New property-casualty technology applications have tended to add to rather than diminish underwriters' workload, according to a new survey.
Results from the study conducted by Accenture in conjunction with the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society, show also that where carriers have invested in technology, the systems are functioning effectively, but they support outmoded underwriting practices.
"Personal lines and small commercial lines insurers have applied technology to the underwriting process more so than middle market and large account commercial insurers," the report said.
But even those carriers must continue to operate with suboptimal technologies and have yet to apply technology to several processes that could benefit from automation, the report comments.
The property-casualty insurance industry is under-prepared for responding to the evolving market conditions. "Applying technology to key areas of property and casualty insurance underwriting brings the discipline needed to sustain the alignment of pricing, terms and exposures even under pressures to grow," the report says.
In the past, insurers have enjoyed the profitability that comes with hard markets, but have often overlooked the opportunity to prepare for soft markets that inevitably follow, the report noted.
Insurance executives' desire to maintain high level of growth and profitability will require new investments in capabilities that can help insurers sustain high performance even as the market shifts, the report concludes.
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