Articles

When it comes to agency errors and omissions liability there's nothing more important than playing it safe. One proven way is ensuring that everything is documented properly. But because there is always the threat of an E&O allegation turning into a large jury verdict, agents need to think about what it means to "play it safe" in managing the risk of going to trial. While social inflation isn'...

A new report from insurance broker Aon reveals that the prospective return on equity (ROE) for diversified homeowners insurance carriers decreased by 100 basis points to 5.0% from last year's ROE, despite carriers receiving significant rate increases in 2023/2024. More than half the U.S. states under review produced negative ROEs for homeowners carriers, with nearly all states producing a carrier...

Most homeowning Americans consider their home their most valuable asset. This means that the changes happening in the property insurance market – which safeguards this asset – are critically impacting Americans and their financial security. While the market remains robust overall, challenges such as inflationary pressures, rising construction costs, litigation, and more severe and frequent natural...

The U.S. trucking industry has been shaken to its foundations. A welter of external challenges catalyzed the failure of approximately 88,000 trucking firms in 2023. That is 10% of the nation's trucking companies. The chief culprit was a steep rise in operational costs, led by increased driver salaries and lawsuits, resulting in a sharp uptick in truck insurance costs. These challenges powered a vi...

We often take for granted the resources and materials that help us run our businesses and build our homes. Steel, cement, plastic -- building blocks such as these have afforded us the flexibility to grow our communities, create new products, and power innovation. But we're also beginning to understand their potential costs and consequences. The growing worries over microplastics pollution, in addi...

The condominium building is an interesting form of owning property where an individual owns their unit, what is sometimes referred to as a box of air, and at the same time, becomes a part of the condominium ownership association, which owns the real property. In essence, one becomes a shareholder and stakeholder in the larger organization simply by owning the place where they live. It's a bit more...

That used to be one of my biggest beefs as an agency owner -- I have all of these pieces of tech and none of them talked to each other," Vonda Copeland, co-owner and vice president of operations at Copeland Insurance Agency in Manhattan, Kansas, told Insurance Journal. "None of them were integrated, or the ones that did integrate with certain management systems or CRMs, were very limited." Copelan...

When it comes to small business owners and their insurance providers, trust matters. So do personalized relationships. Even in an environment of rising rates in which 36% of small business owners have experienced premium increases during the past year, overall customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand advocacy stay strong when customers trust their commercial insurance providers. That's according t...

Several types of artificial intelligence are already being adopted by various parts of the insurance industry and they have the potential to deliver extraordinary efficiency savings, opening the door for even more profitability, innovation, and complex problem solving. While the use cases for AI-based large language models, such as those used in ChatGPT, in the insurance industry are evolving, at...

Big brand hotels give the customer the exact experience that they expect. When you go to one in Florida, it's essentially the same as going to one in Ohio. Boutique hotels are normally a bit more unique and offer an experience that is customized to that hotel in that area. Of course, many of those are being purchased by larger organizations and are becoming more of a brand extension. The bed and b...

Continuing worker shortages, the threat of nuclear verdicts in some geographical locations, and the implementation of new technology are all shaping the property/casualty insurance market for senior living facilities. Challenging areas for coverage can vary by location, experts say, and while new carrier interest and capacity has driven some competition on the liability side, some carriers have co...

It is likely that you have read recent headlines sounding the alarm over a potentially uninsurable future. The ongoing threat of more frequent and damaging extreme weather is making it increasingly difficult for homeowners to secure affordable insurance, highlighting a growing insurance protection gap. Perhaps nowhere is this gap more prevalent than in the US, where several insurance carriers have...

"The world's not a less risky place." "We're clearly in historical hard market conditions for property and casualty." "I don't think we're going to see anywhere near the same level of flow back into the admitted market." These are the words of top leaders in the excess and surplus lines industry who believe today's risk is more complex and riskier than ever before. And the world of E&S is chan...

We had some work done on our home recently and the contractor wasn't what I was expecting. When I spoke with the GC (General Contractor), he told me that his sub (contractor) would be at my house, working on some general labor kind of work. This sub drove up in his boxy little car, pulling a little trailer behind him filled with bins and tubs containing all kinds of tools and things. His was a min...

The year was 2016. New high net worth (HNW) insurance carriers were entering the market. Established underwriting operations had become a consistent source of profits for investors and parent companies. Aging brokerage owners with sizable private client books of business were selling their companies for high revenue multiples and preparing to sail off into retirement (sometimes literally). Anyone...