Client Results
Retention
A leading carrier sought to improve its policy retention, a long-standing problem in its non-standard book. We utilized a multivariate Retention Model to identify the highest and lowest retaining customer segments, as well a thin slice of extremely high Loss Ratio segments. This enabled the company to take avoidance action on the high LR customers, and to target its retention dollars to the most opportune segments.
Fill-in PM
When two Product Managers left the company, a client found it didn’t have the right person on the team to handle one of its largest states, so we stepped in and handled that key state until a permanent replacement could be brought on board. We even helped identify and train that replacement.
Turnarounds
A client’s key state had initially flourished, but then seemed to just crater. Every step taken to turn it around only seemed to make things worse, and the state was soon both unprofitable and shrinking at an alarming rate. Morale was in the dumps for agents, sales managers, and everyone involved with the state. We brought a fresh look at the problem, unburdened by turf-battles or the need to defend past actions for the sake of ego or reputation. We quickly identified some simple actions to take — low-risk moves, but ones the signaled that the tide had turned back toward optimism. We also conducted an in-depth analytical review of the client’s LR results and competitive position, and found several opportunities to re-gain profitable growth. New business counts, after deteriorating for over a year prior, jumped over 50%, and a large state in danger of dying out was salvaged.
State Expansion
A specialty auto insurer decided to expand into Colorado. We created the non-standard auto product to fit that state’s unique coverage laws, conducted competitive analysis to set the launch prices, created the required forms, secured DOI approval, and even helped coordinate claims practices. The company reached its desired premium volume, and even reached an underwriting profit in Year One.
A leading auto insurer had adopted an aggressive growth posture, and sought the best markets to conquer next. We identified the three best target states and created a unique growth-oriented pricing scheme to jump-start their business, while still reaching their long-run profit targets. Each state saw outstanding growth and kept the underwriting mix at the desired risk profile.
Agent Quality
When an actuary and the head of agent marketing couldn’t agree on the right approach to take with agents with poor prior loss results, we built a predictive model to predict future loss ratios, using data already available to the company. We were able to identify tiers of agents so that rewarding (for the good agents) and preventative (for the bad) actions could be enacted. Sales managers reported that the tiers fit their intuitive sales senses more accurately than did a simple LR review.
Reinsurance
A large reinsurer wanted to bid for a specialty insurer in Louisiana. We reviewed their product design and their rating factors, and provided details recommendations in areas where the client could improve their position, thus reducing the risk to the reinsurer.
Product Strategy
With the acquisition of a non-standard auto insurer, a top p&c company sought to best integrate the best elements of its core business with the best elements of the newcomers. The two main products covered opposite ends of the underwriting spectrum, and were sold in entirely different ways — one solely through independent agents, and the other chiefly by direct mail and worksite offerings. We helped build a new, integrated and standardized product that enabled the company to reduce internal complexity (to the gratitude of both IT and customer service) and improve speed-to-market. This new product encompassed all levels of risk under one product umbrella, and was designed to work regardless of how it was marketed or sold.
Product Design
A leading auto insurer needed to upgrade its core product, to keep pace with or advance beyond its chief competition, which had recently leapt ahead with new sophisticated product designs. We did a complete review of those competitive offerings, noting where the company had fallen behind the leaders. We then conducted a series of brainstorming sessions with internal leaders, across all functions, to glean out innovative ideas. Those ones that fit best with the company’s culture and its strategic advantages, and that were feasible with the technology, were selected for the new design.
The new product enabled the company to regain its foothold with one of the Top 2 Product Designs in auto insurance, and was the chief platform during record profits over a 3-year period.