InsurTech – Twenty Third Floor

Actuarial and Risk, complexity, Featured, financial risk, insurance, InsurTech, life insurance, managing uncertainty, microinsurance, Solvency Assessment and Management, Solvency II, systemic risk

How and why insurers fail

27 May 2024

David Kirk

I’ve been updating my presentation from 2021 on “How and Why Insurers Fail”. I now estimate the annual failure rate (or at least getting into serious financial difficulty) for an insurer in South Africa at 0.4% using an approximation over 2009 to 2024. With a hefty additional dose of approximations, I get about the same…
Read more: How and why insurers fail
Actuarial and Risk, creating value, customer value, distribution, Featured, financial risk, insight, InsurTech, life insurance, marketing, microinsurance, product & pricing

40,000

13 May 2024

David Kirk

40,000. That’s the ballpark figure I usually work with as the minimum number of micro insurance policies required for scale. The expenses of running even a micro insurer are not that trivial. For underwritten products within a full life licence? Larger premiums per policy but definitely more complexity. Competition is tougher too. Hyper local brands…
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competition, creating value, customer value, distribution, insurance, InsurTech, life insurance

The Challenges of Insurance Distribution

5 April 2024

David Kirk

As the insurance industry evolves, so do the complexities of distribution. When distribution channels don’t perform, it can be hard to just diagnose the problem. Have we stopped doing the right things? Are our competitors getting better? Do we have the right product and is our pricing still right? It’s tempting to chalk it up to…
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financial risk, insurance, InsurTech, life insurance, regulatory risk

Slides from micro insurance sessional meeting in 2018

14 June 2018

David Kirk

I had several requests for these slides. At some point they should also be available on ASSA’s website, but that process seems to take a curiously long time. Here are the Micro insurance sessional 2018 slides for anyone interested, provided of course without warranty or guarantee at all and with the understanding that the views expressed are…
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competition, complexity, creating value, customer value, distribution, FinTech, hyperselection, insight, insurance, InsurTech

Why isn’t there more micro insurance in South Africa

14 June 2018

David Kirk

After a recent Actuarial Society sessional presentation I gave on micro insurance and the regulatory developments, I was asked why there aren’t more micro insurers operating in South Africa. Here is a slightly paraphrased version of the full question: The larger insurance players seem reluctant to enter the market. Why do you think this market…
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book reviews, FinTech, InsurTech, life insurance, measurement

Book Review: Loss Coverage – Why Insurance Works Betters with Some Adverse Selection

15 October 2017

David Kirk

In his book, Loss Coverage: Why Insurance Works Better with Some Adverse Selection, Guy Thomas propose an interesting point that adverse selection may not be as harmful as many actuaries believe. They actually go further and suggest that, at least from a policy perspective, adverse selection may be a good thing. This is particularly relevant…
Read more: Book Review: Loss Coverage – Why Insurance Works Betters with Some Adverse Selection
Actuarial and Risk, complexity, creating value, FinTech, insurance, InsurTech

Zero deductibles and innovation from insurtech

11 October 2017

David Kirk

Insurance is misunderstood. Consumers ascribe malice where often practical restrictions are to blame. Take deductibles for example. A deductible in an insurance claim decreases the number of claims an insurer has to deal with. More than that though, it reduces the claims where the administration costs of checking out the claim and paying it are…
Read more: Zero deductibles and innovation from insurtech

Twenty Third Floor

Figuring out the future and the now

Category: InsurTech

How and why insurers fail

40,000

The Challenges of Insurance Distribution

Slides from micro insurance sessional meeting in 2018

Why isn’t there more micro insurance in South Africa

Book Review: Loss Coverage – Why Insurance Works Betters with Some Adverse Selection

Zero deductibles and innovation from insurtech

About David Kirk

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