Product launches

Parametric flood insurance company FloodFlash, the first insurance provider to pay catastrophic flood claims as fast as 4 hours after a flood, announced today the hiring of Mark Hara as CEO of North of America. After an extensive search, Hara joins to lead the company’s expansion into the U.S. insurance market, the biggest flood insurance market in the world.

Allianz Commercial has announced the launch of a new model to provide a consistent and tailored approach to broker relationships.

AXA Commercial, part of AXA UK , announced that it has created a team of “120 experts” who will focus on the SME market.

WTW, the global advisory, broking, and solutions company, has announced the launch of a new geopolitical risk research programme to bring together world experts and build resilience against escalating threats.

Marsh has revealed that it has placed insurance for the first space rocket launch from UK soil, arranging it on behalf of Space Forge and placing it with Beazley to cover risk of loss to the Forgestar payload.

Tens of thousands of companies that would benefit from being able to offer their customers insurance will be able to do so from today.

Airbnb is trying to remove barriers that might keep people from listing their homes in part by tripling its insurance coverage and offering free one-to-one guidance for new hosts.

Allianz’s engineer surveyors can now inspect charging points for electric vehicles, which new developments need to be equipped with since a Building Regulations update came into force in June.

Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, today announced newly available application programming interfaces (APIs) for management liability through Executive Risks Insurance.

Zurich Insurance Group has launched Zurich eXchange, a next generation global Application Programming Interface (API) marketplace.

Chubb has announced that its global integration platform, Chubb Studio, has introduced new features that can embed insurance into the digital environments of its distribution partners more easily.

After an auto accident, appraisers and repair shops may not immediately know exactly how much damage there’s been to a vehicle, or if it’s definitely totaled. Or an appraiser might provide an estimate, and then a week later, a body shop realizes the car is totaled.

Zurich has launched Zurich eXchange, a newly created API marketplace that brings together services from across the Zurich Group.

The global insurance broking giant and risk advisor Marsh has today revealed that global commercial insurance prices increased 6% in Q3 2022, representing 20 consecutive quarters of increases.

CyberCube has announced that it has launched the world’s first set of detailed Exposure Databases to enable re/insurers and brokers to perform a wide range of benchmarking, sensitivity, and real-time analyses for cyber risks.

CloudCore customer production support de-risks and accelerates a carrier’s journey to the cloud.

Apple will start to offer health insurance in 2024 as it looks to build on the health data it has acquired from the Apple Watch, an analyst has predicted.

UK insurer LV= has launched ElectriX, “a one-stop shop offering drivers everything they need to get on the road with an electric car.”

Global advisory, broking and solutions company, WTW, has announced the launch of Risk Intelligence Quantified (Risk IQ), a platform aimed to help risk specialists to understand and navigate their business’s risk portfolio.

Amazon has announced the launch of its Amazon Insurance Store, a new way for UK customers to shop for home insurance.

Allianz is expanding its automatic accident detection service. Dubbed the Allianz accident reporter, the digital claims service used by Allianz at the scene of an accident, can automatically detect accidents and notify the insurer. Insureds are later informed about the next steps of claims settlement.

Vouch Insurance , a commercial insurance business focused on tech companies, announced its expansion into the life science category with the introduction of new proprietary insurance solutions.

Over the past few years, the impact of mental health conditions has been of increasing concern for society. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this concern with some studies suggesting an increase in the prevalence of depressive and anxiety conditions by as much as 25%.

AXA UK has announced the launch of Moja, its new digital-only insurance brand.

Lemonade is launching in the UK, in what it considers “a long-term, strategic partnership with leading UK insurer, Aviva ,” that will serve as its reinsurer.

BlinkSM by Chubb announced today the launch of Blink Paycheck, a new income protection insurance product that can help keep consumers’ lives on track when they are sick or injured and unable to work.

Resilience, the San Francisco-based cyber managing general agent, has launched an operation in London to serve the UK market.

AgentSync (Denver) announced the launch of AgentSync ID, which the vendor calls a secure and dynamic online insurance producer profile that was created to transform the onboarding and compliance experience that carriers, MGAs, and agencies deliver to their agents.

Good processes are at the heart of maintaining customer trust. There is however a key factor holding back the speed of insurance: trust. Therefore, FRISS today announced the launch of their Trust Automation Platform.

Aviva has launched standalone insurance products covering electric vehicle charging points aimed at installers and operators.

Asta, the third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, and Acrisure announced that Lloyd’s has granted “in principle” approval for the launch of Flux Syndicate 1985, which will commence underwriting on Jan. 1, 2023.

American International Group Inc. said it will move ahead with plans to raise as much as $1.9 billion selling shares in its life and retirement unit.

Aon plc, the global professional services firm, has launched a Strategy and Technology Group (STG) to bring together a wide range of expertise and technology solutions — designed to help property & casualty and life re/insurance clients build resilience.

Coalition, the San Francisco-based cyber management general agent, began trading in the UK on September 1 and has opened an office in London.

Accelerant, the insurtech platform empowering underwriters with superior risk exchange, advanced data analytics, and long-term capacity commitments, today announced a new $175 million sidecar vehicle, Flywheel Re. Flywheel will provide multi-year risk capital to Accelerant and its cadre of underwriting-led specialist Members.

Praedicat, an emerging liability risk analytics firm, announces partnership with information services firm Experian to provide new company and portfolio analytics tools to underwriters of directors and officers (D&O) insurance coverage of U.S. public companies.

Ecommerce platform Shopify has introduced a bundled shipping insurance offering for merchants.

Erie Strategic Ventures will invest in and offer commercial support to startups focused on the insurance industry and related spaces.

In January, Airbnb announced the upcoming launch of a “custom-built” guest travel insurance product offering exclusive to Airbnb guests. The product was set to be launched in the spring with a “reputable insurance carrier” as the underwriter.

Insurtech platform Accelerant has launched a new $175 million sidecar investment vehicle, called Flywheel Re.

FairPlay, the world’s first “Fairness-as-a-Service” solution for algorithmic decision-making, today announced the launch of Input Intelligence, al bias detection product for insurance carriers.

Insurtech investments fell by 79.6% in 2021, leading to job losses and tough economic conditions for the sector in the first half of 2022 thanks to a “combination of factors,” said GlobalData’s Deals Database.

Marsh has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind insurance and reinsurance facility that provides dedicated capacity for new and existing green and blue hydrogen energy projects.

Allianz SE is in talks with Chinese banks to set up a majority-owned asset management venture in the world’s second-largest economy, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said, aiming to tap a $4.3 trillion market for wealth products.

Insurance challenger brand, Urban Jungle, has added to its range of home insurance products with the launch of its new car insurance.

The Hartford is launching enhanced versions of its proprietary Property Choice and General Liability Choice products to further serve the needs of its business customers across a broad range of industries and account sizes.

The coverage insurance coverage protects businesses from the financial fallout of third-party content delivery network outages.

Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Advisors Corporation is SEC-registered and offers investment management services to qualified investors.

NuVenture International has launched BluNiche, which is the incubator’s third managing general agent in the UK.

The new system, CAT-RS, solves many of insurers’ greatest challenges, by using property-level analytics to support a fast, accurate catastrophe response.