A single 360-degree customer view of an individual, across insurance lines and across different lifestyle triggers, is very powerful. It is an insight that insurers are currently lacking, but it’s coming more into view with better use of financial history data. The need for a complete view of a customer is being strongly felt. There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated a trend that was already apparent: the need for insurance providers to take into consideration factors such as creditworthiness, the appropriateness of products and the wider risk factors when dealing with the insured. Curr ..read more

This article first appeared in Insurance Edge and is reproduced with consent. Despite climate change impacting the frequency and severity of surface water flooding in the UK, the growing UK population, projected to reach 71 million by 2045, means that homes need to be built and flood plains have been in the sights of property developers. This is, in turn exposing home insurance providers and their customers to flood risk and the devastating losses and costs. According to the National Housing Federation 340,000 homes need to be supplied in England alone every year to match population growth. W ..read more

Scientists model the shifting climate risk, the impact of climate change, based on Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. This is the measure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, taking into account carbon capture as well as the trends in emission reductions. To understand how our climate may change in future, we need to predict how we will behave, not just how the climate will behave. For example, will we continue to burn fossil fuels at an ever-increasing rate, or will we shift towards renewable energy? The RCPs try to capture these future trends. They make predictions of how ..read more

What is the difference between insurance and assurance? These terms are often used interchangeably in risk, usually related to life insurance. But they are a useful illustration about insurance and peace of mind in today’s digital world. How to define that peace of mind in the context of the digital customer experience? Assurance is something which is ‘assured’ (or guaranteed) to happen, often related to a whole life insurance plan. An assurance plan therefore pays out a guaranteed amount ‘when’ you die, rather than ‘if’ you die, and the amount is not dependent on the loss as determined by th ..read more

Be ready. That’s the overarching theme for Hurricane Preparedness Week, which occurs May 1-7 this year. Over the years during this week, insurance carriers have filled their social media channels and customer communications with tips about preparing for the upcoming hurricane season, including the need to double-check their home insurance policies. In the era of COVID-19, however, supply chain disruptions and rising repair costs have created a renewed sense of urgency for pre-season hurricane preparations. Call it “Pandemicane-preparedness” While COVID is certainly not the first global disast ..read more

A single 360-degree customer view of an individual, across insurance lines and across different lifestyle triggers, is very powerful. It is an insight that insurers are currently lacking, but it’s coming more into view with better use of financial history data. The need for a complete view of a customer is being strongly felt. There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated a trend that was already apparent: the need for insurance providers to take into consideration factors such as creditworthiness, the appropriateness of products and the wider risk factors when dealing with the insured. Curr ..read more

This week is National Fix a Leak Week, an annual campaign hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s a great time for you to connect with your home policyholders to remind them that checking for and fixing small water leaks can help them avoid claims and save money. It’s also a great time for you as a home insurer to review your book of business and identify any policies that are at increased risk for non-weather water-related claims. How can you do this? Through data analytics, of course. Costly claims for insurers and homeowners Over the 5-year period ending in 2019, loss costs for ..read more

Which comes first: speed or accuracy? Consumers’ ever-changing expectations are driven by increasing digitization in myriad areas of their lives. Meeting these expectations is quickly becoming a key competitive differentiator for home insurance carriers. Consumers demand a speedy, streamlined digital experience that insurers must weigh against their own need for data accuracy. As an insurer you must ask yourself: Is using a data prefill solution enough to solve the speed vs. accuracy conundrum? Speeding Up the Underwriting Process An insurer’s ability to quickly access and utilize accurate da ..read more

The UK may have experienced the biggest economic contraction in over three centuries last year but increased house prices and higher savings rates have made the average household £7,800 richer during the pandemic, according to the Resolution Foundation. Cash savings increased and house prices rocketed on the back of record low interest rates and stamp duty relief. However, the think tank has warned that although households have become richer on average, there is worsening financial vulnerability and wealth inequality across the UK.  The gap between the average and the wealthiest 10% of ..read more

LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a key partner for insurance companies to ‘price more competitively’ and ‘attract new business’, according to our latest voice of customer (VOC) survey. For 94% of our clients, this is a top challenge LexisNexis® helps them to address, along with assessing risk more accurately. In a year marked by the pandemic, new working patterns and a lot of changes to the profile of risk, LexisNexis Risk Solutions received high scores in the latest UK & Ireland VOC survey. The responses have shown that we are successfully fulfilling our goal: to support insurance companies ..read more