The Value And Risk Of Chasing Industry Trends

The Value And Risk Of Chasing Industry Trends
Technology usage within the insurance industry has continued to grow at an aggressively explosive rate but it is not the only trend worth paying attention to. With newer and seemingly simpler avenues for insurance risk determinations to be made, the conservative approach to trend adoption appears to be a dangerous route to take. Traditional insurance carriers are left to determine if current changes to the market are threats or a path worth following with significant investment.
Money Making Trends
Millennial-focused Hippo actively changed the game when they adopted a hands-on and proactive approach with insurance risk reduction. Unlike the traditional wait and hope strategy, Hippo actively monitors for risks and takes action against them. Utilizing data collected in real-time, the company can discover vulnerabilities long before a customer or traditional insurer would and will immediately seek to help homeowners to address them. Expanding proactive approaches to the commercial property insurance market has the potential to be even more impactful. The success is evidence that today’s consumers value presence just as much as they value speed and ease of obtaining the insurance services they desire. Smart homes are creating even more opportunities to both collect relevant risk-related data and reduce potential claim amounts through the use of advanced sensors preventing problems from going unnoticed.

Fulfilling A Need
The younger generations of today tend to value expensive electronics very highly and their importance is only going to grow with time in our tech-focused world. Many traditional insurance carriers don’t provide the coverage needed for these items or attempt to tack it on in a supplementary plan. A shift in focus that demonstrates your business understands the importance of protecting the things that matter to your primary customer base, is arguably the only way forward. Companies that make coverage protection of personal property easy to obtain and less picky with its exclusions are likely to fare much better with the millennial market. Understandably, such items definitely increase insurance risk, particularly with regard to theft potential. Striking a balance between fulfilling the need to protect personal property and managing risk will always be the name of the game.

Racing Regulation
As tech usage surges forward as the driving trend, regulation will never be very far behind. The inherent risk in early trend adoption, especially concerning data collection and utilization policies, is the threat of regulation. Data is everywhere and the likelihood of further regulation on what can and cannot be used in the risk profiling and underwriting process stands a chance of growing. With the amount of investment necessary to adopt some of the more prominent trends in the property and casualty market, holding back may seem almost sensible with the threat of possible restrictive regulation on the horizon.

As more opportunities to reduce insurance risk present themselves, carriers are tasked with both providing insureds with what they desire most while mitigating risk and hits to profitability. Trend adoption is always a flip of the coin, as newly implemented regulation or ultimate failure can wipe out time and investment spent mirroring new and popular industry players.

Insurance Risk Services has partnered with carriers across the country for over 35 years, providing superior value to insureds without sacrificing quality or excellence in our underwriting support and inspection services. Contact our team today to see how we can add to any risk reduction strategy your business has in mind.