Repairing the Tumultuous Commercial Auto Line of Insurance

February 8, 2017 by Dax Craig

There is little uncertainty that commercial auto is in a time of turbulence. Between the enormous claims payouts, increasing claim frequency and escalating issues with driving behavior, something needs to give. Adding to recent reports of problematic performance, the retired chair and CEO of CNA Financial, Thomas Motamed, boldly referred to it as the “black eye” of commercial lines on a third-quarter earnings call last year. Executive SummaryThe “black eye” of the commercial lines segment—the commercial auto line—is crying out for insurer investments in data and analytics, according to Valen Analytics CEO Dax Craig, who graphically illustrates the prospect of finding hidden pockets of profitability.

Executive Summary

The "black eye" of the commercial lines segment—the commercial auto line—is crying out for insurer investments in data and analytics, according to Valen Analytics CEO Dax Craig, who graphically illustrates the prospect of finding hidden pockets of profitability.

Insurers need a new path forward, and traditional methods for gaining insight into policies aren’t cutting it. Similar to other lines, like workers compensation, which were historically unprofitable and troublesome to manage, commercial auto can begin to shift from volatile to profitable through the use of advanced analytics.

Current “Barriers to Success” for Commercial Auto