Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#11

Post by ddispaltro » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:00 PM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #8

chrisplotz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! You make a really good point on privacy - insurance is a trust business and managing this right is really important. We delete Dec pages w/in 30 days (we don't need to keep them past giving you the advice), so that's a start and something we don't mention on the site but should. We also never expose user data, or show you what you've uploaded. Unfortunately though to get insurance advice, property details are…

"(even address)" I thought geography factored into deciding premiums since different areas had different risks of specific events that would lead to an insurance payout. Does what you all are doing simply not need that? Or are you saying that analysis can be left off if they desire for privacy? Edit: Thanks for the info!

Dan at Goodcover.

The later. It's a factor for insurance premiums, because being in an urban landscape vs a wooded area has a massively different fire risk.

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#12

Post by DoreenMichele » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

I think it would be good to specify what kind of policy you are talking about. You are apparently doing just renters and homeowners policies, but comments even within this discussion are talking about medical insurance.

I don't know what a good, succinct term would be for both renters and homeowners coverage. I know that various kinds of real estate related magazines fall under the umbrella term of shelter magazines. A lot of people seem to not know that, which just highlights how hard it is to come up with a good umbrella term for such diverse things. But I think you need to try to clarify that somehow on your landing page.

And if your advice app is broader than the renters/homeowners insurance niche, then specify that as well. I feel this is just not really clear at the moment.

Best of luck. Insurance R hard. ;)

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#13

Post by ddispaltro » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #12

I think it would be good to specify what kind of policy you are talking about. You are apparently doing just renters and homeowners policies, but comments even within this discussion are talking about medical insurance. I don't know what a good, succinct term would be for both renters and homeowners coverage. I know that various kinds of real estate related magazines fall under the umbrella term of shelter magazines.…

Was the website not clear or just this post? Yeah, great feedback. Property is probably the most general term, but technically it is property and casualty (liability).

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#14

Post by DoreenMichele » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:20 PM UTC

ddispaltro wrote: post #13

DoreenMichele wrote: post #12

I think it would be good to specify what kind of policy you are talking about. You are apparently doing just renters and homeowners policies, but comments even within this discussion are talking about medical insurance. I don't know what a good, succinct term would be for both renters and homeowners coverage. I know that various kinds of real estate related magazines fall under the umbrella term of shelter magazines.…

Was the website not clear or just this post? Yeah, great feedback. Property is probably the most general term, but technically it is property and casualty (liability).

The post was clearer than the website, but not 100% crystal clear. It leaves some wiggle room for creative interpretation.

You might just go with property or A/B test it. Insurance industry terms are often confusing, even for industry insiders.

When I paid accident claims, we went round and round as to what the best term was for the health care provider in question. "Provider" was the gold standard, but both customers and employees found that so vague as to be meaningless.

"Life" claims actually meant "death" claims. It's when someone dies and you file a claim on your life insurance policy. (eyes cross)

So you will need to maybe get with whomever your legal advisors are and whomever your marketing advisors are and find a term that both can accept.

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#15

Post by jedberg » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:22 PM UTC

Amusingly, the Farmer's Insurance website went down just as I was trying to get my decs page. :)

I liked the flow, although I did have an issue where when I dragged the decs page onto the box in Safari it just opened the page, but once I got it uploaded it worked fine. Still waiting for my report now.

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#16

Post by berbec » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:22 PM UTC

chrisplotz wrote: post #9

tgb wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just within the last hour look at renter's insurance, so I appreciate the goal of the company. It doesn't look like you currently give advice for people comparing different offers - is that something you plan to do? Also, I didn't understand your description of "returning any unclaimed premium back to customers, keeping a fee instead". Being not too familiar with insurance, can you give an example of how this w…

Thanks - and good luck with your renters insurance search. You're right we don't currently give advice for comparing through the tool - but I've written about it on our blog, and have a even more low tech comparison tool there (google sheet!). https://blog.goodcover.com/save-time-and-buy-home-condo-rent... Hopefully that could help you out in the mean time. Regarding returning unclaimed premium - good question. The w…

A question about this "dividend".

Obviously, this is a major source of profit for a insurance company, but I imagine is also used to refill reserves after a big payout year. Insurers must have been piling cash away for years after Andrew, Katrina, Sandy etc to recoop payouts. How would this balance with returning money on good years?

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#17

Post by chrisplotz » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:38 PM UTC

berbec wrote: post #16

chrisplotz wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks - and good luck with your renters insurance search. You're right we don't currently give advice for comparing through the tool - but I've written about it on our blog, and have a even more low tech comparison tool there (google sheet!). https://blog.goodcover.com/save-time-and-buy-home-condo-rent... Hopefully that could help you out in the mean time. Regarding returning unclaimed premium - good question. The w…

A question about this "dividend". Obviously, this is a major source of profit for a insurance company, but I imagine is also used to refill reserves after a big payout year. Insurers must have been piling cash away for years after Andrew, Katrina, Sandy etc to recoop payouts. How would this balance with returning money on good years?

Underwriting profit hasn't always been a big component of insurer profits - typically "float" or that interest on the premiums held has been the big driver. But in a low interest rate world, companies have had to keep more and more underwriting profit in order to exceed cost of capital. As they need more UW profit, so the fight over claims gets worse...

You are right though that money needs to be set aside for bad years - in insurance we call it "reserving", and actually it is already accounted for before the 5-15%. It is stashed away in the loss ratio as "incurred but not reported" or is paid in reinsurance premiums, which are a fixed cost. 5-15% is what is left over after all that (and admin expenses).

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#18

Post by SmellTheGlove » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:38 PM UTC

chrisplotz wrote: post #9

tgb wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just within the last hour look at renter's insurance, so I appreciate the goal of the company. It doesn't look like you currently give advice for people comparing different offers - is that something you plan to do? Also, I didn't understand your description of "returning any unclaimed premium back to customers, keeping a fee instead". Being not too familiar with insurance, can you give an example of how this w…

Thanks - and good luck with your renters insurance search. You're right we don't currently give advice for comparing through the tool - but I've written about it on our blog, and have a even more low tech comparison tool there (google sheet!). https://blog.goodcover.com/save-time-and-buy-home-condo-rent... Hopefully that could help you out in the mean time. Regarding returning unclaimed premium - good question. The w…

What will you do in a bad year when a couple of cats drive your loss ratio north of 110%? I imagine the answer to that is a big part of the regulatory challenge!

I wish you the best, I do like your goal. I spent almost 15 years from post-college to ~present in insurance before moving on recently to something else here in SF. Ping me if you ever need anything or just want to bullshit about the industry :)

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#19

Post by SmellTheGlove » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:44 PM UTC

berbec wrote: post #16

chrisplotz wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks - and good luck with your renters insurance search. You're right we don't currently give advice for comparing through the tool - but I've written about it on our blog, and have a even more low tech comparison tool there (google sheet!). https://blog.goodcover.com/save-time-and-buy-home-condo-rent... Hopefully that could help you out in the mean time. Regarding returning unclaimed premium - good question. The w…

A question about this "dividend". Obviously, this is a major source of profit for a insurance company, but I imagine is also used to refill reserves after a big payout year. Insurers must have been piling cash away for years after Andrew, Katrina, Sandy etc to recoop payouts. How would this balance with returning money on good years?

Underwriting profit shouldn't be a major part of the business model. If you're making too much money year to year from that, there's going to be regulatory pressure to lower your filed rates in a given market, and absent that, competitive pressure, because your competitors are going to have similar loss behavior in your segments and will cut rate to take market share from you. Customers see insurance as ~fungible and they will shop, although not as often as they should.

EDIT: I see the OP responded to you, and independently, I'll say he gave a great explanation and probably knows WTF he's doing. Didn't expect to see IBNR explained on HN!

Re: Show HN: Software to give insurance advice like an agent would

#20

Post by PaulHoule » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 7:49 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #12

I think it would be good to specify what kind of policy you are talking about. You are apparently doing just renters and homeowners policies, but comments even within this discussion are talking about medical insurance. I don't know what a good, succinct term would be for both renters and homeowners coverage. I know that various kinds of real estate related magazines fall under the umbrella term of shelter magazines.…

I don't know if it makes sense to get renter's coverage.

I had a friend who had his apartment burn, the first thing the cops asked him was if he had insurance, and the they told him they were very relieved, otherwise he would have been an arson suspect automatically.

Homeowners generally do have insurance, so they don't face this stigma, but renter's coverage is rare enough that having it and using it makes you look like a crook.