Panel: Reducing Wildfire Risk Requires a Multilayered Approach

Thomas Holzheu, chief economist, Swiss Re, discusses the company’s latest natural catastrophe sigma report that shows the types of events that lead to major losses, where those events took place, and the impact on the insurance industry.

Sean Kevelighan, CEO of the Insurance Information Institute, discusses how so called nuclear verdicts, litigation funding and other legal-system abuse drive up claims costs and ultimately lead to higher premiums for consumers.

Theresa Young, CSAA Insurance Group; Michael Angelina, St. Joseph's College; and Steve Clarke, Verisk, said issues also arise from lack of regulation of third-party vendors, public adjusters, and service providers, which can lead to higher claim payouts than were anticipated in pricing.

In his book, Agent to Agent: Revealing the Story and Strategy for Insurance People, BI&I Group Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Leo Bados Jr. shares tips for building an insurance business and leading a team with confidence.  

Tim Nunziata, vice president and head of cyber risk, Commercial E&O at Nationwide said that when it comes to a cyber incident, the idea of being able to put a plan in place post‑breach is not realistic.  

Sridhar Manyem, senior director, AM Best, said other key issues with data from wearables include using it ethically and compliantly. Manyem spoke with AM Best TV at Insurtech Hartford Symposium 2024.

Jay Guin, Verisk; Tim Aman, Aon; and Ole Hanekop, Hannover Re, reviewed the importance of accurate valuations and innovative solutions to address latent risks and the correlation between different lines of business. Panelists spoke with AM Best TV at the Verisk Insurance Conference 2024, held in Orlando, Florida.

Tanner Hackett, CEO, Counterpart, said new machine learning and similar systems help insurers synthesize huge data sets for better underwriting, marketing and more. Hackett spoke with AM Best TV at the InsurTech Spring Conference in New York City.

Stephen Crewdson Sr., director, insurance business intelligence, J.D. Power, details a report with TransUnion that shows after months of decreasing auto insurance shopping, consumers are now returning to looking for better deals from carriers. 

Insurance risk experts who spoke with AM Best TV at the Verisk Insurance Conference in Orlando, Florida, said governments are at the early stages of grappling with this issue, which intersects with science, business, public policy and land use.