“What was the most significant event, verdict, trend, or disaster in 2016?”

““Innovation’ summarizes 2016: auto premiums are linked to monitored driving habits; apps are expected by consumers and no longer a novelty; and marijuana is not a crime but an insurable industry. Innovators thrived; those standing in place got lapped by the field.” 

1. THOMAS F. GLASSMAN, Shareholder, Bonezzi Switzer Polito & Hupp. CLM Member since 2012.

 “As 2016 has illustrated once again, catastrophic events are an ever-present challenge for our industry as evidenced by Hurricane Matthew. We’re working to create capabilities that will provide our members with real-time and post-catastrophe actionable intelligence to enhance response time and to address fraud.”

2. JOE WEHRLE, President and CEO, National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

 “The amendment to FRCP 26, which inserts ‘proportional to the needs of the case’ language for evaluating discovery requests and eliminates the ‘reasonably calculated’ standard. Litigators should expect, or even welcome, significantly more judicial involvement in discovery disputes.”

3. KAREN KALZER, Of Counsel, Helsell Fetterman. CLM Member since 2012. 

 “This was the year that Silicon Valley started pouring serious money into InsureTech. While digital distributors won’t affect claims much, new analytics players and technologies like drones, IoT, and blockchain may soon give some insurers a significant advantage in claims.” 

4. MATTHEW JOSEFOWICZ, President and CEO, Novarica. 

“The presidential election. Will the Trump administration support continued progress in combating medical fraud? Federal health agencies and law enforcement have made great strides in recent years, and it’s important that progress be maintained.”

5. DENNIS JAY, Executive Director, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. CLM Fellow since 2012.

 46%

Percent of auto policyholders that say a monitoring device is not an acceptable option for lower premiums.
Source: Pew Research Center

102 Million

Number of mobile app downloads worldwide. 

Source: Statista

$8.8 Billion

Total estimated insured losses resulting from Hurricane Matthew. 

Source: AIR Worldwide

8

Number of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
Source: International Business Times 

74%

Percent of insurance companies that see FinTech innovations as a challenge to their industry.  

Source: PwC