June 3, 2021
Trend Watch
In Q1 2021, personal and group health insurance had their worst quarter in over a decade.
What: Commercial lines had a great Q1 2021, but those highs were offset by the first decline in personal lines income since 2010, and the lowest Q1 growth of group health benefits in 13 years.
Why it matters: This is an interesting byproduct of people staying at home since the beginning of the pandemic. We expect new and personalized work-from-home coverages to emerge in response to the evolving workforce. If you’re interested in selling these new policies, reach out to us.
Read: The Highs, Low of Agency Q1 Profitability and the Post-Pandemic Path Forward: Reagan
Industry Challenge
Property insurance woes: expensive policies and dropped coverages
What: The property insurance market is getting even harder with increasing prices and carriers dropping coverages.
Why it matters: Since losses are rising, insurers will need to drive down their expense ratio by removing inefficiencies and embracing digitization.
Read: As homeowners insurance grows more expensive, policies could be harder to come by,
Property insurance companies drop 50,000 Florida policy holders ahead of hurricane season
Research
Behavioral economics advice for improving underwriting and intake
What: One issue that affects personal lines profitability is the ability to accurately rate risk. But some of the ways we ask questions get in the way of getting that risk right.
Why it matters: Technology isn’t the only tool available when we look at complex problems, such as personal lines, and behavioral economics is another way we can help solve industry problems. One way behavioral economics can help is by empowering insurers to create better questions that reduce misunderstanding and promote clearer answers. To take advantage of emerging research like this, insurers need to create nimble environments that evolve in response to these biases; they need to continually refine their questions.
Read: How Using Behavioral Economics Can Improve Underwriting Results
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