“Now, what I want is Facts,” says Thomas Gradgrind, in the opening lines of Hard Times by Charles Dickens; and as we enter a hard insurance market, he could well be speaking as the head of underwriting for a major commercial insurer.
The hard market is finally here, and insurance premiums that were already on the rise are set to continue on this trajectory. And whilst premiums will increase, coverage will narrow, as the insurance market looks to follow years of empty rhetoric about a focus on technical underwriting with action.
This, dare we say, long-overdue market correction, following years of widening coverage and falling rates, means that the insurance market will now be more inquisitive, more probing, and more selective in the risks it wants to take on.
In a hard market, knowledge is power, and good quality data feeds that knowledge. Risk managers with real, up-to-date insight and analysis of their risks and operations performance will be in a stronger position when it comes to insurance renewal negotiations than those who are not. They, or their brokers, will be able to hone in on the risks they really need covered and assess how their current coverage is performing.
Gathering, assessing, and analysing data from operations spread across the globe can be a challenging and time-consuming job, particularly for small risk management departments. But help is at hand through the new generation of innovative, automated and intelligent risk management system software.
Personalised and automated real-time data gathering, combined with powerful analytical capability and reporting tools can enable even the most time-poor risk manager to have detailed data at their fingertips – and at those of their brokers.
And for those companies that own their own data, the insurance broker not only has all the information they need on hand to present your risks in a powerful and persuasive way, but they also have an added incentive due to the portability of your data. After all, if you can change your broker with very little pain, then your broker knows they need to look after you well and work hard on getting you the right cover at the right price. Not that they would ever rest on their laurels…
Technology in a hard market really empowers risk managers through the gathering of accurate and relevant data insights. And in a hard market, that insight is exactly what insurers need. A hard market does not need to mean hard times.
Next steps
If you would like to learn more about how Ventiv can assist your renewal process, check out the case study below featuring Imperial Brands and Willis Towers Watson.
