Articles by Susanne Sclafane

Sclafane is Executive Editor of Carrier Management, a publication of Wells Media Group serving property/casualty insurance carrier executives. She is a media professional with deep background in the P/C insurance industry including 25 years as editor and reporter for trade magazines, online news services, digital journals. Her prior experience includes 14 years as a casualty actuary.

Allstate CEO Sees Untapped Opportunity in Direct-to-Consumer Homeowners Market

When Allstate’s chief executive officer looks at potential growth opportunities for personal lines insurers, he sees an untapped part of the homeowners insurance market — customers that will buy home insurance online. Speaking at the Bank of America U.S. Insurance …

With Rate Increases Still Pending, Lemonade Is Slowing Growth in ’23

Executives of insurtech Lemonade say they’re slowing down growth in 2023, as the company waits for regulators to approve rate hikes needed to keep up with inflation. “So long as these mismatched pockets persist, our growth will be more muted, …

Why Not Go Direct on Homeowners, Allstate CEO Asks

When Allstate’s chief executive officer looks at potential growth opportunities for personal lines insurers, he sees an untapped part of the homeowners insurance market—customers that will buy home insurance online. Speaking at the Bank of America U.S. Insurance Conference yesterday, …

Tesla Competing With ‘GEICOs of the World’ to Lower Insurance Prices

While executives of Tesla said the car maker’s insurance business isn’t yet big enough to warrant separate financial disclosure of its results, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk reiterated a benefit for Tesla owners: cheaper premiums. Speaking on an earnings conference …

No Class of 2023: Why Capital Is Sitting on the Reinsurance Sidelines

Until investors can be convinced that property-catastrophe reinsurance pricing has caught up with recurring event losses, they’ll continue to sit on the market sidelines, a market executive said recently. During an AM Best Reinsurance Briefing, Aditya Dutt, president of Aeolus …

Jan. 1 Renewals: ‘They Got Done’; Carrier Overreliance on Reinsurers Corrected

When an AM Best analyst said, “Apparently, things didn’t go that bad” to describe 1/1 reinsurance renewals, he wasn’t actually saying anything unique. Carlos Wong-Fupuy, a senior director for AM Best, who spoke during an online briefing on Monday, referred …

Not Time to Celebrate but Commercial Insurance Rates Are Stabilizing

With last year’s 25% rate hikes for public directors and officers liability insurance dropping to 2.5%, and 150% hikes for cyber cover sinking to 25%, significant softening is forecast for some casualty lines in 2023. Those reduced price hikes are …

Insurance Pricing: True D&O Buyer’s Market; Stabilized Commercial Auto

Insurance brokerage USI is forecasting that half of 32 commercial insurance product lines analyzed will experience softer pricing in the first half of 2023—including a predicted “buyer’s market” for directors and officers liability with some caveats. Comparing USI’s forecasts for …

Not Time to Celebrate Soft Market but Commercial Insurance Rates Are Stabilizing

With last year’s 25% rate hikes for public directors and officers liability insurance dropping to 2.5%, and 150% hikes for cyber cover sinking to 25%, significant softening is forecast for some casualty lines in 2023. Those reduced price hikes are …

State Farm Will Start Hiking Auto Rates, Allstate CEO Predicts

Allstate’s chief executive officer said his company will likely continue pushing for auto insurance rate hikes next year, and he expects the carrier’s largest mutual competitor—State Farm—to move in the same direction. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs 2022 U.S. Financial …