“So many discussions across industries are the same discussions, with just a different wrapper.” – Joe Kirgues

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Conferences have a routine.

You wake up at the hotel, meet for coffee downstairs, network amongst each other on the conference floor, attend a few keynotes,, go out to dinner, and then repeat the motions the next day.

But what happens when you put a conference inside a sports stadium? And only make it one day?

The answer is in today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech—where we are joined by Joe Kirgues, co-founder of the Milwaukee-based gener8tor program—a startup accelerator with other prongs to its business, one of which is the OnRamp Conference series. The OnRamp Insurance Conference brings together the insurance industry’s leading corporations, investors and startups. The conference highlights innovations disrupting the insurance industry, the leaders making such innovations possible and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry.

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“It’s a 50/50 chance—or a coin flip—that in any given year, a major hurricane will hit the U.S based on historical data.” – Dr. Philip Klotzbach

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Weather is becoming easier to predict.

With the advancing technologies and increasing quantities of data, forecasting storms and hurricanes is becoming less and less of a challenge.

And for those of us in the insurance industry, this accuracy and preparedness is incredibly valuable.

That’s why for today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined again by Dr. Phil Klotzbach. Dr. Phil Klotzbach is a Research Scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, and among many achievements—he developed the two-week forecasts currently being issued during the peak months of the hurricane season between August-October. He has published over two dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Climate and Weather and Forecasting.

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“If we treat an insured exceptionally well—we know that person will talk to others.” – Darin McCarthy

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Claims is thought to serve one function in the insurance ecosystem.

A loss occurs and we process the claim as a response to the damage done. The accuracy of the claim, the efficiency of the claim—these are the things we look at to make sure that the claim is doing what it needs to do.

But what happens when we start to approach claims from a sales point-of-view?

On today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech—we are joined by Darin McCarthy, Head of Claims at Hippo Insurance. Hippo is one of the leading insurance technology companies in today’s ecosystem, providing coverage without the paperwork and back-and-forth you get in the agent model.

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“You have to have a culture that’s on board with change. People have to be excited about it, not scared of it.” – Alyssa Hunt

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There will always be loss.

Natural disasters, human error, or even just the everyday motions of life—one thing we know for certain is that our homes, our property, our cars—they are all at-risk of being damaged.

Enter the insuretech solutions—which range from automating the claims processes during these moments of loss all the way to gathering enough data to prevent the event from happening in the first place.

On today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by Alyssa Hunt, the Vice President of QBE North America to discuss the future of claims. QBE Insurance Group is one of the world’s top 20 insurance and reinsurance companies, located in 37 countries.

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“What’s really driving the change at our company is virtualization.” – John Hall

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Technology, technology, technology.

It seems that everywhere you turn—someone in the insurance industry is talking about the power of technology. But at the end of the day—a claim is a loss, and losses are emotional things.

And no matter how you look at it—people are better at handling at emotions than robot.

That’s why on today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are gathering for a roundtable discussion at the PLRB conference.

The featured speakers are:

• Dan Moore, QBE North America
• Scott Sprague, Westfield Insurance
• Pat Sinnard, Great American Insurance
• Jill Thomas, National General Insurance
• John Hall, Worley/ASI
• Mick Zondory, Kemper Preferred
• Bo Helms, Shelter insurance
• Matt D. Fatheree, Fourseventy Claims

Tune in to this episode to hear the group’s insights as they span from managing employee expectations to the future of insurance technology.

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“It’s important we leverage technology to enable human-to-human contact.” – Jennifer Hevelone

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Technological innovation is occurring at an unprecedented rate.

Across every industry, you see the systems of yesterday being replaced with the new and shiny toys of the future. More often than not, these technologies do more good for the company’s bottom line than bad. But, over time, if a company becomes too attached to the latest and greatest—they lose sight of the human touch that’s necessary for a stellar customer experience.

That’s why on today’s episode of the FNO: podcast, we are joined by Jennifer Whiteaker-Hevelone to discuss the carrier’s responsibility to care for the policyholder. Jennifer is the Chief Operating Officer at Eberl Claims Service Inc.—and in today’s conversation, she shares her 20+ years of experience in the insurance industry with us.

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“A lot of things are evolution. Not revolution.” – Tim Bruffey

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People used to think of adjusting as an art.

That there was a touch to inspecting damage, writing scope notes, and sending it off to the insurance company. But about five years ago, the insurance industry started to see the opportunity for machines to assist in the process.

Now, we live in an age where drones and robots are able to compute the cost. This shift is the impetus for much of the discussion around insuretech.

That’s why on today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by Tim Bruffey—the Vice President of Innovation at Accurence. The Accurence Smart Automated Guideline Engine (S.A.G.E.™) automates key adjusting components including: inspection, claim documentation, scoping, estimating, and auditing across multiple perils.

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“In 2019, the chance for a weak to moderate El Niño is definitely on the table.” – Dr. Philip Klotzbach

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Sandy, Katrina, Dennis—these are the names of catastrophic storms that devastated millions of people and left billions of dollars in damages.

Hurricanes are sure to happen, but how can our increasing knowledge and advancing technologies help us better predict their behaviors?

On today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech—we are joined by Dr. Philip Klotzbach to discuss all things related to hurricanes.  Phil Klotzbach is a Research Scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, and among many achievements—he developed the two-week forecasts currently being issued during the peak months of the hurricane season between August-October. He has published over two dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Climate and Weather and Forecasting.

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On today’s episode of FNO: InsureTech—we are discussing the upcoming PLRB conference. Seated are Matt D. Fatheree, Rob Beller, Lee Boyd, and Janine Davis. Tune in to this episode to get the inside scoop for the upcoming event!

PLRB, Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo is being held this year in Indianapolis from March 31 – April 3, 2019.

For more information about PLRB, visit:  plrbclaimsconference.org

If you have any questions—you can reach Janine Davis at janine@470claims.com

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“It’s more likely that a homeowner will have to file a claim for water damage than fire and theft combined.” – Gabriel Halimi

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A whole economy exists after the claim has been made.

From adjusters to call centers, carriers to providers—this ecosystem of service and transaction defines the insurance claims space.

But what happens when technologies get introduced that lessen the chance for a claim ever needing to be made?

On today’s episode of the FNO: InsureTech, we are joined by CEO and Co-founder of Flo Technologies—Gabriel Halimi. Flo is a first of its kind water control and monitoring service that proactively detects microleaks and other vulnerabilities anywhere in a home water system (thus, reducing the need for claims.) Gabriel’s father, Henry Halimi, invented the technology—with his 25 years as a fluid mechanics engineer, plumbing manufacturer, and inventor.

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