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Transportation disruptions, increased consumer demand, a stagnant job market, a global pandemic, multiple natural disasters, and wars. These are just a few of the reasons that have combined to leave us with global inflation. So high that analysts are calling it the worst inflation they’ve seen in two decades.
While it’s true that such high costs cause problems in all industries, we’ll focus on one we know best – insurance! We’ll look at how rising inflation is affecting the insurance industry and how industry leaders can use technology to mitigate its effects.
The effect of inflation on the insurance industry
Although often referred to as recession proof, the insurance industry is not immune to market changes such as inflation. As the cost of everything increases, insurers may see claims that cost more than they expected (part of the main effects of the recession). This means that, in times of high inflation, insurance companies are at risk of not being able to fulfill their primary responsibility—paying their debts.
In order to avoid insolvency, insurance companies respond to inflation by tightening the market. Due to the ongoing impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in weather and weather-related disasters, insurance companies are facing challenges in the market.
What is a difficult market in insurance?
A tough market refers to a period in the insurance market that occurs due to an increase in insurance products and a decrease in premiums. Strong markets are characterized by high premiums, tight underwriting, and low risk. In a tough insurance market, customers are faced with higher rates for their renewals and less options to cover other risks.
How does the tough market affect the major insurance players?
The effects of a tough market can be seen throughout the insurance distribution process. From customers to agents to carriers and underwriters, strong market conditions have real world implications for how these professionals and organizations approach the insurance business.
It all starts with the underwriters. The market starts to dry up as the underwriters follow strict rules and tighten the rules to minimize losses. Difficult underwriting drives up insurance premiums and can make other purchasing options unattractive, or even unprofitable for carriers to offer.
With limited options available, insurance customers rely heavily on their agents to help them get the coverage they need at the price they want. The reduction in coverage also allows carriers that still offer some coverage to increase their prices excessively, without fear of losing business to the competition.
Using technology to respond to a challenging market
When the market dries up, policyholders rely heavily on their agent to help them find the best way to cover their risks. The important role of the agent, bridging the gap between customers and insurance carriers, becomes very important. Manufacturers looking to increase their value to both customers and carriers in a challenging market can do so by using technology to optimize processes, help prevent threats, and improve data collection.
Change the path
With costs rising across the board due to inflation, insurance companies and carriers may be looking for ways to manage costs and protect their profits. By using technology solutions that use automation to streamline operations, these businesses can increase efficiency and reduce the workload of manufacturers.
Digital solutions can help organizations and carriers reduce operational costs by eliminating hours spent on manual tasks such as filling out forms and tracking reorders. Eliminating these processes creates a more efficient process and essentially frees up agents and supporters, allowing them to spend more time serving customers and building stronger relationships. Which is exactly what insurance customers need in a tough market.
Help with accident prevention
In a tough market, insurance companies’ appetites for risk are reduced which means that companies need to shift their focus to be heavy on risk prevention. In order to help their customers avoid accidents, insurance companies can use predictive technologies and visualization tools and services to analyze current and future events.
These technical solutions help insurance professionals better predict risks for all types of insurance. Better forecasting means more accurate pricing, which is critical for an insurance carrier trying to survive a tough insurance market. For example, advanced weather forecasting software can help agents understand what customers need for flood insurance. And digital twins can compare large systems to give insurers a 360-degree view of risk and the need to fix it before it becomes a problem.
A manufacturer who can help his client avoid risk in a difficult market with limited supply will gain the client’s trust. Also, with underwriters who don’t want to underwrite risks, agents who know their clients’ risk well have an advantage and can use it to strengthen their relationship with underwriters.
Promote data collection
A challenging market makes it more important than ever for agents to establish strong relationships with their carriers. In a soft market, agents may find it more profitable to buy when it comes to carriers to increase their services, but this strategy will no longer work when the market is tough.
When there are few carriers offering the service a customer needs, agents will want to have as many reliable carriers on their side as possible. In order to improve cooperation between manufacturers and carriers, organizations can use data collection methods that make shipping operations less complicated.
Organizations need to look for a technology solution that will help manage their data and improve their data collection. A technology-backed solution can help providers deliver clean data carriers at the best possible speed. In this way, carriers and agents enjoy the end of the back office of their working relationship and can focus on serving their shared customers.
Moving forward
The insurance market moves in cycles, meaning that, eventually market conditions will change. A tough market will soften as inflation stabilizes and appetite for risk-bearers increases again. Organizations and manufacturers can see the current difficult market as an opportunity to build strong relationships with their customers and carriers.
Professional insurance businesses that insurance professionals create in a tough market will continue to benefit as the market softens by continuing to improve operations and increase value for clients. The good news is that any agency, carrier, or MGA doing well in a tough market can see those gains carry over and produce better results in a soft market.
If you’re looking to save money by increasing efficiency as rising costs eat into your bottom line, AgentSync can help. Our solutions can improve and improve the performance of your agent, agent, or MGA so that your business can thrive in a challenging market.
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