{"id":1347,"date":"2020-06-23T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T16:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tst418075918.wordpress.com\/2020\/06\/23\/are-mandated-auto-premium-reductions-justified\/"},"modified":"2020-06-23T16:28:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T16:28:00","slug":"are-mandated-auto-premium-reductions-justified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.veracityid.com\/new\/are-mandated-auto-premium-reductions-justified\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Mandated Auto Premium Reductions Justified?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear:both;text-align:center;\"><a class=\"hoverZoomLink\" href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-XqDZIcjC01k\/XvIxe-YmTRI\/AAAAAAAASOo\/kzLmXgQX8msKxFU6zwfms5jnNterugO-wCLcBGAsYHQ\/s1600\/picture%2B2.jpg\" style=\"clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" class=\"hoverZoomLink\" height=\"261\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-XqDZIcjC01k\/XvIxe-YmTRI\/AAAAAAAASOo\/kzLmXgQX8msKxFU6zwfms5jnNterugO-wCLcBGAsYHQ\/s400\/picture%2B2.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">Policymakers in many states &#8211; notably including California, Michigan and Louisiana in recent weeks &#8211; are considering aggressive steps to drive down auto insurance premiums in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in driving behavior.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>Even as they contemplate this, many leading carriers have already taken temporary action to reduce rates during the pandemic \u2013 both because it was the right thing to do and to forestall damaging policy changes.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">On the surface, those initial reductions make some sense.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>According to the US Energy Information Administration, gas sales were down 20% in March 2020 over March 2019 \u2013 and we all saw the roads were pretty empty.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>Gas sales were very likely even lower in April during the height of the shutdown.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>With reduced gas sales and empty roads came fewer claims.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>And lower claims should drive down premiums in normal circumstances.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">But will this still be true as the economy is re-opened in the weeks and months ahead?<span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe not.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">Early data from refineries and distributors suggest gas sales are quickly returning to \u2018normal\u2019.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>Instead of continued relief from traffic, some experts predict that gridlock is coming to our cities as people choose to return to work by car instead of mass transit.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>One forecaster suggests a 30% increase in commute traffic is coming this fall \u2013 and that our highways will soon be congested even more than before the virus hit (<a href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/bay-area-commute-covid-19-coronavirus-traffic\/6248486\/\">https:\/\/abc7news.com\/bay-area-commute-covid-19-coronavirus-traffic\/6248486\/<\/a>). <span>\u00a0<\/span>But other forecasters suggest that 25-30% of office employees will continue to work from home at least several days a week \u2013 and thereby skip the commute altogether<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">(<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/globalworkplaceanalytics.com\/work-at-home-after-covid-19-our-forecast\" style=\"font-family:inherit;\">https:\/\/globalworkplaceanalytics.com\/work-at-home-after-covid-19-our-forecast<\/a><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">).<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">At the same time, leading travel analysts observe that 30% of travelers have already switched from flying to driving for work and vacation.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">And of course, there is the fear that a second wave could trigger renewed shutdowns.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">So, what should we make of this?<span>\u00a0 <\/span>How will the shift from bus to car and commute to vacation travel play out in terms of insurance economics?<span>\u00a0 <\/span>Will these changes be transitory or permanent? Should policymakers act now \u2013 or wait for this settle out before making any dramatic moves?<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">At VeracityID, we think:<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">The pressure to offer mileage-based insurance will increase \u2013 at least until there is clarity about driving patterns in the post-Covid economy.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">But this may accelerate an adverse selection problem \u2013 with low mileage drivers switching from conventional to mileage-based coverage, and high mileage drivers sticking to conventional coverage with unreasonably low estimated miles.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">Carriers need to monitor vehicle use in both cases \u2013 or will get burned.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Policymakers should tread lightly for a few more months, at least.<span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">If mileage increases significantly, a forced premium reduction could induce market failures.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">If mileage falls, competition will soon drive down rates or risk intervention.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">But if traffic gridlock happens, we will likely see a drop in claims severity in the near-term and an acceleration toward alternative work and commute patterns in the mid-term.<\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family:inherit;text-indent:-0.25in;\">But none of this is clear today.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Carriers should use this period to look for ways to increase customer retention by focusing on improving the customer experience across channels and striving to reduce rates by eliminating fraud, manual work and transaction costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpLast\" style=\"text-indent:-0.25in;\"><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\"><br \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><b><i><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">Eliminating Underwriting Fraud Can Save Consumers and Carriers Up to 20% of NPW.<span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><b><i><span style=\"font-family:inherit;\">Website: veracityid.com<span>\u00a0 <\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span>Twitter: @VeracityID<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"hzImg\" style=\"background:-webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 100% 100%, from(rgb(255, 255, 255)), to(rgb(237, 237, 237)), color-stop(0.5, rgb(255, 255, 255)));border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(227, 227, 227);box-shadow:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.46) 3px 3px 6px;cursor:pointer;display:none;left:0;line-height:0;margin:0;opacity:1;overflow:hidden;padding:2px;position:absolute;top:4px;z-index:2147483647;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"hzImg\" style=\"background:-webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 100% 100%, from(rgb(255, 255, 255)), to(rgb(237, 237, 237)), color-stop(0.5, rgb(255, 255, 255)));border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(227, 227, 227);box-shadow:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.46) 3px 3px 6px;cursor:none;display:none;left:229px;line-height:0;margin:0;opacity:1;overflow:hidden;padding:2px;position:absolute;top:266px;z-index:2147483647;\"><\/div>\n<p><img id=\"hzDownscaled\" style=\"position:absolute;top:-10000px;\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Policymakers in many states &#8211; notably including California, Michigan and Louisiana in recent weeks &#8211; are considering aggressive steps to drive down [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Are Mandated Auto Premium Reductions Justified? 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