Over the past decade, a steady flow of disruptive forces has impacted the personal auto insurance market, including telematics, the sharing economy and autonomous vehicles. AAIS Auto Product Manager Casey Brewer discusses how they are reshaping the Personal Auto insurance market, and myriad challenges and opportunities it creates for carriers.   Telematics programs provide insurers with access to vast amounts …

With the Hurricane Season underway, WRIN.tv speaks with Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) President and CEO Sean Kevelighan about the forecast for 2017, and a change in focus from ‘recovery’ to ‘resilience.’ Mr. Kevelighan drew from a recent announcement jointly published by the I.I.I., the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU) and the Tropical Meteorology Project (TMP), which forecasts “near-average …

Emy Donavan, Global Head of Cyber at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, provides an update on the world of cyber risk, including an increase in attacks on consumer devices, malware as a business, and tips for risk managers looking to prepare for inevitable attacks. More recent developments in cyber risk include an increase in attacks on consumer devices such as …

“We have disruption all over… (and) the insurance industry deals with it.” That, according to Sean Kevelighan, President and CEO of the Insurance Information Institute (III), who spoke at the recent AAIS Main event in Florida. He notes that the insurance industry is accustomed to dealing with natural and man-made catastrophes, even technology, which a major disruptor right now. Mr. …

Healthcare fraud in the auto insurance industry is a focus of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Roger Morris, Chief Communications Officer of the NICB, discusses schemes across the country that support fraud against the insurance industry, and an Aggregated Medical Data Base and Medical Fraud Task Forces set up by the NICB to combat major medical fraud. Mr. Morris …

With recent earthquake activity in the Pacific and new reports on major risks of loss in North America, insurers are taking note of an exposure that could have devastating consequences. According to Dr. Robert Muir-Wood, RMS Chief Research Officer, the November 22 earthquake off the coast of Sendai, Japan is probably another aftershock triggered by the Tohoku quake in March …

In part two of this special AAIS Advisory Report on the auto insurance market, John Kadous, VP of Personal Lines at AAIS, talks about how emerging exposure, technology and Big Data are impacting carriers’ approach to auto policies. With increasing uptake of telematics, we see more data is being generated and more underwriting tools for auto insurance carriers. Mr. Kadous …

In part one of a special AAIS Advisory Report on automobile insurance, Robert Gordon, SVP of PCI Policy Development and Research, speaks about economic and behavioral changes affecting the auto insurance market, including increased losses, distracted driving, “drug driving”, the “sharing economy” and autonomous vehicles. Mr. Gordon says 70 percent of consumers believe safer cars will mean fewer accidents and …

Sustained increases in casualty pricing in the auto insurance lines are due in part to losses penetrating primary insurance and penetrating the umbrella level. That, according to Gerry Skalka, SVP and Head of Casualty Underwriting at Munich Re. He also notes higher awards from jury verdicts are having an impact on casualty pricing. He remains confident that the market will …

Bryon Ehrhart , Global Head of Strategic Growth & Development at Aon Benfield, discusses the threats and opportunities in today’s insurance market. Mr. Ehrhart says the threats do not surround the same issues faced 20 years ago after Hurricane Andrew and the Northridge Earthquake.  Now that the industry has managed the risk down to lower levels of earnings and capital, …

New augmented reality games like Pokémon GO have taken the world by storm. But there is real concern that avid players may “GET UP, GET OUT AND EXPLORE!” while driving. Even the Pokémon GO website reminds players to “never play while on a bike, driving a car…or anything else where you need to pay attention – for that matter. Esurance …

Hermine peaked as a Category 1 hurricane, the first to hit Florida since 2005. The storm system then crossed into the Atlantic Ocean leaving a path of destruction, power outages, severe flooding and two fatalities up and down the east coast. As the tropical storm lingered off the New England Coast, large waves continued to cause life-threatening surf and significant beach erosion. Early …

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety released by the World Health Organization, over 1.25 million people die from traffic accidents each year, with millions more sustaining serious injuries. With behavior-based insurance quickly gaining momentum and offered by larger domestic insurers including Allstate, Liberty Mutual and Progressive Insurance, lesser known insurers such as ADI are seeking innovative ways to introduce telematics to …

More than 60,000 homes have been damaged in 20 parishes impacted by recent flooding in Louisiana. According to Louisiana’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness,  75% of homes are a “total loss” in Livingston. U.S. flood events are largely paid for by the FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and applicable primary insurance. The office of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards …

The augmented reality game Pokémon GO  has earned more than $200 million in net revenue since it launched in July.  Avid Pokémon GO players have chased cartoon monsters onto private property, cemeteries and national monuments….and here come the lawsuits. A New Jersey resident is seeking a class-action suit against Niantic and Nintendo on behalf of all Americans whose properties have …

In another edition of ACORD Tech Talk, Chris Ritter of Compare.com discusses how the ability for customers to comparison-shop online will continue to disrupt the insurance industry, first in the auto insurance sector and then in other peronal lines. For more on the technologies shaping the risk and insurance industry, visit the ACORD website.    

A.M. Best Vice President Andrew Colannino explains the rating agency’s ‘negative’ outlook on the commercial lines segment of the U.S. property/casualty (P&C) industry, despite relatively solid aggregate results over the past several years. He says A.M. Best’s expects more downgrades than upgrades in the coming year. The negative outlook largely reflects the concerns that have been prevalent in recent years: …

In this edition of ACORD Tech Talk, host Johnell Johnson speaks with Bolt Solutions CEO Eric Gewirtzman discusses the launch of Google Compare and how comparison shopping will affect the insurance industry. “Bolt Google Connect” enables insurers to quickly and easily participate in Google Compare, a comparison-shopping site that lets consumers compare rates from different insurance providers. Mr. Gewirtzman describes one …

Extreme events can destroy lives, disrupt economies and have devastating consequences to the insurance sector. At the 2015 IIS Global Insurance Forum, WRIN.tv spoke with Professor Howard Kunreuther, a Professor of Decision Sciences and Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton Business School. He discussed the role of public-private partnerships in managing risks to extreme events.  Highlights of his …

Howard Kunreuther, a Professor of Decision Sciences and Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton Business School speaks with WRIN.tv about using multi year insurance policies to cover extreme risk. Professor Kunreuther advocates for the use of multiyear insurance policies to pay for extreme risks. He suggests adding a home improvement-type loan to the policy to encourage mitigation. The …