IIABA Hears CEOs Split On Hard Market Future

By Mark E. Ruquet

NU Online News Service, Sept. 23, 11;47 a.m. EDT, Las Vegas? Insurance executives, voicing disparate views at a roundtable here, saw the continuation of hard market pricing as uncertain or sure to extend for two more years.

The observations came during a discussion by chief executive officers at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Las Vegas Convention and InfoXchange, which ends tomorrow.

Jeff Post, CEO for Fireman's Fund, said the market has turned from being a hard market to a confused market. He said he thought rates were pretty close to adequate, but "there are a lot of other problems on the balance sheet we need to deal with." Some of these problems include asbestos, workers' compensation, and the low interest rates companies are getting on investments. Carriers continue to exit lines, making capacity a question in some lines.

"There's a real question where the market is going next," he said.

However, John Amore, CEO for Zurich North America, said he sees the hard market continuing "for a while longer." He said pricing continues to rise in casualty and specialty lines, especially workers' comp. Property, however, has "peaked" in the second quarter and there is some fallback on pricing.

There continue to be some issues that could affect property prices, such as terrorism, and, he added, a lot of unknowns remain.

Cathy Rein, CEO for MetLife Auto & Home, focusing on the question of the homeowners market, said her company to improve its rate adequacy is looking to find more good risks and then take on "its share" of the "not so good risks."

She said customers have to understand insurance is not a maintenance policy, but something that is there to help them recover in the face of catastrophic loss. She added that clients have to become more sophisticated; as they do, they will come to understand what insurance can do for them.

Dan Carmichael, CEO for Ohio Casualty Group, said his company has been seeing good rate increases. Clients have been renewing with these increases, and because of this his company sees some profitability in the line "on the horizon."

When asked about the use of credit scoring in the customer application process, Glenn Renwick, CEO for Progressive Insurance, said it has a strong future with companies, but there needs to be more attention paid to informing consumers about its use.

"We were a little clumsy introducing credit [scoring]," said Mr. Renwick, adding that the process could have been done a little more smoothly through the independent agent system.

He said there have been a number of lessons learned. One of these lessons is that the entire process needs to be transparent to consumers so that they know nothing is hidden from them.

Ms. Rein added that carriers have to do a better job of explaining the process to consumers. At the same time, it is a tool that still needs some refinement to ensure companies are getting their share of good risks.

In response to a question from Bob Rusbuldt, the panel moderator and CEO of IIABA, about asbestos and why independent agents should care, Mr. Post said agents should be concerned because the risk is driving insurers out of markets and putting companies out of business.

Mr. Amore noted that while past claims were against major corporations, the current spate of litigation is targeting the type of small corporations independent agents are normally involved with. Without tort reform, he suggested, the problem will grow worse.

He predicted, however, that it would be a long time before any legislation is ever concluded.

The CEOs said that on the question of refining the regulatory environment to improve business transactions and licensing, none were supportive of a federal regulatory system to solve the existing problems.

Mr. Renwick said federal standards should be put in place to bring some "common sense to the transaction of business," but he did not support the abolition of the state system of regulation.

"It's not clear that the system that you don't know about would be any better than what we have now," he said. "I would keep the state systems that we understand."

Mr. Post said that in some places insurance regulation is becoming too political and is not dealing with solvency or the protection of consumers. However, there is no "impetus" to fix the system at the moment, but "I see the water starting to boil" on the issue and that "the situation is going to change."

On the issue of technology, Mr. Carmichael said agents will not see systems that allow for easier access to company sites unless "you put pressure on them." He said Ohio Casualty is committed to making it easier for agents to do business.

Mr. Post said that because regulations make markets in differing states so diverse, it is impossible for insurers to create one system that can deliver everything in one technology package.

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IIABA Hears CEOs Split On Hard Market Future

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