I’m a little partial to homes with metal roofs. They are resilient, look pretty, and there’s nothing like falling asleep to the sound of rain falling on one. Most home insurance companies tend like them too as they last long and are fire and hail resistant. There are some home insurance policies though, that may contain a surprise most homeowners aren’t aware of.
Imagine you’re riding in an autonomous or self-driving vehicle. The car is traveling 35 to 40 miles per hour and a pedestrian suddenly walks out in front of your vehicle. Complicating the issue there is a concrete barrier in the oncoming lane. Hitting the pedestrian may result in killing them while hitting the concrete barrier may result in the death of the vehicle passenger. What will the car do? Who will be liable?
Home prices in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex have steadily risen since 2010. In December, they were up another 8.5% according to a recent Dallas Morning News article. Over the past 4 years, home prices in north Texas have surged more than 40%, and this impacts home buyers in several ways beyond just paying more for a home. The impact is felt with mortgages and even home insurance.
Sheri and I watched an episode of 60 Minutes in November on IBM’s Watson, a super computer equipped with artificial intelligence, or AI. AI was merely science fiction material when I worked in technology, however, after watching 60 Minutes, it’s easy to see how far it’s progressed in the past 20 years. I began to wonder what jobs could AI replace? Specifically, could AI replace insurance agents in the not too distant to distant future? There is no clear answer if that will happen, but I think it’s interesting to look at the arguments for and against it happening.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve written about two different underwriting issues that can pop up; trust ownership of a home and buying a home that was foreclosed on (see https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/trust-ownership-home-insurance/ and https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/foreclosures-home-insurance/). I thought I’d add one more post which examines three more issues that may give underwriters heartburn – lead paint, asbestos, and open foundations.
The big word technology companies use when looking at the insurance industry is disruption. The thought process is if you can come up with the perfect approach, be it software platform, sales channel, or a different enough solution and you can disrupt an entire industry and perhaps build the next Amazon, Apple, or Uber. Do that and the next group of multi-millionaires or billionaires are created.
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