Accurate risk assessment is key to mitigating exposure and to unlocking underwriting opportunities.

In an AAIS Webinar, FLAMES: The Modern Fire Protection Evaluation Model, AAIS Vice President Phil LeGrone, and AAIS Senior Risk Strategy Lead Matt Hinds-Aldrich, PhD, outlined the new fire model, FLAMES, and the advantages it offers over traditional models for underwriters assessing and managing non-cat fire risk.

For more than a year, COVID-19 has impacted the lives of millions, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. With more than 25 million cases in the US, nearly half a million dead, countless businesses closed and millions of people jobless without financial security, no one has been left unscathed. It has also raised significant issues for the insurance industry, particularly spurred by Business Interruption-related questions and litigation.

At AAIS, we are focused on delivering a Member experience that reflects the changing nature of insurance and the shifting needs of our Members as well as the insurance community. Our Members have expressed concerns about the value delivered by antiquated advisory models. Now, we’re responding with an innovative new approach to advisory services…our All Access Advisory Membership.  

COVID-19 has caused an abundance of challenges for businesses everywhere. With protective restrictions, nonessential businesses were forced to send employees home and, in many cases, shut down due to the threat of the rapidly spreading virus. These businesses deemed "nonessential," however, are essential to the livelihoods of many, leaving businesses in a state of panic. How were they to continue when they couldn't remain open? Many businesses that could feasibly function as a remote workforce have attempted the transition, and as COVID-19's threats persist, many schools have made the decision as well.

In August 2020, AAIS introduced its new Risk Awareness Service (RAS), a digital resource center tracking catastrophic risk and providing risk information in real time. At the inaugural AAIS Pulse Newsmagazine, AAIS VP Data and Actuarial Services Phil LeGrone described the Risk Awareness Service, its goals, and the value it can provide insurance carriers and the customers they serve. He also welcomed Jeff Waters, a Senior Product Manager at Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the leading modeling firms, to add his perspective on emerging modeling approaches and tools.

Recently, Dowling and Partners’ Gary Ransom spoke to AAIS CEO and President Ed Kelly during the Virtual Main Event, discussing how COVID-19 will touch nearly every aspect of the insurance ecosystem. The impact is pervasive. In fact, according to Mr. Ransom, the COVID-19 pandemic is on track to become the largest insurance event in history, according to one industry expert.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the insurance industry – and the world – permanently, and one expert believes the industry will respond well to the challenges set forth by this catastrophic event. AAIS’s Nicole Milos spoke with Fred Karlinsky, Co-chair Insurance Regulatory and Transactions Practice at Greenberg Traurig, about his views on the COVID-19 pandemic and the short- and long-term impacts the pandemic could have on the insurance industry.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, regulators quickly realized two problems. They would need to collect massive amounts of data and issue multiple data calls, particularly around business interruption, and there was no secure, efficient way to gather this data to truly understand the impact COVID-19 was having on the P&C market. With business interruption claims growing, a quick, effective solution was needed.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Storefronts and restaurants were shuttered; jobs were lost; many became ill, and most companies had to quickly adjust to a new, remote working environment. The effects of the pandemic are pervasive, and will have a lasting impact on families, communities, businesses, and the country for years to come.