In a flat U.S. commercial market, companies using predictive modeling better able to hold the line on pricing: Towers Watson

Although U.S. commercial insurance prices continue to remain relatively flat for the sixth consecutive quarter, insurers using predictive modeling in their pricing and risk selection process reported that they were better able to hold price levels, according to a Towers Watson survey.
Overall, commercial insurance prices in aggregate declined by 1% during the second quarter of 2010, according to the company’s survey, which compared prices charged on policies underwritten during the second quarter of 2010 to the prices charged for the same coverage during the same quarter in 2009.
“Yet those companies that use predictive modeling techniques for pricing and risk-tiering reported slight price increases – on average – compared to companies that do not use predictive modeling,” Towers Perrin said in its most recent survey, Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).
“Insurers that have yet to implement predictive modeling experienced price decreases greater than the overall decline of 1.0%. The most recent survey was the first time Towers Watson queried respondents on their use of predictive modeling and, while these indications are preliminary, they point to the power of predictive modeling.”
The bottom line is that effective predictive modeling enhances underwriting and pricing profitability,” said Bruce Fell, practice leader of Towers Watson’s risk consulting and reinsurance brokerage services to the P&C industry in the Americas. “The commercial lines insurers that are taking advantage of predictive modeling are finding new rating variables and sources of data, and are applying the results in new and innovative ways.”