What:
OXXO, the largest convenience store chain in Mexico, is partnering with Chubb to introduce a new insurance offering.
Why:
Many travelers are unaware that driving without insurance in the US can have serious consequences. Chubb’s insurance offering with OXXO will help increase access to auto insurance and reduce this risk.
How:
- As part of the partnership, drivers of cars with Mexican license plates will be able to purchase car insurance that covers them when traveling to the US.
- The product includes coverage for damages to third parties, medical expenses to occupants, roadside assistance, and legal defense services.
- Coverage can be bought for days, weeks, months, or up to 365 days.
- The coverage is available in over 21k OXXO stores, with the main focus in the 7 northern states of Mexico – Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.
- Customers can select the desired plan at the store and pay the premium to the cashier to later receive a code to activate the insurance policy, either by calling Chubb’s call center or visiting its website.
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What:
Verisk is expanding its claims ecosystem by teaming up with Tractable.
Why:
By integrating with Tractable, which uses computer vision technology to visually assess damage to homes, Verisk will be able to accelerate insurance claims processing and home repairs.
How:
- Tractable’s AI property solution allows policyholders to take and submit photos of damage through a mobile-friendly, web-based app.
- The AI, trained on a large database of claims and damaged property, then quickly identifies, classifies, and measures the property damage, enabling automated estimates to be generated on Verisk’s Xactimate® platform.
- With Tractable’s AI, insurers that use Xactimate can access reliable property estimates and help cut the time to settle a property claim from months to one day.
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What:
Allianz Partners and Bridgestone EMIA have agreed to join forces to co-create new offers and services around each partner’s key areas of expertise: tyres and insurance.
Why:
The tyre insurance programme is an extension of an existing offering to bring ease and peace of mind to customers.
How:
- As an initial offering, they have developed a tyre insurance programme for Bridgestone’s existing and new truck and bus fleet customers.
- The tyre insurance programme covers the replacement of flat tyres caused by sharp objects or curb side collisions, which are typically not protected in the case of damage.
- The partners are also already working on other joint projects, such as the expansion of the tyre insurance protection programme to passenger vehicles.
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What:
Blue Marble announces a pilot program with Nescafé in Indonesia for smallholder coffee farmers.
Why:
Smallholder coffee farmers in Indonesia are vulnerable to climate risks and need access to affordable crop insurance to protect against severe climate events and build financial resilience.
How:
- This new program will initially pilot excess rainfall and drought parametric insurance with smallholder coffee farmers in the Tanggamus District in Lampung, Indonesia.
- It will also act as a cost-effective safety net for smallholder farmers, whilst at the same time helping Nescafé build resilience into the global supply chain.
- The goal of the program is to design weather index insurance for smallholder coffee farmers, tailored to the microclimate of each coffee grower’s geographic location and the specific weather risks to the variety of coffee they are growing, validated by historic loss experience.
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What:
Sophos has partnered with Cowbell to allow Sophos customers to directly share their security health information with Cowbell for optimal premium quotes and policies.
Why:
Despite the increasing cyber-attacks, 52% of SMEs reported they needed a higher level of cybersecurity to qualify for coverage, while 44% said policies are now more complex, and 37% found that fewer insurance providers are offering them coverage. Sophos and Cowbell hope to bridge this gap.
How:
- Sophos endpoint customers will be able to ‘opt-in’ to share with Cowbell their endpoint security health status from the Sophos Central platform, using a new data connector.
- This connection will streamline Cowbell’s risk assessment process, allowing assessors to evaluate Sophos customers’ defenses against the requirements needed for insurance policies.
- It will also enable Sophos and Cowbell to provide real-time feedback to customers about how to improve their practices and risk profile if needed.
- In addition to the connector between Sophos Central and Cowbell, which will be available in April, Sophos will facilitate access to Cowbell insurance through the Sophos Marketplace.
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What:
RGA, together with their global accelerator RGAX LLC, has announced the launch of Plan V Care, a digital cancer-only product designed for women.
Why:
RGA research revealed that cancer is the top concern for women ages 28-38. Using these insights and its global expertise, RGA has partnered with health tech specialists to develop Plan V Care.
How:
- In partnership with Covéa Life and Direct Life and Pensions, RGA has developed a direct-to-consumer proposition specifically tailored to meet the needs of female millennials.
- Until now, the complicated nature of critical illness and cancer-only products has been a barrier to selling directly to customers.
- However, over the past year, RGAX and RGA have worked closely to develop an innovative, direct-to-consumer cancer product supported by UnderwritingPal (UWPal), the companies’ recently launched, cloud-based digital underwriting service.
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What:
GEICO and what3words have partnered to provide enhanced roadside assistance to customers across the US.
Why:
When breakdowns or roadside incidents occur in places with no precise street addresses, like the side of a highway or a remote road, it can be difficult to describe where help is needed.
How:
- With what3words, GEICO teams can pinpoint a customer’s precise locations, dispatch assistance to that exact location, and provide help as quickly as possible.
- what3words divides the globe into a grid of 10ft x 10ft squares and gives each square a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. Customers can say exactly where a breakdown has happened with just these 3 words when they contact the GEICO team instead of relying on approximate descriptions for help.
- When customers contact GEICO Roadside Assistance teams, they will automatically be sent a link that opens a page in the mobile browser and displays their current what3words location for them to read out.
- Alternatively, if the caller already has the free what3words app downloaded, they can read their three words out directly from the app.
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What:
Comcast’s Notion is working with Peril Protect, LLC on behalf of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance to support its pilot Smart Home Protection Program by providing eligible policyholders with Notion 5-Sensor Starter Kits.
Why:
About one in 60 insured homes in the U.S. has a property damage claim caused by water damage or freezing each year. But with Notion, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance hopes to help homeowners proactively prevent or mitigate these risks.
How:
- Notion’s system will help participants of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance’s pilot program to proactively monitor and detect damaging perils, such as water leaks.
- The Smart Home Protection Program not only provides policyholders with the Notion Home Monitoring System free of charge, but also makes clients eligible for an up to 15% discount on their homeowners’ insurance premium upon installation.
- Notion’s DIY smart home sensors can monitor for water leaks, the opening of doors and windows, temperature changes, and alarms sounding in the home.
- The sensors can be installed in under 15 minutes without professional help and managed via an app.
- Notion users can also upgrade to Notion PRO for additional alerts and 24/7 professional monitoring at $10 a month.
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What:
HSB has announced a strategic agreement with Schneider Electric to expand their suite of risk management technologies and financial protections.
Why:
Through their collaboration, the companies will bring their customers a combination of technology products and services for electrical and equipment risks.
How:
- In their first joint effort, HSB will provide performance guarantees for Schneider Electric’s ArcBlok™ 2500 electrical risk management technology, which helps prevent and limit dangerous electrical arc flashes occurring within industrial motor control centers and electrical switchboards.
- HSB will also create new financial products, including warranties and performance guarantees, for customers of Schneider Electric EcoStruxure™ Power solutions.
- In addition, the companies will explore new data products that benefit insurers and their policyholders.
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What:
AXIS Capital Holdings has launched a Specialty Package Policy for manufacturers (“SPPm”) to cover a range of general and environmental liability exposures in one integrated insurance package.
Why:
As businesses’ general liability and environmental risks become more intertwined, SPPm aims to offer an integrated approach to partners, enabling them to manage complex, specialist risk and coverage considerations in a simple, seamless, and cost-effective manner.
How:
- Exposures covered by SPPm include those associated with manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, and processing operations, as well as waste storage, treatment, and disposal facilities.
- Coverages available through SPPm include:
- ISO-based CGL, including products and products pollution liability
- non-owned site pollution liability
- transportation pollution
- premises pollution liability
- employee benefits administration
- emergency response expense coverage
- product withdrawal expense
- The new policy is available for US-based manufacturing and distribution operations with revenues up to $2B.
- In addition, a new excess policy (“SPXm”) also provides excess liability coverage for manufacturers covering primary general liability, pollution, product pollution, excess auto, and employers’ liability.
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