Welcome to iLeads Insurance Market Minute, where we bring you the latest, most relevant news regarding the insurance market. Last week you were reading COVID-19 Claims Acceptance Lower Than Predicted. This week we’re bringing you:Premium Renewal Rates Rise Across Major Commercial Lines: Ivans

Family offices enter ‘new frontier’ amid pandemic*

Like many parts of the insurance space, the new remote workplace has had an impact on the world of family offices and their advisors in the US. During a panel at the Private Risk Management Association’s (PRMA) virtual summit this year, family office experts came together to discuss how advisors can maintain relationships with their clients and other advisors in this environment, how COVID-19 has affected the focus areas for family offices, and what families of wealth value in their advisors as the pandemic continues to unfold.

“Much of the insurance brokerage world was set to adapt [to this new normal],” said Shirley Gordon, director, family office and wealth management for G2 Insurance Services. “Family offices, whether they were single or multi-family offices … not so much. Because of the sensitive nature of their work, the families they served and how they liked the family office to be managed – most work only in a brick-and-mortar work environment – their pivot was more difficult.”

These offices had to figure out how to communicate with their team members and keep them supported, all while still serving all of the client and business needs that they had to take care of every day, as well as setting up remote work environments where privacy and security were maintained. In fact, cybersecurity has been one of the biggest concerns of family offices. Ensuring that families and employees were working remotely without the risk of their data and systems being compromised had to be addressed quickly, and it appears that this now will be part of normal life for most advisory professions moving forward.

Find out more in-depth here.

Berkshire Hathaway picks Canadian insurtech to power commercial telematics solution*

Ontario-based telematics solutions provider IMS has been selected by Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies for a new commercial fleet insurance program.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD’s new fleet insurance program is called TrackMRI – “MRI” standing for “Monitor, React, Improve.” Powered by IMS’ DriveSync connected car and telematics platform, the solution offers an accessible fleet management portal, device logistics support, data collection, scoring, fleet behavior assessment and program analytics, as well as hands-on customer support to fleet manager customers.

IMS will also provide the sensors, which will be installed in Berkshire Hathaway GUARD’s policyholders’ commercial fleet vehicles to gather driver behavior data. The data collected can potentially lead to savings in vehicle maintenance and fuel costs for commercial fleet organizations.

“Our fleet manager customers have limited time for research and system or vendor selection, and yet are flooded by technology solutions that only offer a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach without any real identifiable differentiation,” said Berkshire Hathaway GUARD vice president of commercial auto Mike Hynes. “Through our relationship with IMS, we are helping fleet managers get the commercial insurance telematics solution they want and need with features and functionality that will have direct improvements on fleet management and driver safety, while helping them potentially save money in the process.”

Read more in-depth here.

Premium renewal rates rise across major commercial lines: Ivans*

Premium renewal rates increased month over month in November for business owners policy, general liability, commercial property and workers compensation coverages, while rates decreased for commercial auto and umbrella, according to a report Wednesday from Ivans Insurance Services, a division of Tampa, Florida-based Applied Systems Inc.

Commercial property renewal rates rose 5.66% in November, up from 5.52% in October. Business owners policy rates rose 4.68%, up from 4.39% in October, according to Ivans.

General liability rates rose 3.43% in November, up from 3.38% in October. Workers compensation rates declined by 1.90%, compared with a decline of 2.78% in October.

Commercial auto rates rose 3.93%, compared with 4.43% the previous month. Umbrella rates increased 2.82% after rising 3.78% in October.

“The Ivans Index continues to show hardening rates across major lines of business, but with slight softening of rates relative to months prior for commercial auto and umbrella,” Kathy Hrach, vice president of product management at Ivans, said in a statement.

Read more in-depth here.

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