrier and not a generic financial services organization? This is more than a philosophical thought experiment.
Insurers that are able to make the best use of data are already winning market share, improving key ratios and generating superior risk intelligence, according to a report from the Capgemini Research Institute. These organizations are considered data masters.
These days customers are looking for a customized insurance experience, agents are looking for better strategies to engage with customers, and carriers are looking for the most current data to make choices about their products.
Bolttech, an insurance technology unicorn backed by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, is considering raising $200 million to $300 million in fresh funds this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Joanne Butler, Head of Product Marketing and Pre Sales, Charles Taylor InsureTech featured in Insurance Day, discussing how important data quality is when producing sustainable underwriting.
Insurers must be smarter about how they use data, make bold digital moves to meet consumer expectations, and take a strategic approach to process automation.
Dawn Miller is to join Lloyd’s as its new commercial director in a role set to begin in Q2 2022.
The disruptions created by the pandemic, natural disasters and a shifting workforce in the past year have challenged insurers to respond to market uncertainties with speed – at scale.
It’s been a hit and miss for Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) in Canada since it was first introduced about a decade ago, but brokers believe it will survive well past the pandemic-induced uptake of the past two years.
Fitch Ratings expects a rise in the number of partnerships between traditional insurance companies and InsurTechs.
The telematics industry has grown significantly in the past years. And this is due to the increased demand for advanced telemetry solutions that provide improved safety, increased efficiency and reduced expenses.
Key trends that will drive digital transformation in the insurance market in 2022 include, trackable hybrid working, increased customer demand for digital services and more M&A activity.
Blockchain-based insurance is expected to transform claims administration, according to a new report by Juniper Research. Specifically, researchers expect blockchain-based insurance claims to exceed $10 billion in cost savings globally by 2024, up from $1.1 billion in 2021.
Insurtech is no stranger to hype but with 2020 and 2021 bringing far more change than anyone bargained for, the industry has seen a fresh round of predictions and speculation.
2021 has been another groundbreaking year in the advancement of technology across many industries. According to the Willis Re Q3 Quarterly Insurtech report, more than US$10.5 billion was poured into insurtechs globally in the first 9 months of 2021 alone, with expectations that this investment trend will continue to increase in the coming years.
Digital and talent transformation accelerating as insurers adapt for postpandemic growth.
Change and disruption are constants in today’s world, but they continue to gain intensity and breadth across the industry.
High-tech companies like Israel-based Lemonade stormed Wall Street promising to reinvent the staid insurance industry, but their plummeting share prices tell a tale of disappointment.
The digital insurance platform conveniently connects mortgage and real estate companies’ customers with homeowners’ and term life policies suited to their specific needs.
Accelerant, the insurtech empowering underwriters with superior risk exchange and data analytics coupled with long-term capacity commitments, today announced it has raised in excess of $190 million at a $2 billion pre-money valuation led by Eldridge, with participation from Deer Park, Marshall Wace, MS&AD Ventures, and others.
As customer demands change, placing greater emphasis on digital channels, insurers must consider how best to adapt their businesses and processes.
With third-party litigation funding reaching $17 billion in 2021, companies and their insurers are likely to see an uptick in social inflation in the years to come.
Sustainability is an issue of global importance, with unique implications for insurers.
Germany suffered its costliest natural disaster on record last year, as flash floods led to damages that vastly exceeded the amount covered by insurers.
Consolidation in the insurance brokerage space is expected to continue at a rapid pace through 2022, following a trend from the last 12 months where brokerage transactions drove the majority of announced insurance merger and acquisition (M&A) activity worldwide.
For decades now the insurance industry has been capitalizing on analytics to understand and predict risk when writing policies. But what if one of those disputed claims becomes a legal matter? Wouldn’t it be prudent for insurers to apply those same kinds of analytics to understand and predict legal exposure?
Disrupting a highly regulated and conservative industry was never going to be easy. Insurtech companies have attracted much less investment than peers targeting other parts of the financial sector.
The Asia-Pacific region’s insurtech industry predominantly consists of “less disruptive and more collaborative” start-ups complementing existing carriers rather than unconventional players seeking to unseat incumbents.
The Millennial and Gen Z populations desire a holistic customer experience—where digital offerings bring together other products and services to help the customer manage their lives.
Rosaline Chow Koo breaks down how CXA Group is working to make group insurance more profitable while simultaneously improving employees’ health and financial well-being.
The cyber risk landscape is likely to increase during 2022, according to an expert from Beazley.
The past two years have been tumultuous, to say the least. Two things we can all agree on is that life is not as predictable as we might hope and that change can happen faster than we think. The Covid-19 pandemic posed challenges for all industries across the world and the insurance space is no different.
The Asia-Pacific region’s insurtech industry predominantly consists of “less disruptive and more collaborative” start-ups complementing existing carriers rather than unconventional players seeking to unseat incumbents. This is what S&P Global Market Intelligence’s analysis of the biggest insurtech companies in the region has found.
The life insurance and annuity industry proved resilient in 2021, even in the face of COVID-19 and the delta variant.
For years, technology has been transforming the insurance industry, and that trend will only accelerate in 2022.
Insurers should expect big players in mainstream tech to influence the property/casualty industry during 2022.
For many of us, ringing in the new year means setting resolutions for better health and well-being. Whether in business or our personal lives, we must consider the scenarios that may threaten or enable our success. The insurance industry is no different.
For years, digital transformation has been the talk of the insurance industry. In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many insurers made bold advances in automating core processes, adopting new technology and expanding their digital selling and collaboration capabilities.
Before cyber insurance can truly become a mainstay of the digital economy – as a widely available, widely affordable, consistently priced product – these problems need addressing.
It was great to see how so many companies showed incredible adaptability during COVID-19. While initially, we thought a lot of the insurance market would be at a loss as to what to do next, instead they were able to show resilience relatively quickly and technology was the enabler of that.
From the rise of embedded insurance products to record-breaking InsurTech financing, 2021 was a remarkable year for the global insurance industry.
Increased deal activity and the use of M&A insurance has led to a record rise in the number of notifications, according to a new report by Howden M&A, an international M&A insurance broker. However, the COVID-19 outbreak did not result in a surge in the volume of claims or the number of coronavirus-related break events that had initially been anticipated.
The industry is on the verge of a seismic, tech-driven shift. A focus on four areas can position carriers to embrace this change.
2021 has been a record year for insurtech funding. As of Q3 2021, more than US$10.5 billion had been raised by companies in the space year-to-date (YTD), surpassing 2020’s total of US$7.1 billion by nearly 48%, data from insurance advisory firm Willis Towers Watson show.
2021 ended up being a bumper year for M&A deals and also for M&A insurers.
The gap between the best-performing cyber insurers and the worst-performing will widen in 2022, according to the CEO of cyber risk analytics specialist, CyberCube.
There are some negative phenomena that are foreseen for the following year, which are part of the ravages that this pandemic has left.
It is difficult to imagine where digital business operations would be today if it wasn’t for the catalyst that is the pandemic. For nearly two years, businesses across industries, and especially within insurance, accelerated digital transformation plans to adapt to remote access for customers and employees.
Building a culture of innovation doesn’t happen passively—it requires commitment and careful nurturing.
ISG Pulse of the Insurance Industry survey finds 42% report security vulnerabilities increasing along with digitalization
“Our overarching goal is to facilitate the Lloyd’s market to be the preeminent corporate and specialty insurance and reinsurance market in the world.” That’s how Patrick Tiernan, Lloyd’s chief of markets, introduced the Lloyd’s 2022 capital plans.
No one knows what 2022 will bring for travelers. But if anyone has an idea, it’s Sasha Gainullin, the CEO of the travel insurance company battleface. I asked Gainullin about what lies ahead next year. Here are his predictions.
The pandemic turned everything upside down in 2020, and the dust hasn’t settled yet. Will 2022 mark a return to normal life? Don’t bet on it! Expect the changes we’ve seen to continue accelerating innovation and technology in all aspects of insurance. Here are 10 key trends and predictions to watch in 2022.
A robust supply of capital combined with growing ranks of new investors is driving record investment into the insurtech sector.
Life insurers paid out more than $90 billion in death benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the highest single-year rise since the 1918 influenza epidemic, data from the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) has revealed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be able to maneuver around the business world pretty well, but when it comes to challenges that are auto insurance-specific, there may be some hiccups along the way.
What should you do if a forest-based carbon offset project you have invested in burns down? This is not simply a dystopian hypothetical question. It has already happened in the U.S. and it is expected to become a more common occurrence as climate-induced wildfire risks increase in the coming decades. But could a potential answer to this problem be to simply “make an insurance claim”?
This week, we spoke with Pierangelo Campopiano, CEO of Smile Direct, about the possibilities offered up by fundamentally reimagining insurance distribution. We discuss digital ecosystems, gameification of insurance and the potential for ‘freemium’ insurance products.
Investment in technology will ramp up in the coming year, impacting every aspect of insurance companies’ operations, from internal processes to the products and solutions they deliver to customers.
Every day, it seems a hot, new insurtech is funded and ready to partner with insurance carriers. Insurers shouldn’t allow their risk-averse nature or concerns about a potentially difficult integration road ahead to lead them to ignore upstart insurtechs.
Several insurtech companies including Hippo and Metromile, amongst others, have merged with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as a path to being traded publicly on stock markets. This approach became more popular in the past two years, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to companies seeking quick, efficient paths to growth.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, cyber risk is always following you. From phishing attacks sent via email and opened on your phone to someone gaining access to your network using a smart appliance in your home, cyber risk is a growing and ever present risk.
Insurance CEOs have a big strategic challenge: successful companies of the future will look very different than they do today.
In this series, we’ve been looking at the value digital twin data can bring to the insurance business. Specifically, I see there being four main areas where insurers could take advantage of digital twins to make material improvements.
Digital Insurance spoke with Thomas Kang, the North American head of cyber technology and media for Allianz Global Corporate & Speciality about cyber insurance trends and challenges ahead for the industry.
Underwriter specializing in liability Medical & Commercial International (MCI) has announced the launch of revolutionary Communicable Disease Liability (CDL) coverage.
Digital twin data can bring immense value to the insurance business. Specifically, there are four main areas where insurers could take advantage of digital twins to make material improvements.
The words “insurance” and “innovation” are not typically used together. Today’s leaders are working to change that.
According to Zurich’s Chief Claims Officer Ian Thompson, the company is seeing evidence that consumers are choosing to file in-person claims rather than use the digital options available to them.
Despite seeming reluctant to make sweeping changes, the insurance industry continues to be at the forefront of adopting digital solutions.
When we say “core systems” in our industry, we are typically referring to the critical software applications that are core to an insurer’s business operations, mainly the policy, claims and billing management functions.
The cyber insurance industry experienced 33.5% growth in 2020 alone as companies have sought to mitigate the cyber risk presented by the new reality of the constantly growing cost of a data breach.
2021 saw widespread vaccine deployment and easing of pandemic-related restrictions—important catalysts that helped rebuild confidence among people and businesses alike, while fueling economic recovery.
As insurers hold onto some of the digital solutions that were adopted because of the pandemic, it’s critical to understand the balance between digital strategies and boots on the ground tactics for underwriting.
The convergence of insurance and digital technology — “insurtech” — has transformed the industry. Although insurance companies initially feared insurtechs would whittle away at their market share, partnering with these disruptive tech firms is now widely seen as the catalyst necessary to spur growth and accelerate the development of new insurance products. But challenges remain.
The global insurance industry will reach a new record in premiums by mid-2022, exceeding $7 trillion, according to a new forecast by Swiss Re Institute.
If insurers completely understand the implications of customer trends, competitive pressures, and technology leap-frogging, they will be justifiably anxious about their future—unless they prepare.
The auto insurance industry is at a turning point. After navigating the unwelcome effects of a global pandemic, carriers and collision repairers are eagerly awaiting a return to “normal.”
The $500M agreement gives Lemonade the ability to market in 49 states and to complement its recent auto insurance business launch, but the deal may foreshadow an even more promising combination.
Insurtech funding reached $5.3 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and has surpassed $15 billion for the year, according to a report from Forrester Research Inc.
Insurers have been slower to adopt digital twins than their counterparts in other industries.
Carriers don’t have to be the only beneficiaries of InsurTech advancements. A similar relationship can also be applied to the smaller independent agents and brokers.
People don’t trust insurers. We’ve probably all had to contact an insurer about a problem only to find it’s not covered in the small print. Rates are usually fixed, and sometimes unfair. There may also be hurdles in approving payment once a claim is made.
As the impacts of climate change rise and interest in renewable energies peaks, sustainability is becoming a central priority for businesses across all sectors – but insurers have the edge in terms of providing long term solutions.
The huge sums being invested in insurtech have yet to disrupt the insurance sector in the same way that fintechs have changed banking, says Germany’s BaFin markets watchdog.
The insurance industry is said to lag in the era of digitalisation. Insurers were told to ramp up digital efforts in order to meet rising demand during the pandemic – and it turns out this was the push they needed to break free from traditional broker-based insurance.
Looking toward 2022, health insurers are going to be wrestling with all the ways COVID has transformed the health insurance industry and what it means for coverage, pricing and patient care for the years to come.
Small business customers are demanding more service from their agents, but with the right technologies and carrier partnerships, agencies can elevate their customer service game without adding to their workloads.
Rumours of Amazon’s intention to disrupt the insurance industry have, it turns out, not been greatly exaggerated at all, and the technology giant’s plan to enter the small and medium-sized UK business customer segment have put players on edge across the insurance industry.
Insurance—an industry known for veteran brands and a cautious approach to risk—might seem a strange fit for the move-fast-and-break-things ethos of the startup world, but that hasn’t dissuaded venture capitalists from scaling up.
InsurTech is an enormous industry whose global market size is projected to reach US$ 11940 million by 2027. Ever since the first insurtech startups tested the waters in 2010, it has been hotting up and on a constant path of massive development.
Global investment in insurance technology (insurtech) start-ups totalled $10.5 billion in the first nine months of 2021, a record high level for the period, reinsurance broker Willis Re said on Wednesday.
The two publicly traded full-stack personal auto insurance companies recently disclosed plans to further expand their distribution networks into the independent agent channel.
Most plan members want to see more personalized product recommendations and more personalized assistance to understand their coverage and maximize their benefits plan.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global insurance industry dropped by 3% in the first half of 2021, with 197 deals completed worldwide, down from 206 in the second half of 2020, and 201 at the same point last year, according to Clyde & Co’s Insurance Growth Report mid-year update.
As the insurance industry adapts to shifting market conditions, some roles will likely need to be transformed as well. Learn how insurers could multiply value creation by modernising the underwriting function now.
The news of the death of the agent has been greatly exaggerated. Agents control about 80% of the homeowner market and 65% of the personal auto market today because most customers still prefer to do business with agents.
We need to examine the insurer relationship to distributors in light of the customer mindset: What is changing with the customer and how they take in information? How do insurers and distributors adapt?
Pikl, founded in 2016, has developed a suite of flexible insurance products designed for the sharing economy. For our Future50 Europe, we caught up CEO Louise Birritteri (pictured centre).
Insurance in Kenya and Africa at large remains a marginal product, with levels of penetration across the continent half the world average as a percentage of GDP, and premiums per capita 11-fold lower than the world average, according to a recent report by McKinsey and Co.
Technology will help usher insurance into the future, but it will not fundamentally change the industry, according to Evan Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Chubb Ltd.
Over the next decade, the fully tech-enabled insurer will bear little resemblance to today’s organisation. Five trends, individually and in combination, will have a seismic impact.
YuLife was recently featured as part of our Future50 Europe. We caught up with co-founder & CEO Sammy Rubin to talk about how he is modernising the life insurance industry and helping customers live healthier lives.
Companies making M&A deals outperformed the World Index by an average of 2.3 percentage points during the first nine months of 2021, driven largely by strong performance in the first two quarters of the year, Willis Towers Watson said.
This brief remark should scare the bejezus out of every insurance-industry executive: “Who knows more about your vehicle than the people who manufactured it?” said Andrew Rose, president of GM’s newly formed OnStar Insurance Services.
Small businesses that have experienced property loss or damage rely on their insurance companies to give them the funds they need to get back on their feet and stay in operation.
Climate change has returned to the top of the list of biggest concerns for insurers as the rollout of the vaccine and the gradual lifting of health restrictions reduce fears of a pandemic in many countries.
Traction is building for parametric insurance products and the innovative solution they represent to the substantial economic losses and adverse social impacts that natural catastrophes have on affected communities.
Despite rising coverage demand brought about by the global pandemic, customers are being left rather unsatisfied with the convenience, advice and reach offered by their existing insurance providers, creating opportunities for new players and insurtech firms, according to Capgemini and Efma’s World Insurtech Report 2021.
Digital bank execs have been scratching their heads for years about how to lure users into premium subscriptions. They’ve tried shiny cards, exclusive features, and even cashback.
A new insurance industry research study reveals that insurance carriers saw an increase in consumer digital activity across both underwriting (77%) and claims (76%) during the coronavirus pandemic and indicated this recent increase in digital activity has in turn spurred more identity fraud activity, according to 67% of survey respondents
Over the past two decades, the global re/insurance sector has experienced an increasing number of major natural catastrophes.
Few lines have been talked up in recent years quite like cyber. Indeed, Accenture has predicted $25bn of growth in annual cyber premiums globally by 2025 – or a 500% increase on today’s ~$5bn GWP.
It’s not every day the insurance sector is presented with an opportunity that is both an untapped source of income and the chance to offer ethically-centred solutions to communities in need.
A growing number of Gen Z professionals are open to sharing the data from their smart home devices with insurers, in return for a better customer experience or discounts, according to a new survey by Capco.
Younger drivers are spurring interest in telematics.
Those insurance industry disruptors known as insurtechs are more than happy to coexist with brokers.
Insurtechs that specialize in cyber risk can take numerous paths — with their future dependent at least in part on their investors’ patience — but not all will survive, experts say.
Identifying future trends and engaging in risk partnerships on new technologies are at the heart of Munich Re’s strategy
Willis Towers Watson has around $5 billion of capital which could used for acquisitions, its president and incoming chief executive said on Thursday, as the insurance broker prepares for a future as a standalone company.
Property and casualty reinsurers have displayed underwriting discipline during this year’s renewals, continuing with rate corrections that began several years ago, despite the pressures of abundant capacity. Prices continued to harden during the first half of 2021 – albeit with slightly less momentum than last year – in a trend that will likely continue into the January 2022 renewal season.
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