July 27, 2021 – Commercial lines insurers continue to raise rates, seek growth through expanded jurisdictions and new products, and adopt analytics more broadly. Insurers want to drive down the cost of service, refine pricing and underwriting, and pursue growth. COVID-19 poses revenue and loss risk for certain lines of business, but insurers report limited changes to their business and technology strategies.

This report provides an overview of commercial lines insurer business and technology issues, data about the marketplace, and over 15 examples of recent technology investments by commercial lines insurers.

Topics

• Recent market and financial trends
• Active insurer landscape
• Technology issues, priorities, and examples by functional area
• Top technology priorities for 2021 and beyond

Key Points and Findings

Commercial lines insurers continue to invest most heavily in distribution across digital, data, and core. Support for agents remains key to customer acquisition and retention, and direct sales capabilities will grow more important for small business products and program business.

Insurers are leveraging new data sources, especially in underwriting and claims. Insurers are obtaining data from drones, IoT, and telematics for automotive and commercial property lines in addition to data from external third-party data providers, including web and social media data aggregators, for all lines of business.

Commercial lines insurers are increasingly adopting AI and analytics. Insurers are using them in claims, customer service, and underwriting to improve claims outcomes, augment customer satisfaction, and optimize risk selection and pricing.