Insurance Technology: Great American, Assurely Offer D&O for Tech Startups; Tractable AI Assesses Building Damages; Pie Offers Pay-As-You-Go

Great American Insurance and Assurely Offer D&O to Startup Firms

The Executive Liability division of Great American Insurance Group and the insurtech, Assurely, announced an agreement to offer directors and officers liability (D&O) insurance to private companies raising capital via technology platforms or portals and the internet.

The target market for the new TigerMark insurance program includes but is not limited to firms leveraging the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act via Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). The insurance protects companies raising capital and the platforms that support them while also providing a benefit for their investors.

The agreement involves Assurely acting as managing general agent for Great American.

Jane Kornesczuk, divisional president, Great American Executive Liability Division, said Assurely presents an opportunity for her firm to participate in the “rapidly expanding segment of small businesses that utilize technology-driven solutions for their capital raising and insurance purchasing needs.”

The program is not new. TigerMark has been assisting startups and businesses looking to raise capital over the internet for the past two years. However, with the Assurely announcement, Great American said it expanded the program.

“Companies and projects raising capital, their investors and the online platforms that support them all benefit from TigerMark,” commented Assurely’s co-founder and chief insurance officer, Ty Sagalow.

Tractable’s AI Property Assesses Home Damages From Disasters

Tractable, a company that has been developing artificial intelligence (AI) for visual assessment and disaster recovery since 2014, launched AI Property, a new platform that assesses damage to buildings caused by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters.

AI Property allows anyone with a smartphone to assess the external condition of a damaged property through a mobile-friendly, web-based app. This is done by taking photos and submitting them to Tractable’s AI platform, which aims to mitigate the challenge of having appraisers onsite to assess damage in the wake of disaster.

The AI, which has been trained on a large database of claims and damaged property, makes an immediate assessment of the amount of damage it sees and relays this to the homeowner’s insurer.

Tractable has been working in Japan with insurer MS&AD Insurance Group to use AI Property to help homeowners in Japan during the country’s 2021 typhoon season. The technology has already been used to process real claims from October’s Typhoon Mindulle.

After a typhoon, MS&AD policyholders can use the AI to take pictures of high frequency, wind-related damage to a fence, wall, or other outdoor area with their smartphone and send them to their insurer for assessment. In the future, MS&AD and Tractable expect to expand AI coverage to include indoor damage, such as water leakage and smoke.

For now, MS&AD will use the AI only for wide-area disasters such as typhoons, and the estimates calculated by AI will be verified by humans.

Pie Insurance Adds Pay-As-You-Go Feature for Workers’ Comp

Technology-enabled workers’ compensation insurer Pie Insurance has launched a pay-as-you-go billing program for its small business customers.

New Pie policyholders can pay for their workers’ comp insurance policy on their individual payroll cycle, avoiding the need for an initial deposit. Pie works with customers and their payroll providers to ensure accurate premium payments throughout a policy term.

By adopting the pay-as-you-go option, small businesses can reduce upfront costs, improve overall cash flow, and simplify their workers’ comp audit experience, according to Pie.

Pie aims to offer more affordable insurance to small business owners. Since 2017, Pie has received over $300 million in funding, grown its gross written premium to over $100 million, and partnered with more than 1,000 agencies nationwide.

Topics Liability InsurTech Tech Data Driven Artificial Intelligence