Following the recent release of my latest research report, North American P&C Vendors: Partners in Claims Excellence, I received numerous phone calls from the many companies whose products and services were included and evaluated in the report, which is normal and to be expected.  But one of those calls caused me to reflect upon and reevaluate something so important that I thought it was worth sharing. The call was from Tom Feeney, CEO of Safelite Group, the U.S. vehicle glass and claims management subsidiary of global vehicle glass repair and replacement giant Belron and one of the more successful “vendor” … Continue Reading →

Last week’s announcements by several media outlets and state insurance regulators — including Ohio, Georgia, and California — confirmed an October 3, 2012 insurance data breach that is being investigated by the FBI. A Nationwide Insurance database was compromised, resulting in the theft of confidential information for 1 million policyholders and non-policyholders (basically consumers who had requested insurance quotes) located in all 50 U.S. states. The breached data includes names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, and in some cases marital status, sex, occupation, names and addresses of employers, and other identifying information. Nationwide notified insurance regulators … Continue Reading →

Although the insurance industry is basically regulated at the state level, the outcome of today’s federal election will impact the industry more than has any previous election. For some insight into what outcome the insurance industry prefers, just follow the money. For the 2007/2008 campaign, the industry contributed almost US$50 million to federal parties and candidates, of which 55% went to the Republican party — this year, we can expect both the total and the Republican share to have grown. As for the potential impact, two newly created agencies, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Federal Insurance Office … Continue Reading →

For anyone wondering about the economic impact of Hurricane-turned-Superstorm Sandy, it is currently estimated to end up costing more than US$20 billion, only about half of which will be insured. This figure may well climb higher, likely making Sandy the fourth most costly weather event in the United States in the past 50 years. Most of these events have occurred in the past 20 years, and seven out of 10 have occurred in just the past eight years. Hurricane Katrina (2005) remains the all-time costliest, at well over US$100 billion, but Sandy will be the number-one costliest hurricane to strike … Continue Reading →

Over the past decade, reputational risk has grown alongside the ability to quickly spread information — both positive and negative — across the media and the world at large. Thanks to social media, individuals, once powerless to do much about perceived wrongs, can now voice their comments, big or small, true or false, about how they have been treated in almost every facet of their lives. Corporate America must now realize that the angry consumer is no longer left at home complaining to a spouse or parent about poor treatment received. Last week, a story went viral about a New York man who claimed … Continue Reading →

The insurance industry — long a relatively rich, easy, and low-risk target for criminals who use fraudulent schemes of many types to steal enormous amounts of money from insurance companies and their policyholders (that includes you and me) — may finally be getting the level of support and assistance that could bring this vast and long-standing problem under control. The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, together with healthcare and property & casualty insurance companies and many of their national associations, last week announced the formation of the National Fraud Prevention Partnership, an alliance unprecedented in its scope, … Continue Reading →

Very few Supreme Court rulings have affected — or ever will affect — as many American consumers and businesses as the June 28, 2012 decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as Obamacare. Setting aside the handwringing of Republican politicians who now find themselves with a presidential candidate  who personally championed and implemented a virtually identical program as governor of Massachusetts just a few years ago — and avoiding any temptation to engage in political punditry about how the ruling has now set this year’s presidential election up as nothing less … Continue Reading →

Last week, with surprisingly little fanfare as America was winding down for the holiday weekend, President Obama signed the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act into law. The law is certainly among the most promising pieces of bipartisan legislation introduced during this term and is certain to increase President Obama’s chances for re-election, especially given that his presumptive opponent’s strong suit is his success in business and his promise to repair the economy. It is said that a rising tide lifts all boats. The U.S. insurance industry stands to benefit as much, and perhaps even more, than its counterparts in … Continue Reading →

The performance of the U.S. property & casualty insurance industry is more counterintuitive and potentially troubling today than ever before. And yet, across all products — including in personal and commercial lines — in a static market with paltry investment returns, in a soft pricing environment where price increases are hard to come by, and with year-over-year industry growth in 2011 of little more than 1%, most of the largest P&C carriers have continued to grow and profit. Unless you live under a rock like Rick in one of GEICO’s offbeat commercials, it is hard not to have noticed that the biggest auto … Continue Reading →

On the surface, the U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry received good news on Valentine’s Day, during Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced the “Joint Fact Sheet on Strengthening U.S-China Economic Relations,” under which China agreed to open up its US$65 billion auto insurance market to foreign competition. The Chinese insurance market had 2010 annual premiums exceeding US$236 billion, including US$150 billion in life and US$86 billion in P&C, of which foreign life and general insurers hold insignificant market shares of roughly 4% and 1%, respectively. Non-China-based insurers, originally lured to … Continue Reading →