Declarations

Secrets to Success

“We really look for people that are good at service. Sometimes not even in the insurance application, but often times, we interact with service-minded people throughout their interactions outside of the company, and we’ll recruit those kinds of people, and we attract those kinds of people.”

— Said Cody Cook, senior vice president of claims, Erie Insurance. Erie searches for employees who share the company’s commitment to service first, knowing the insurer can train for the technical aspects of claims handling, Cook said. He began in 2020 after experience as an actuary led him to a decade-long leadership role in personal lines.

Pro-Business

“I think there is a general sense that there is going to be obviously a pro-business administration on the regulatory side. But there could be some nuances specifically on, say, workplace or labor rules. But that’s still to be determined.”

— Said Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, an advocacy group. For small businesses, the biggest change in the new year will be the arrival of a presumably more business-friendly administration in Washington. But there are other shifts owners should keep on their radar. Among them: changes to state-level overtime and minimum wage rules, the delayed federal FinCEN registration, taxes on payments from third-party providers and tariffs.

Terrorism Coverage

“The effects of these incidents can be substantial to insurers and involve payments related to workers’ compensation for injured company employees, event cancellations, business interruption claims due to business closures and other potential liability issues that commercial entities may face related to claims of insufficient security to prevent a terrorist event resulting in injuries and/or casualties,”

— Said Sridhar Manyem, director, industry research and analytics at AM Best, regarding events such as the recent truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day as well as the same-day truck explosion outside a hotel in Las Vegas. An increase in events could lead to more triggered coverage in commercial property terrorism endorsements, he said.

Costs of Climate Change

“From rising temperatures to extreme weather events, climate change is altering natural landscapes and threatening a range of industries that depend on healthy and stable natural systems. Witnesses testified that climate-related droughts, rising temperatures, and severe weather events are harming crop yields and food production; and that climate change is damaging outdoor recreation and ocean-based economies.”

— According to a Senate Budget Committee Staff report that details findings from more than a dozen committee hearings with witnesses that included economists, bankers, insurance industry analysts, scientists and others.

Beyond Traditional Risk Transfer

“The role of the insurance industry in society is to protect more people when they really need help the most, and that purpose is as true today as ever before. Amid geopolitical uncertainties and territorial tensions, risks are becoming more severe. … As uncertainty rises, so does the need for protection. In this environment, insurers need support from reinsurers beyond traditional risk transfer: providing insights, knowledge and tools that improve risk awareness and inform effective risk management.”

— Said Urs Baertschi, CEO P&C Reinsurance, at Swiss Re. Swiss Re’s business unit CEOs shared their views on the key themes of concern for 2025.

Proposed Cutbacks

“NOAA’s analyses on hurricanes and other storms provide extremely valuable services to the public, state and local governments, property insurers and emergency response organizations of every sort, including the government itself. The notion that we as a nation will be better served by no longer funding catastrophic hurricane, tornado and hail forecasts is greatly mistaken.”

— Said Economist Robert Hartwig, clinical associate professor of finance and insurance at the University of South Carolina, and head of the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center, on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed cutbacks, specifically to FEMA, NOAA, USGS and the NFIP.