The Insurance Record - August 7, 2014

Calendar of Events 4

IVANS Announces IVANS Connect 4

Ryan Brannan Appointed WC Commissioner 5

Reserving for Asbestos Still a Challenge for P&C Industry 6

Cover Story: IIAT Elects Leadership at 117th Annual Meeting 8

TDI Releases 2014

Enforcement Action Summaries 9

DWC Cites Dispute Information 13

Selling Strategies: Sales Rules That Work 14

DWC Issues Informal EDI Rules 16

Commissioner Rathgeber Appoints Advisory Committee 18

Autonomous Cars: Bring ’Em On, Drivers Say in Survey 20

Casual Comments by Glen E. Hargis 22

Table of Contents

PolicyGenius Finds Texans
Uncertain on Insurance

By Bill Kidd, Austin Correspondent

AUSTIN — Results of a poll conducted for independent insurance broker PolicyGenius show most Texans believe they don’t have the correct amounts or types of insurance they need — but don’t consider getting the correct amounts and types a high priority.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., company says a consumer survey, conducted by Onepoll from June 24 to 30, revealed that most Americans (50 percent) don’t think they have the right level of insurance, and don’t rank it as a high financial priority.

Only 42 percent of Texans believe that they have the right types and amount of insurance, the survey found.

The survey also found 24 percent believe they have more insurance than they need and 27 percent believe they have less insurance than they need.

PolicyGenius reports 62 percent of Texans are “do it yourselfers” when it comes to insurance questions, and will “research it themselves online” (3 percent higher than the national average).

Of the Texans who research online
to get their insurance questions an-
swered, only 35 percent believe they
have the right types and amount of
insurance
And only 18 percent of Texas re-
spondents ranked getting the right
insurance as their top priority.

“Paying down debt was the highest priority for 33 percent of Texan respondents, followed by saving for retirement (26 percent) and sticking to a budget ( 23 percent).

“The lower prioritization of insur-
ance could explain why 38 percent
of Texans are not too confident that
they’re protected against major fi-
nancial risks,” PolicyGenius said.

Additional insights about Texas respondents who believe they’re un-der-insured include:

33 percent who reported being • underinsured said they looked into the insurance they needed but didn’t go through with it.

57 percent of underinsured re- • spondents reported having a neutral or negative experience when they last dealt with insurance ( excluding health insurance).

52 percent of Texan respondents • who said that they were underinsured felt they had both a life and health insurance gap while 43 percent reported only a life insurance gap.

And 38 percent of Texan respon- • dents preferred the experience of buying a used car over buying insurance on their own, PolicyGenius reports.

Jennifer Fitzgerald, PolicyGenius
co-founder and chief executive offi-
cer, said the confusion among Texans
about the right level of insurance for
their individual needs demonstrates
“a need for education in the frag-
mented insurance marketplace.”
PolicyGenius hopes to help pro-
vide that education to consumers,
Fitzgerald told The Insurance Record.

“We also noticed that Texas respondents don’t consider insurance a high priority, which is why so few are also comfortable with the level of insurance they have.

“This may have to do with the shopping experience. We’re looking forward to working with insurance industry partners and using our digital platform to change that.

“There’s a very serious gap in insurance understanding, protection, and access in the U.S., which certainly resonated with the survey’s Texas respondents,” Fitzgerald commented.

Among the national findings were these.

Women are less comfortable than men about their protection against financial risks, with 41 percent of women “not too confident’ and 61

percent of men “pretty confident.”

Most respondents take an online, • do-it-yourself approach to getting their insurance questions answered and associate a negative shopping experience to feeling underinsured.