The Latest

Insurtechs have secured more access to capital in the last few years and by the end of 2020 the total market cap of listed insurtechs surpassed $22 billion, according to the World Insurtech Report 2021.

“Spot,” created by Boston Dynamics, known for its viral robot videos, and customized for Farmers, a P&C insurer, is the first collaboration of its kind.

Deanne Criswell, the first woman to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in April took over a 20,000-person operation exhausted by managing responses to disasters linked to global warming: wildfires and the 2020 hurricane season, the most active on record.

Jerry launched a car insurance comparison service in 2019 using artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company has more than 1 million customers across the U.S. and has expansion plans.

Results published Monday show that 46% of White people are working with professionals to plan their finances, while 38% of African Americans, 36% of Asian respondents and 44% of Hispanic people are doing the same.

The pandemic has served as a catalyst for putting digital transformation across insurance on the fast track, and claims is one of the focus areas that is primed for implementing digital capabilities. As more claims information is captured and managed digitally, new opportunities to leverage artificial intelligent technologies arise. This leads to a vision of full automation, high levels of straight-through processing, and (logically) a diminishing role for claims professionals.

Forrester research finds that even the most tech-savvy claimants want the reassurance of a human voice handling their claim.

In other news: Hippo launches Builders Program; handdii wins the 2021 ACORD Insurtech Innovation Challenge New York; Blockchain-backed title insurance launches in five states.

Progressive Representatives Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are leading a group of House Democrats in pressuring party leadership to include an expansion of unemployment aid in the $3.5 trillion tax and spending package being drawn up in Congress.

Lloyd’s of London, the world’s largest insurance exchange, is pushing the industry to do better on diversity recruitment with tougher new hiring and disclosure targets for its members.