INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Lloyd’s Lab Accelerator Unveils Fifth Cohort
Lloyd's Lab has announced the ten successful teams, selected from among more than 140 applications from across the world, to join the fifth cohort of the Lloyd's Lab innovation accelerator program. Read more.

Trufla Technology Announces truScore Pro
Trufla Technology is excited to announce the official launch of truScore Pro, one of the most comprehensive reports for digital reach including analysis of marketing and sales aptitude. Measuring over 26 data points from SEO strength, to website optimization and social performance, truScore leaves no digital stone unturned. Read more.

Blink Joins Lloyd’s Lab Innovation Accelerator
Blink is pleased to announce that it has earned its place as 1 of just 10 InsurTechs selected following a competitive 'virtual pitch' process that had 140 of the world's insurance industry trailblazers vying for a place on the prestigious Lloyd's Lab innovation accelerator programme. Read more.

A.I. Use Cases Proliferating In Insurance
Applications of artificial intelligence range from machine-learning-driven algorithms to unstructured text, image, and sound analysis. In a new executive brief, research and advisory firm Novarica helps insurers understand the cases that A.I. applications have in across the insurance value chain from product design to billing and claims. Read more.

Q2 Global Commercial Insurance Pricing Up 19%
Marsh has released its Global Insurance Market Index for the second quarter of 2020. The increase, the largest since the index was launched in 2012, follows year-over-year average increases of 14% in the first quarter and 11% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Read more.

Drivers Are “Ready For Telematics”: CMT Report
Research shows that 63% of U.S. consumers are open to changing their current auto insurance policy for one with a telematics-based premium, according to a new report jointly published today by Cambridge Mobile Telematics, the world's leader in mobile telematics, and the IoT Insurance Observatory, a global connected insurance think tank. Read more.

Why Insurers Need Telematics for Profit
The commercial vehicle insurance market is finding it increasingly difficult to manage risk while controlling costs and improving customer interactions. Technology advancements have created new opportunities for carriers to leverage these systems throughout their commercial vehicle segments. As the commercial vehicle insurance market continues to evolve, can these solutions help the industry manage current risks and prepare for future changes? Read more.

Canada Graded ‘C’ On Flood Preparedness
Canada's provinces and territories received a grade of ‘C’ on flood preparedness, as determined following a two-year national study by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. A comparable study completed in 2016 resulted in a national score of ‘C-’, suggesting that Canada's preparedness to limit flood risk has showed progress over the past four years. Read more.

One80 Intermediaries Acquires SUM
One80 Intermediaries, a national wholesale broker, program manager, and insurance aggregator, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Strategic Underwriting Managers, Inc., a Canada-based Managing General Agent for property, casualty and other specialty insurance products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more.

BrokerLink Grows With Nine Acquisitions In 2020
BrokerLink is pleased to mark the closing of nine acquisitions to date for 2020. The acquisitions in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick enable BrokerLink to expand and serve customers in more communities across Canada. Read more.

Amid Uncertainty, Insurance Brokerage Firms Remain Resilient, Optimistic
While the U.S. economy contracted in the second quarter of 2020 (Q2) at a rate not seen in 70 years, the insurance brokerage industry is a "shining star" with median organic growth of 4.4%, according to Reagan Consulting. This is the rate of growth for the six-month period that ended on June 30, compared with the same six-month period in 2019, as noted in Reagan's quarterly Organic Growth and Profitability survey. Read more.

Customer Journey Mapping: Best Practices
Facing the transformational challenge to develop an “outside-in” perspective of the customer experience, insurers are looking at journey mapping to understand the sentiments, challenges, and frustrations of their customers. In a new executive brief, Novarica examines the reasons for journey mapping, the challenges to achieving success, and leading practices to developing journey maps. Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Breathe Life
Breathe Life is accelerating the delivery of financial security products. Our enterprise SaaS distribution platform increases speed of delivery and reduces operational costs for the distribution of financial security products. Using the Breathe Life platform, insurers can stay ahead of the game and families everywhere can get the financial protection they need. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug I attended a webinar on Embedded Insurance by Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA), moderated by CEO Mike Connor, featuring Denise Garth, SVP Innovation at Majesco. She had made reference to embedded insurance at our Executive Forum last year. A simple example of embedded insurance would be standard warranties – included in the price of the product with a list of terms and conditions. Optional or extended warranties could still be considered embedded, but not automatically so. Several auto manufacturers offer embedded insurance, but typically optional. But subscription services offered by some auto manufacturers allows one to swap amongst a list of makes and models throughout the term. The fee generally includes insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance, and concierge delivery. I was surprised at the general enthusiasm of the webinar participants for embedded insurance with expectations for offerings across a range of products and services through this decade. I am a tad skeptical about the rate of growth, but I do expect a lot of innovation and testing. Time will tell. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca