Claims Business: Insurity and Instec, Arturo, CCC, Verisk

Insurity has completed the acquisition of Instec, a company based in Naperville, Ill. that provides analytics software to more than 300 property and casualty insurers.

Insurity, based in Hartford, Conn. said that acquisition enables it to expand into the $40 billion program business and broadens its offerings for managing general agents.

The program market is highly profitable, with specific risks known for each insured group. However, the program business is also highly competitive, with many P&C carriers competing each year to retain each risk group, Insurity said in a press release.

“Instec’s unique approach to insurance solutions enables mid-size P&C carriers and MGAs to migrate, launch, or expand complex commercial offerings from project initiation to first quote in as little as four weeks,” the company said.

Insurity said Instec enables property and casualty insurers to move quickly as new risks emerge and create a need for coverage. The company allows property and casualty carriers to bring new programs on board in as little as 45 days, half the normal amount of time required.

The acquisition was completed on April 14. Terms were not disclosed.

Arturo, a Chicago based tech company that offers insurers predictive analytics software based on aerial imagery, said it raised $25 million in a Series funding round.

Arturo said it aims to further expand its geographic reach, while breaking into lending and other business sectors. The company said it plans to expand its technical team and refine its product, which extracts property data from satellite, stratospheric, aerial and ground-level imagery.

The new funds also enable the company to establish partnerships with imagery providers to offer coverage in Europe and Southeast Asia and expand its client base of property and casualty insurers.

Arturo said in the coming months it plans to roll out its offering to the commercial property sector and other businesses that engage with the built environment, including banks, other financial institutions, asset managers, among others.

The funding round was led by Atlantic Bridge Capital, with participation from RPS Ventures and existing investors Crosslink Capital and IAG Firemark Ventures – the venture capital fund for IAG, Australia’s largest general insurer.

Arturo is a deep learning spin-out from American Family Insurance.

“Over the past twelve months, Arturo increased its revenue over 300%, which speaks directly to the tangible value it offers to leading insurers,” stated Sunir Kapoor, an operating partner with Atlantic Bridge.

CCC Information Services Inc., widely know to insurers for its claims management software, is expanding its payments platform to allow transactions between insurers and their business partners.

The Chicago-based tech provider says CCC Payments will reduce administrative costs and claim cycle times. The service is expected to launch in the second half of 2021, the company said in a press release.

CCC Payments transactions initiated by insurers will be processed by Nvoicepay, a third-party financial technology company. CCC first introduced electronic payment capabilities in 2019, providing collision repair customers a simple way to handle customer-to-shop payments.

“CCC is systematically bringing digitization to every corner of the automotive and insurance industry,” said Barrett Callaghan, CCC executive vice president, markets and customer success. “With the expansion of CCC Payments, we aim to eliminate two huge industry pain points: paper checks and phone calls.”

Verisk: 29 Carriers Join ISO Statistical Database

Verisk said 29 insurers decided last year to contribute to its ISO Statistical Database, the highest number of new participants in a single year for the past 10 years.

“We all benefit as an industry when we collectively contribute data,” stated Shane Paltzer, vice president of marketing and personal lines at Acuity Insurance, one of the 29 new contributing companies. “Loss costs and benchmarks derived from a diverse and robust dataset give us more certainty and predictability. The additional insights and analytics allow us to differentiate ourselves and maintain our competitive edge.”

Verisk, based in Jersey City, New Jersey, said the ISO Statistical Database contains aggregated data from across the insurance industry. The database contains more than 23 billion statistical records that increase the value of derived analytics, such as ISO Loss Costs.

Access to this data and analytics can increase insurers’ actuarial credibility, lower their rate volatility and significantly improve their pricing accuracy, the company said in a press release.

Verisk said 29 insurers decided last year to contribute to its ISO Statistical Database, the highest number of new participants in a single year for the past 10 years.

“We all benefit as an industry when we collectively contribute data,” stated Shane Paltzer, vice president of marketing and personal lines at Acuity Insurance, one of the 29 new contributing companies. “Loss costs and benchmarks derived from a diverse and robust dataset give us more certainty and predictability. The additional insights and analytics allow us to differentiate ourselves and maintain our competitive edge.”

Verisk, based in Jersey City, New Jersey, said the ISO Statistical Database contains aggregated data from across the insurance industry. The database contains more than 23 billion statistical records that increase the value of derived analytics, such as ISO Loss Costs.

Access to this data and analytics can increase insurers’ actuarial credibility, lower their rate volatility and significantly improve their pricing accuracy, the company said in a press release.