Welcome to iLeads Insurance Market Minute, where we bring you the latest, most relevant news regarding the insurance market. Last week you were reading Walmart Announces Plan To Sell Insurance. This week we’re bringing you:Americans Are ‘Panic Buying’ Life Insurance Due To Coronavirus Pandemic
Brokers face ‘uphill battle’ in college insurance renewals*
The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting almost every aspect of college and university life. According to New York Times data, there were at least 130,000 cases of COVID-19 reported on more than 1,300 college campuses, as of September 25, and that case number continues to inflate as students progress through the fall semester. The response from academic institutions towards the coronavirus pandemic has been varied. Some started the semester with a fully remote learning strategy, while others welcomed students back on campus with open arms. Many have opted for a hybrid solution, where students attend some classes in person, but only once appropriate health and safety procedures have been implemented.
Whatever their chosen strategy, academic institutions across the United States are contending with an entirely new set of risks and considerations amid the pandemic. One area of risk that is particularly gray, according to Howard Shulman, ARM, and assistance vice-principal at NFP, is a liability. It remains to be seen how future liability claims might be processed now that most classes are being taught online as opposed to in-person and on campus. Shulman pointed out: “With liability, the major instances used to be a slip and fall-type situations, but now, nobody’s on-campus and yet they’re still involved with college life in a different setting. It’s a very gray area that’s yet to be forecasted.”
Most commercial rates rise in Q3: Ivans*
Average premium renewal rates increased across most commercial lines of business in the third quarter, according to insurance exchange Ivans Insurance Services, a division of Tampa-based Applied Systems Inc.
Rates rose in commercial auto, business owner’s policy, general liability, umbrella, and commercial property compared with the third quarter of 2019. Worker’s compensation average premium renewal rates declined, however.
The third-quarter premium renewal rate change for commercial property insurance averaged 5.30%. The quarter high was 5.48% in August and the low of 5.01% was in September.
In commercial auto, the premium renewal rate change averaged 4.46% for the quarter, with a quarter high in July at 5.10% and the quarter low in August at 3.20%.
For the business owner’s policy, the quarterly premium renewal rate change averaged 4.76%. The quarter high was 5.00% in August and a low of 4.38% in July.
The third-quarter premium renewal rate change for general liability insurance averaged 3.44%. The quarter high was 3.61% in August and the low of 3.25% was in September.
Americans are ‘panic buying’ life insurance due to coronavirus pandemic*
Life insurance is enjoying something of a renaissance as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Consumers, especially younger adults, have been buying insurance in elevated numbers since the spring when thousands of Americans began getting ill and dying from Covid-19.
That result is logical, experts said, given the core use of life insurance: as a financial backstop in the event of death.
For example, what if the breadwinner of a family dies unexpectedly from Covid-19? Insurance is meant to plug that immediate gap in household income.
“It’s forced the idea of financial protection and mortality to the top of mind for consumers in a way very few events have,” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, the CEO, and co-founder of Policygenius, an online marketplace for life insurance.
‘Panic buying’
Insurance sales have been dwindling for years. In 2020, just over half of American adults reported having a life insurance policy, down from 63% a decade earlier.
Finding highly affordable leads to keep sales coming in
At iLeads, we have many great solutions for insurance agents at a low cost. If you’d like to see how we can help you bring in consistent sales for a great price, give us a call at (877) 245-3237!
We’re free and are taking phone-calls from 7AM to 5PM PST, Monday through Friday.
You can also schedule a call here.