The National Association of Mutual Insurers (NAMIC) held its 2023 Annual Convention on September 17-20 in National Harbor, Maryland. During the convention, AAIS sat down with Debbie Wagner, Executive Vice President of e2Value, to discuss the major trends affecting mutual insurers, how the economy is impacting the market, and what e2Value is doing to help carriers.

Major Trends Affecting Mutual Insurers

Wagner admitted that 2023 has not been a great year for carriers. “Everybody's still being affected by the storms and fires and hurricanes and high wind,” she said. “If you haven't been affected by it yet, as a carrier, you probably will be.” Additionally, she mentioned that a lot of companies have been merging. “There are companies that may not survive the rest of the year,” Wagner stated. “These companies can't keep doing the same thing they've been doing; they're looking for new ways to prove their book of business, recalculate the properties, and make sure they're getting the proper amount of premium and rates.”

How Economic Conditions are Affecting the Market

Because of construction costs, labor has had a major impact on the industry, according to Wagner. She acknowledged there is a worker deficiency due to the construction industry being an aging workforce. She also explained that it is important for carriers to apply the appropriate inflation factors to their costs. "[At e2Value], we’re keeping up with all the construction costs and making sure that they're applying the appropriate amount of inflation because construction costs have gone up quite a bit over the last few years,” said Wagner. “[Carriers should also take] a good, hard look at their book of business to make sure they're getting the proper amount of premium and rates.”

How e2Value is Helping Carriers

E2Value is helping carriers re-examine their book of business. “We're recalculating either all of their properties or a portion of their properties that are on their book,” Wagner claimed. “Folks at e2Value have spent a lot of time over the last year at national or state association events as well as carrier and agency meetings talking about the importance of insurance to value and construction costs, as well as working on special projects with insurance companies and reinsurance companies.”

 To view the full interview with Debbie Wagner, please click the video above.