Hippo insuretech agrees to $5 billion merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Z

Julie Campbell
Insurance News Hippo insuretech has announced that it will be merging with SPAC #insurancenews

This makes the insurance business the latest of many to fuse with special purpose acquisition companies. Hippo insuretech has announced that it will be merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Reinvent Technology Partners Z. The deal has valued the Californian insurance technology company at about $5 billion. Hippo Enterprises first launched in 2015. The Hippo insuretech sells homeowners insurance directly to consumers, promising fast quotes in a minute or less and the ability to purchase a policy within 5 minutes. Once the transaction closes, the insurance technology company will…

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Why Insurance Companies Can’t Stand Old Lead Water Pipes

Guest Author
potential significant health risk from the water, old lead pipes also come with an increased risk of cracks #homeowners #insurance

Insurance companies regularly remind homeowners and business owners of the downsides of old lead water pipes.  There are two main cautions homeowners insurance companies such as Allstate and State Farm, among others, address on their official blogs and social media accounts: The health risk of lead in the water The increased risk of broken or bursting water pipes leading to mold and flooding. Can You Get Lead Poisoning from Water? Lead is poisonous. It can enter your body through the water you drink or through your lungs when you breathe…

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Berkshire’s 2020 underwriting profit got a shot in the arm from GEICO

Logan B.
Underwriting profit - Person holding out cash

The company’s income was black, even when its P/C reinsurance experience notable losses. Berkshire Hathaway recently reported that despite the widespread losses it saw in insurance on the whole, it managed to see property/casualty underwriting profit last year due to GEICO’s performance. The number two insurer in the United States managed to more than double its profits from 2019. The results GEICO brought Berkshire Hathaway brought its full-year property/casualty income into the black, despite having seen underwriting losses in P/C reinsurance in both 2019 and 2020. All tolled, GEICO brought…

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Do your employees need a supplemental accident benefit if they have a health plan?

Julie Campbell
Supplemental benefit accident health insurance with Allstate for small businesses explained #localagent #businessinsurance #accidentinsurance

Savvy employers are using this insurance to help workers to fill coverage gaps. A supplemental accident benefit, like other types of supplemental insurance policy, is a type of coverage that fills the gap left behind by many types of traditional health plan. Employers are increasingly offering this coverage as an appealing way to draw talented, loyal employees.  Employers give the employee the option to pay all or some of the costs of this coverage. Adding a supplemental accident benefit and other similar forms of “sidekick” coverage to a benefits package,…

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GEICO reports over 20 percent drop in property damage and collision claims last year

Nordstrom
Property damage - car accident - damage

The auto insurer’s data showed its claims fell through the floor throughout the first year of the pandemic. In a recent statement from the company, GEICO shared data showing that its collision claim frequency fell by “twenty-three to twenty-four percent” and property damage dropped by even more. The dropping claims frequency during the pandemic’s first year led to far greater year-over-year profits. The onset of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 vastly reduced the property damage and collision claims, allowing GEICO to more than double its profitability when compared to 2019.…

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Insurers from Progressive to Lemonade adopt insurance customer service chatbots

G. Turner
Insurance customer service chatbots - person using mobile phone

The majority of consumers and policyholders are comfortable using the tech for basic questions. Providers from insuretech like Lemonade to established, traditional insurers like Progressive are looking to insurance customer service chatbots to boost the response possible in support of their agents. This technology is being used for low-complexity questions to leave agents open for more complex issues. Progressive has built out its insurance customer service chatbots from a text interaction exclusively over Facebook Messenger, through to a Google assistant conversational experience that is voice activated. That tech is powered…

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Allstate loses long-held second place in home state Illinois auto insurance market

H. Cutner
Illinois auto insurance - image of Chicago, Illinois

The insurer has long held the number two position in the state, but Progressive’s growth was faster. Progressive has, for the first time, taken Allstate’s position in its Illinois auto insurance home state market. Based on a key measure, Allstate has lost the position it has been holding for decades. Based in Cleveland, Ohio Progressive now provides Illinois auto insurance for a larger number of vehicles than Allstate, which is based in Northbrook. This tally uses the figures filed with the state Department of Insurance. Possibly more importantly, Progressive’s rapid…

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