Unleash the Power of Analytics in Your Small Commercial Underwriting

Are you involved on a complex and large-scale construction project, whether from the owner or general contractor's perspective? If so, has the topic of subcontractor default insurance (SDI) been discussed? If you are involved in such a project, SDI is an important topic since SDI would generally serve as an alternative to requiring subcontractors to obtain performance bonds. SDI is a first-party insurance policy, but operates differently than the first-party insurance policies you typically think of such as a property insurance/builder's risk policy.

Increased risks are impacting insurance profitability. Earlier this year, AM Best indicated an increase in losses and expenses were responsible for the P&C sector’s $4.1 billion net underwriting loss in 2021 and a weakened combined ratio of 99.6%[i] . AM Best estimated that the 2021 catastrophe losses accounted for 7.7 points on the combined ratio. Already in 2022, the Marshall Fire in Colorado is expected to reach $1 billion in losses, with nearly 1,000 homes destroyed and hundreds more requiring damage repair. Tornadoes in Kentucky and other locations devastated both homeowners and businesses. Rising construction costs, strained supply chains, and lack of construction workers are driving up the cost of rebuilding, putting many insureds at risk of not having enough insurance coverage and insurers at risk of not knowing their overall portfolio of risk.

Facing high levels of volatility and disruption, companies need a more comprehensive picture of risk within their operations -- one that also allows them to be nimble, streamline modern workflows, and take action in new markets. The next generation of risk management demands that corporations reimagine how they collect, analyze, and capitalize on a range of risk data insights to ‘Set the Pace.’

To best reach their customers insurers are moving to digital distribution channels. This is meeting the needs of the growing tech savvy customer base and allowing for direct communication, but challenges come where customers require support and advice in complex processes.