COVID-19

Although almost 60% of employees at agencies are women, only 31% are owners and principals, according to data from The State of Women in Independent Insurance Agencies report, conducted by Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance.

As this booming market evolves, the value of innovation by insurtech startups is becoming clear. These companies drive change by meeting customer demands, as consumers increasingly demand insurance is delivered in a way that suits them – digital services that are quick and easy to use.

The demand for no-medical exam life insurance has grown in the last year, likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic. From October to December 2021, about 56% of applications submitted through Policygenius were for no-medical exam policies compared to January to March 2021, which was only 26%.

Research shows rapid adoption of predictive algorithms and digital identity technology will stem the pandemic-driven fraud deluge. Insurance fraud causes more than $80 billion in losses annually in the U.S. alone, according to the report.

As we emerge from the pandemic and look to the future, the case for cloud must be elevated beyond the limitations of IT savings, to how insurers can use it to address their biggest business challenges.

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. Before looking at where technology met its goals and where there are opportunities for 2022, it bears noting how carriers mitigated uncertainty and aggressively charted a path forward. Carriers didn’t shy away from the need to digitize or accelerate movement to the cloud.

There’s little faith in the global economic recovery accelerating, with officials and business leaders citing climate change and rising social tensions, alongside the pandemic, among their top risks, the World Economic Forum found.

New research from SMA shows that the plans and progress of some transformational technologies are accelerating ahead as others have hit the brakes.

Two of the honorees, Lindsay Hanson, vice president, head of behavioral insurance, global strategy and delivery at John Hancock and Emily Hartman, chief of business teams at Allianz Partners spoke during the “Women in Insurance Leadership Honorees Panel” about leadership and lessons learned.

The stay-at-home mandates, school and business closings, and increased remote work arrangements emanating from COVID-19 resulted in a significant decrease in motor vehicle accident frequency in 2020, with that trend continuing into 2021. There are many other, less obvious forces that actuaries and company management should consider as 2021 year-end reserves are analyzed.

About 20 nations have signed on to a deal to stop funding foreign fossil fuel projects -- with a last-minute entry by Italy. But the impact of the accord is undermined by the absence of key countries like China.

A crucial point that many businesses engaged in the B2B sharing economy are increasingly aware of is that engagement often carries considerable liability risk, which is why it is of utmost importance for businesses to insure against this risk with robust verification services.

About four in 10 executives cited technology as their company’s greatest challenge, twice as many as in 2019, according to a new survey from LIMRA and Boston Consulting Group.

That’s the takeaway from an Aon Plc survey of 2,344 risk managers, chief risk officers and chief financial officers conducted in the second quarter. Cyber attacks were the No. 1 most-cited hazard, and more than half of the Top 10 risks executives say they face today are tied to the pandemic, according to survey results released Tuesday.

The number of cyber insurance claims AGCS has seen has increased in the past few years, following along with general cyber risk trends. In 2020, the company received more than 1,000 in total, compared to 80 in 2016. This trend has continued into 2021.

The P&C industry has been on an automation path for many years. When the pandemic hit, it became a catalyst for accelerating automation and digital transformation.

What’s driving your digital claims transformation program: COVID? Competition? Or cost? Whatever the answer, we could be in danger of leaving the customer out of the equation in the rush to digitize and automate insurance processes. It could be time to take a more user-centric approach, reimagine the customer journey and find out what customers actually want.

With many employees choosing to work remotely, the insurance giant will sell its offices in Northbrook, Illinois, according to an emailed statement Friday. The complex in a Chicago suburb has several buildings that total 1.9 million square feet on a 186-acre (75 hectares), Allstate has said in regulatory filings.

Recent EY research confirms how the pandemic fundamentally changed consumer needs, how they plan to increase their financial security, and what insurers can do to seize the opportunity.

The past 18 months have uncovered a vulnerability in the insurance industry, as companies have struggled to maintain consistency in their processes in the face of remote working. Communication processes, in particular, have suffered and as a result, traditional insurers now face the real risk of losing customers to insurtechs and other more technologically advanced companies.