October 10, 2025 | 14:16
Dani: We’re back with Trust Talks, an Insurtech Insights podcast hosted by Clearspeed. I'm your host, Dani Ng-See Quan. Trust, it's on everyone's minds. Whether it's with the consumer, the vendor, the insurer, these trusted relationships are critical to the industry, but are we doing all we can to build them? And are we firing on all cylinders when it comes to achieving profitability, efficiency, and consumer loyalty? We're on with Greg Crawford. Greg is based in New York, and he's the managing editor of P&C Specialist. He's also reported on business, whether Wall Street or Capital Markets. So let's hear what he has to say about the insurance industry. Welcome, Greg. Thanks for being here.
Greg: Thanks for having me Dani. It's good to see you.
Dani: I'm gonna get right into it insurance for profit industry Where do you see money being left on the table? And what do you think insurers can do to address this?
Greg: I see insurers leaving money on the table in the areas of which really speaks to the issue of trust of what they spent a lot of money on advertising and marketing which I understand I'm not a marketer, but I understand it. But it seems to me that some of those assets could be better spent in terms of customer relations and really delivering a message to consumers like how we're here to help you, as opposed to simply, oh, here's my, we've named a stadium or we're sponsoring this golf tournament, things like that. I understand like getting the word out, but they do that so well to begin with and at some point it simply just becomes wallpaper and what are you actually doing to talk to consumers directed like here's how we're here to help you because what I feel like is anyone who has an experience with an insurance company it's really not usually a good thing right something bad happens. So if you get in a car accident a storm topples a tree on your house so you're starting out with sort of one hand tied behind your back so you really have to work harder to kind of build that trust and I feel there's a gap there that I think insurers could do a better job at.
Dani: I think it's a great point Greg and at a couple times during these conversations so far we've heard folks say they also feel that they need to change the narrative you know and and also the education side of it to consumers you know what do we actually do here's how you can use us and also perhaps not limit the communications to once a year or reminders of renewals, but more a continuous education. So I think that's a great point. On that topic or in that vein, consumer trust has taken a hit. Like we talked about the echo chamber, kind of what folks are seeing in the media, and I'm gonna speak to you as someone in the media, and the big stories that are coming out. So where do you think, other than perhaps not as strong a message as they could have, where else has the industry fallen off with that consumer trust aspect and how do you think they can or should rebuild it?
Greg: so one of the areas that I think that you're seeing that trust fall off,.. so take auto insurance for instance yep the business becomes super profitable and a large part of that is because the carriers have been raising rates for the last two years or so yeah right so COVID hit nobody drove everything went down everybody came back and so they're behind the eight ball and so there are many reasons why rates weren't where they needed to be quote unquote and so there have been significant rate increases over the last couple of years and now these companies are making money hand over fist and so the narrative out there is that just that right so rates are higher and they're going higher and you know we report a lot when the company files for rate increase and you see that and so where the gap is is in terms of like communicating and they'll say like well if we don't and here's the story it's like if we can't get the rate that we need we're gonna pull out of that market well that's not very helpful to me as a consumer right like what am I left with it and and if the story as well we have to get to this rate otherwise we're not profitable to your point right there it's a profit for profit industry well I don't really care whether my insurance company is profitable or not. I care whether they're going to cover if I get in an accident or something like that. So how do you tell that story? Like, here's why we're raising rates or are there ways that they can incent people so that a rate increase is, is not simply taking more money out of my wallet? Does that make sense?
Dani: Yes, it does. And it's interesting as well that you say that previous conversation we had, There has been absolute acknowledgment that just simply increasing rates can't continue because everything does go down to the consumer ultimately, so it's like there is an awareness, but there's also a broader change to the system. I think that needs to take place where There's regulations that sometimes put a cap on you know, but then there's Catastrophic events that you can't control that are also putting pressure on those rates so to your point it's kind of like this system maybe is not working and I don't know if there's a way that there like what are the fundamental shifts that would need to happen for that system to work better?
Greg: I think one of the areas I think about is homeowners insurance so I was at a conference a few weeks ago and there was a presentation from a company about and they surveyed homeowners in Florida, Louisiana, and maybe Texas. And they asked the question, why are you preparing for hurricanes when you know they're coming? And they talked about how long it took for people to do something. They'll put plywood on their windows. And it's like the day before the storm is going to hit. Even though they knew maybe a week earlier, a storm was forming and things like that. And where is the gap? Where do the insurance companies fall off? And it turned out that, by and large, people don't trust their insurance company. So when something happens, they're not a trusted source, even though they should be. And so related to that-- so closing that gap, I think, is important. And it's more than-- so I saw a press release the other day from an insurance company. And they also surveyed consumers. And it was like, where are there gaps in home protection? you know that to me I was like okay that's fair enough but that doesn't really help a consumer what they should have been asking is like where can we as an industry or as a company help you close that where where do you need help like so it seems like the insurance companies take this it's about me approach right and they put out oh you know we've set up our catastrophe tents and we've we've um you know we close x number a thousand claims after this storm, that's all well and good. But how are you helping me, whose roof got torn off, you know, or who my car just got towed. And so I think that's where the gap exists, where they can close that gap. So for instance, with this press release, they could have surveyed companies and said, like I said, where can the insurance companies? Where's the industry falling short in terms of helping you build that confidence so that when the storm hits, you know that we're a trusted source, like, is it, if you send me a list of approved contractors that I can use, how about that? You know, that seems pretty simple to me. So it's little things like that. And I do see a lot of press releases coming out, a lot of the community involvement that companies are doing. And that's great. You know, a company gives, you know, a car to a disabled veteran and things like that. All those, those are all good things. I'm not saying they shouldn't do those things, but it's got to be more than that. It really has to be on a granular level, right?, back to this press release. I mean, hate to harp on it, but like that's going to go out. And what are they hoping to get out of that? You know, maybe a news organization like P&C specialist would pick it up and run it. But like if I'm, you know, Joe Smith in Boise, Idaho, I'm not going to see that. And I don't really care, you know. So I think there's definitely room for improvement around things like that.
Dani: What I'm hearing there, Greg, is that's feeding the perception that maybe is not fully accurate. And I'm saying that based on other conversations that I've had with folks who are aware of this, but seems to be the perception out there is like a lack of empathy in a way for the consumer or perhaps, you know, falling down in building that insurer and consumer relationship. The other thing that's come up quite a bit is consumers today, they're used to access to the things they need relatively quickly. We have Netflix and it'll serve up suggestions for us. We can add things to our shopping list, things like that. So then how can insurance be made more accessible? And to your point, all of the other things like the added set of vendors I should I should be using to repair my roof and not just you know kind of a set of limitations almost but more like what is possible if it seems right and do you have any examples you want to share on either side of this in terms of what we've talked about
Greg: I think that flipping back to the auto side yeah companies have spent a lot of money on developing apps telematics and I think there's an opportunity for them to tighten that relationship you know we've heard it said like oh the insurance company should get to where sort of consumer banking is with you know stylized apps to help you you know go into positive check move money around pay your bills just like that and you know the apps are pretty good they're getting there I think on the insurance side of things and so that's helpful but It's not a critical and again if you have to go to your insurance app It's probably not for a good reason you're paying your bill. Oh, that's tough. That's a stiff bill Exactly, yeah, but you know so what are there ways to to kind of get over that hump. So you know one is it in development simply developing things that are more valuable to consumers and that takes Research right talking to people and understanding. What is it that you need that we can deliver for you? I know there's a hesitancy around telematics. Like, well, if I load-- and it's sort of this push me, pull you type of situation where it's like, well, if you have our app, then we'll give you a discount. Well, if I put your app on my phone, is that me tracking my driving? Are you going to charge me more? So how do you solve that problem, right? And I think that's the perception, is that the reality-- I don't I really know. I know of them, but there's a lot of research around that. But there's an area where, clearly, the insurance industry could say, we're not tracking you for that reason. We're tracking you to help you give you tips. I was thinking about this this morning. What could the insurance industry do to help that customer relationship improve? I thought, what about-- and I got some email about-- I forgot what it was. But it was like, oh, this you get you know this perk yeah so what if you say if you go six months to drive it without an accident or without a ticket we'll give you a $50 gift card to something or other you know or something along that not just like oh well if you do this oh you're safe driving record so we'll lower your premium I mean that's good but you know we're in this society where you know you have these rewards so many things in our world there's like reward even to games that we play yeah oh you get oh yeah we got a little cup that's useless, right? It doesn't, there's no value, but you do the game and you get a cup and you feel good. That, that kind of thing, you know? I don't know if it's quite gamification, which is a word that people talk about.
Dani: It sounds like we're talking about consumerization, gamification, personalization, but also make the incentives speak to the customer at an individual level, as well as how it impacts their longer term record. And also what I was hearing from you is that there is perhaps a bit of data exchange. I mean we can call it a trust exchange honestly. It's like well I'm gonna trust you to have my data and trust that you're gonna do good things with it for me. And I think there is and it has been acknowledged as well. I think there is a lot of communication that has to happen around that because in a different conversation in a different practice that I had you talk about, OK, well, how much am I willing to give up if it's going to be convenient for me? And it's actually quite a bit. So to your point, finding that balance, I think, is spot on. So to wrap us up, Greg, do you have a final takeaway or for the leaders who are listening, is there something you would want them to know or something that you think they should be doing, like right now?
Greg: So in terms of what leaders in the industry ought to be doing, I would say it's a guy referenced this earlier. Turn the focus away from themselves. It's not about-- I mean, at the end of the day, it is what you're going to be able to get out of it. But it's really forward-looking, outward -looking. Instead of like, here are the gaps. Here's where consumers are falling short in terms of protecting your driving habits, you know, press releases about how many teens get in accidents over. Okay, that's interesting. But if I'm a teen, well, first of all, I'm not gonna see that press release. It doesn't do me any good. Right, right. So it's really that sort of like, it's not all about you, it's about your customers. And how do you connect with them? Understand, look, as I said, it's beginning, you know, they're almost starting with one hand tied behind their backs. So it's a big job, I'm not saying it's easy. Think about all the money that you're spending in terms of advertising and promotions and marketing. Look, the top names we all know because they're ubiquitous, they're everywhere. I don't need to know, I don't really need to see another ad for a State Farm or Progressive or else, I know that they're there. And I understand, again, I'm not a marketer, I understand that presence of mind, but really talk to your consumers, find out what they need, and then figure out how to deliver that. Simple. I mean, simple to me.
Dani: Simple to you. I was going to say, okay, folks, so if you were questioning your narrative, you heard it first from the media right here, straight from the mouth of the babe. We'll leave it there, Greg. Thank you very much.
Greg: Thanks, it's great talking with you.