September 23, 2022
What: Inflation is probably not going away any time soon, and building flexibility into insurance products is going to be key for maintaining a healthy loss-ratio. Pricing is always going to be a primary lever to pull, but price changes can face regulatory challenges.
Why it matters: Yes, flexibility in response to a changing market is key; being able to launch new products quickly is one of the most powerful ways to maintain flexibility.
Read: Flexibility Is Key for Insurers Managing Inflationary Challenges
What: P&C insurers might be interested to know that jellyfish can damage personal watercraft. They can disrupt water-based businesses. They shut down 2-3 power stations per year by clogging water filtration systems. They have caused near meltdowns at nuclear power plants. These are just some of many risks insurers haven’t considered, and it’s why tech-enabled underwriting is needed.
Why it matters: This is a great example of unknown risk, and highlights the need for underwriters to bring in an ever-increasing number of data sources to the underwriting review process. Knowing what data is needed is a challenge in itself, and is part of an iterative product; you learn about a new risk, get data around it, and then adjust the price or introduce loss control accordingly.
Read: Faster Than We Can Learn: The Need for Digital Tech-Enabled Underwriting
What: LIMRA’s survey of global insurance executives shows that technology is the top ranked challenge, beating out growth, regulation, and interest-rate/market conditions. 37% of executives ranked technology as a top 3 challenge, which is up from the 18% it was in 2019.
Why it matters: Tech spend is crippling to insurers; the biggest carriers are spending far more than smaller carriers can afford and they’re creating a world of haves and have nots. To further complicate the issue, many carriers are trapped by their historical legacy investments, making it difficult for them to act. The good news is that there is better tech available at affordable costs for the carriers that are willing to change.
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