On a recent edition of AAIS Pulse, Crawford & Company CEO Rohit Verma and AAIS VP of Products John Kadous sat down to discuss the state of the insurance market, including topics such as the economy and supply chain, auto risks, climate change and natural catastrophes, data, and technology, and much more.

On a recent edition of AAIS Pulse, NAIC CEO Mike Consedine sat down with AAIS President and CEO Ed Kelly to share his insights on major regulatory issues facing the insurance industry and the NAIC.

Regulation plays an outsized role in the development of the auto insurance sector. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen an even higher than usual impact from wild fluctuations in rates, claims, premiums, and consumer reimbursements, to activities impacting the industry itself.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently wrapped up its fall meeting in San Diego, Ca., where it celebrated its 150^th Anniversary. It was a hybrid event with an estimated 1,200 people attending in person and another 1,800 virtually. AAIS Views caught up with our Manager Government Affairs and Compliance, Lori Dreaver Munn and AAIS VP of Memberships & Solutions Truman Esmond, who both attended in person to hear about some of the key themes and takeaways from the meeting.

As the pandemic rolls on, with the omicron variant providing the latest wrinkle, the auto market continues to be reshaped by COVID-19. Aside from the overall financial impact, now increasing claims, severity of claims and higher losses, and worsening consumer behavior are all leaving a mark. Here is the latest from around the industry:

In 2002, Amazon eliminated millions of dollars from its technology costs by switching to the Linux operating system, an open source technology platform from the Linux Foundation. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon stated it was able to cut technology expenses by about 25%, from $71 million to $54 million, primarily through “migration to a Linux-based technology platform that utilizes a less-costly technology infrastructure, as well as general price reductions for data and telecommunication services due to market overcapacity^[1]. Amazon continues its open source technology strategy today, as do thousands of other companies. Today, 96.3% of the world's top one million servers run on Linux^[2].

A Fast-Moving Auto Industry Presents Challenges and Opportunities

The automotive industry transformation continues to have significant repercussions in the insurance industry. With improving sophistication in car technology, telematics, and consumer behaviors, insurance carriers face new and unprecedented challenges spanning the entire lifecycle of the policy from research to claims. Still, personal and commercial auto insurance remain the industry bellwether as the largest product lines accounting for more than $300 billion in annual premiums.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck more than a year ago, travel restrictions and remote work and schooling kept people close to home. With far fewer places to go, there were less people and cars on the roads, which had numerous implications for the insurance industry.

IBM, who has partnered with AAIS on the development of the openIDL data-management platform on blockchain, has long been a strong proponent of open-source software development. Chris Ferris, an IBM Fellow and CTO for Open Technology at IBM, spoke to AAIS’s Joan Zerkovich on the importance of the open-source concept and the powerful outcomes IBM has seen from building technology in an open environment.

The auto industry is fueling up for new technology down the road. Fully autonomous vehicles and advanced crash-data analysis will all impact not only how the industry operates, but how it is insured as well.