Reserves for auto liability are supposed to be some of the easiest to analyze. Paid patterns are very stable, there are large numbers of claims, and duration is relatively short. If you booked your auto reserves short, it was probably because you chose to rather than because you missed a Continue Reading
Why Root Needs To Issue Equity Today
For those who remember the tortoise vs. hare insuretech thesis, when did it make sense to be a hare? When your stock was overvalued and thus capital was cheap. You could raise equity as a competitive advantage to allow you to sustain large operating losses while you built out your Continue Reading
Tesla Insurance Is Still A Bad Idea For Tesla
It’s been a bad year for Tesla so far. The stock is way down and so are new car sales. But there’s another problem that has received less attention. The auto insurance business is in deep trouble. The last time I wrote about Tesla selling auto insurance, I suggested it Continue Reading
The Surprising Driver of Higher Auto Frequency
It is well known within auto insurance circles that there has been a significant rise in high speed auto accidents since Covid. This has led to a spike in auto fatalities. What hasn’t been explained well is why. There have been plenty of theories about fewer drivers on the road Continue Reading
Tesla Insurance Is A Bad Idea…For Tesla
Informed Christmas Story: Tis the season for making sure you have enough insurance coverage for your home, so I have some special holiday insurance news to share! I have written a sequel to last year’s Home Alone article (where I looked at how big an insurance claim would be caused Continue Reading
The Secular Decline of Auto Insurance
I find often people get so caught up in everything going on around them that it’s hard to step back and notice the big picture. The most obvious call to me to be made in the insurance sector is that auto insurance is entering a long term decline. In fact, Continue Reading
The Future of Personal Lines Distribution: An Update
Last year, I wrote about how the distribution of personal lines needed to evolve. It ended up being one of my post popular posts ever, largely due to a group of Allstate agents finding it and making it viral (to the extent something can go viral in insurance). The agents Continue Reading
Metromile: The Palm Pilot of Insuretech
Metromile, the pay by the mile auto insurance carrier, has been in the news of late with its announcement to go public through a SPAC. Metromile is one of the original insuretech carrier models having launched in 2011 and going full stack in 2016. Missed Opportunity However, being the first Continue Reading
Ian’s Brief #3: Year In Review
Yes, it’s the obligatory end of the year post! Frankly, you could just read the “Best Of” page instead, but if you want a somewhat longer version, here you go… I’ve grouped together the various themes that tended to repeat over the year and many of which you can expect Continue Reading
Will Root Cause a Disruptive Price War?
There are two types of disruption. The virtuous kind where a new innovation improves the industry and provides a better product to the consumer. Then, there is the disastrous disruption, where a new entrant starts a race to the bottom that benefits nobody. One recent example of the latter is Continue Reading