After the onset of COVID-19, financial advisors were faced with an unprecedented challenge: help clients navigate economic uncertainty brought on by a global pandemic. Amid all the unknowns, advisors became trusted confidants and relied on their knowledge of previous market volatility to guide clients through uncharted territory.
Now, just over a year later, financial advisors are stepping up to the plate again, helping clients understand their fiscal outlook in a post-pandemic world. To help maximize clients' financial futures, it's critical for financial advisors to maintain a holistic view of the factors that can impact their clients' overall wealth management strategies — including insurance coverage and associated price.
According to a recent report from MarketScout, the composite rate for personal lines insurance — that is any kind of insurance that covers individuals against loss that results from death, injury, or loss of property — increased by 6.3% in Q4 2020. But affluent homeowners seem to be the most impacted, as those who own properties worth more than $1million saw average rate increases of 8.2%.
Depending on clients' exposure to certain types of losses, for example hurricanes or wildfires, and/or loss experience as well as other rating factors, increases could be much steeper in the current environment.
As advisors look to guide clients going forward, here's what they need to know about the hardening insurance market.
Rate Increase Drivers
Several elements are contributing to the rate increases in the personal lines insurance market, pandemic-related and otherwise.
To start with pandemic-related behaviors, take recent changes in driving. Due to government-imposed stay-at-home orders earlier in the pandemic, fewer people were on the road — but those who were driving tended to engage in riskier behaviors. According to a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), people were found to be less likely to adhere to even simple safety measures like wearing a seatbelt during the early days of the pandemic.
Notably, the NHTSA found that the rate of passengers unbelted during a vehicular incident jumped to 41% during Q2 2020, up from around 25% prior to COVID-19.
