“Specifically, the “Live Policy” option allows insureds to make changes to provisions like deductibles or limits, or to add or deleted covered parties, without call a customer service representative or waiting for an agent or broker to handle the process.”
2017 – finally an insurer that allows self-service!
Remove a spouse? No problem! Remove that nosy landlord who sneakily put legal language in your lease requiring you to carry renters AND to list them as additional interest? Done! E&O? What’s that? Probably some way for insurer to screw people over…
Finally an insured that likes regular people like me! I will buy a homeowners policy from Lemonade with a $10,000 deductible and then if I have a loss I can just go online and change my deductible to $500 before filing the claim! Plus, I read somewhere too that Lemonade has a robot that pays claim automatically, is that 4 real? This is cool yo! Ima goin to tell all my bffs 2 get insurance from Lemonade! Peace yo!
They fall short in explaining why would anyone want to integrate their platform into their agency’s website? This is more of the InsureTech culture that is being run by the tech world that have very little knowledge of insurance. Also Lemonade is not a great name for an insurance company and think many wouldn’t hesitant to insure with an name like this. Automating insurance is a good thing, however these front end platforms often started by those with only tech experience are so clueless and this article is pointing to how they are trying to reinvent and save themselves.
You are a dinosaur, on your way towards extinction. Look who they recommend use it; they aren’t agents, and there’s a reason. They are bypassing agents for relatively simple insurance products where paying an agent commission doesn’t always make sense.
I’ve asked you time after time in the numerous threads where you rant about this company, what exactly you think they do and you clearly do not know. They aren’t an “insuretech culture” that knows nothing about insurance. They took on very experienced, knowledgeable people from the start.
You and people like you are why companies like this will eventually catch on. You know nothing about anything, and paying you even 1 cent in commission is wasted money. I mean imagine a farmer in the garbage Texas market you feed on asking about weather or climate and you telling them to follow The Farmer’s Almanac, which you’ve claimed is more accurate than meteorologists and climate scientists. It’s malpractice.
Wow, such a nasty arrogant condescending Millenial tone. Get a grip, dude. You ain’t God’s gift.
I disagree with the statement that there are products which should be noncommissionable. Insureds need counsel. They should have guidance as to coverage because, unlike Millenials and nasty underwriters think, insurance policies are sort of wormhole contracts. Left turns, difficult to understand exclusions, weasel words and the like will just serve in the long run to piss off insureds who are not used to focusing on the arcane to understand what coverage they have bought when there is a claim. Don’t talk about simplifying contract language because for the past few decades every time that has come up its resulted in a series of not funny jokes.
UW, You seem bitter. I am actually in the InsureTech space with an insurance background, so I can tell you technology is terrific and does great things. However you say I am a “dinosaur” but you know nothing about me. Also when I say I am in the InsureTech space, many on the outside think this is directly bringing insurance sales to customer online because this is all I am seeing from outsider as they know nothing else about our industry and are clueless on how inside operations can be automated, which is the space I am in. Anyway selling insurance direct to the consumer is not working very well. Here is the pattern, they bring insurance online, then they want to work with agents because they see they can’t pull it off, however agents are already affiliated with their networks and don’t need these inexperienced clowns to ruin things for them. Eventually they close shop and realize insurance is not for them. Watch, I give these commercial online insurance agencies two years, also I truly feel bad for their investors because this is essentially a failed model.
Truth. Agent =/= Agency. One is a valuable member of the community and makes thoughtful posts. The other is currently thinking up a good retort that somehow incorporates Al Gore or Hillary…
October 12, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Lynn Thomas says:
Like or Dislike:
4
1
I disagree. I think that the company’s rapid success and innovative model will be disrupting how many customers and definitely millennials will buy insurance. Millennials will be 50% of the workforce by 2020 and by 2025 they will be 75% of the workforce so who will be buying insurance through traditional channels?
The problem as I see it is that a customer using DIY service may not understand the implications of what he or she is doing. That is, a coverage gap that the insured didn’t intend may be created. I’m all for making insurance processes more efficient, but I worry about unintended consequences. If there is an uncovered claim, the app will not advocate for the insured.
Absolutely Correct about the advocating for the insured!
People already have a habit of not becoming educated in their insurance and going for the lowest dollar value. Going with a cheap policy is fine when a customer understands the risk associated with a cheap policy, but here’s the problem, when a catastrophic claim happens, there may not be another chance for the person to choose the right coverage next time because their already financially devastated.
This is especially common with home insurance. Losing your home is a financially devastating event, and you only have to have one major loss to realize you didn’t educate yourself. It’s the responsibility of the agent to at least attempt to save the person from their uneducated self before it’s too late.
Will Lemonade be able to educate the Millennials before a catastrophic event sends them into financial ruin?
“Who will be buying insurance through traditional channels?” The people that want to buy insurance with a company that’s not in receivership or on the verge of receivership. Lemonade is going to get an education when the claims starting coming in. They can’t survive with the low premiums they are charging. Just wait until their insured’s dog runs out to play with the neighbors dog and the neighbor claims injuries and they pay out $40,000. Or the insured who takes his grill to the high school for a tail gate party and an intoxicated person walks by and trips over the leg of the grill and breaks their arm and they get a settlement for $50,000. Or the home on the golf course has a tree go through the dining room and it cost $50,000 to repair. You say this can’t happen, all three of these claims happened in my agency this year. Of course lemonade with their algorithms are so smart they won’t insure homes with these kind of claims.
Allowing “self service” with coverage changes, deductible changes, without anyone guarding the cookie jar? Customers are so honest, this is bound to work very well, right?
I just ran through an online renter’s quote here in Texas. Essentially they will be trying to compete with the Geico/Progressive market which has historically been very difficult for other carriers to profit on. Lets just say they won’t be competing with CHUBB anytime soon for the high net-worth clients…
The problem with any online program [jokes anyone?] is that they are so fudgeable. You can plug in whatever information you want to quote a low price on a risk that would be normally declined or ineligible. Agents do this all the time. They lie, get the commission and pray that they do not have a claim. Often their policies are cancelled within a few months because someone is not asleep [not usual] at the wheel. Online risk selection and rating is a total joke and until algorithms are idealized it will continue to be so. This holds true for both wholesalers, agents and insureds.
Wow Mighty, way to slam agents once again. How about the underwriters not paying attention and selecting poor risks to write due to their Algorithms saying it is ok. You must be one of those desk jockeys in a cubicle preaching your hatred of agents. If it weren’t for good agents, you wouldn’t even have a job in this industry.
“Specifically, the “Live Policy” option allows insureds to make changes to provisions like deductibles or limits, or to add or deleted covered parties, without call a customer service representative or waiting for an agent or broker to handle the process.”
2017 – finally an insurer that allows self-service!
and that is a sure way to fail….customers are so honest aren’t they??? not for me
Remove a spouse? No problem! Remove that nosy landlord who sneakily put legal language in your lease requiring you to carry renters AND to list them as additional interest? Done! E&O? What’s that? Probably some way for insurer to screw people over…
Right? We have statues regarding removing a named insured. They would have to be securing a signature to remove a named insured.
Finally an insured that likes regular people like me! I will buy a homeowners policy from Lemonade with a $10,000 deductible and then if I have a loss I can just go online and change my deductible to $500 before filing the claim! Plus, I read somewhere too that Lemonade has a robot that pays claim automatically, is that 4 real? This is cool yo! Ima goin to tell all my bffs 2 get insurance from Lemonade! Peace yo!
Yeah, because no insurer has figured out how to catch people who change their policy immediately preceding a claim.
But… Lemonade gives its excess to charity. NO ONE would try to defraud them just because of that, right?
“Finally, and insurer that allows self-service!”
Because we all know it takes soooo long to send an agent a quick email to change a policy…
They fall short in explaining why would anyone want to integrate their platform into their agency’s website? This is more of the InsureTech culture that is being run by the tech world that have very little knowledge of insurance. Also Lemonade is not a great name for an insurance company and think many wouldn’t hesitant to insure with an name like this. Automating insurance is a good thing, however these front end platforms often started by those with only tech experience are so clueless and this article is pointing to how they are trying to reinvent and save themselves.
You are a dinosaur, on your way towards extinction. Look who they recommend use it; they aren’t agents, and there’s a reason. They are bypassing agents for relatively simple insurance products where paying an agent commission doesn’t always make sense.
I’ve asked you time after time in the numerous threads where you rant about this company, what exactly you think they do and you clearly do not know. They aren’t an “insuretech culture” that knows nothing about insurance. They took on very experienced, knowledgeable people from the start.
You and people like you are why companies like this will eventually catch on. You know nothing about anything, and paying you even 1 cent in commission is wasted money. I mean imagine a farmer in the garbage Texas market you feed on asking about weather or climate and you telling them to follow The Farmer’s Almanac, which you’ve claimed is more accurate than meteorologists and climate scientists. It’s malpractice.
Wow, such a nasty arrogant condescending Millenial tone. Get a grip, dude. You ain’t God’s gift.
I disagree with the statement that there are products which should be noncommissionable. Insureds need counsel. They should have guidance as to coverage because, unlike Millenials and nasty underwriters think, insurance policies are sort of wormhole contracts. Left turns, difficult to understand exclusions, weasel words and the like will just serve in the long run to piss off insureds who are not used to focusing on the arcane to understand what coverage they have bought when there is a claim. Don’t talk about simplifying contract language because for the past few decades every time that has come up its resulted in a series of not funny jokes.
UW, You seem bitter. I am actually in the InsureTech space with an insurance background, so I can tell you technology is terrific and does great things. However you say I am a “dinosaur” but you know nothing about me. Also when I say I am in the InsureTech space, many on the outside think this is directly bringing insurance sales to customer online because this is all I am seeing from outsider as they know nothing else about our industry and are clueless on how inside operations can be automated, which is the space I am in. Anyway selling insurance direct to the consumer is not working very well. Here is the pattern, they bring insurance online, then they want to work with agents because they see they can’t pull it off, however agents are already affiliated with their networks and don’t need these inexperienced clowns to ruin things for them. Eventually they close shop and realize insurance is not for them. Watch, I give these commercial online insurance agencies two years, also I truly feel bad for their investors because this is essentially a failed model.
He thinks you are ‘Agent’, a notorious poster on this blog, as he has not learned the important skill of reading clearly yet.
Truth. Agent =/= Agency. One is a valuable member of the community and makes thoughtful posts. The other is currently thinking up a good retort that somehow incorporates Al Gore or Hillary…
I disagree. I think that the company’s rapid success and innovative model will be disrupting how many customers and definitely millennials will buy insurance. Millennials will be 50% of the workforce by 2020 and by 2025 they will be 75% of the workforce so who will be buying insurance through traditional channels?
The problem as I see it is that a customer using DIY service may not understand the implications of what he or she is doing. That is, a coverage gap that the insured didn’t intend may be created. I’m all for making insurance processes more efficient, but I worry about unintended consequences. If there is an uncovered claim, the app will not advocate for the insured.
Absolutely Correct about the advocating for the insured!
People already have a habit of not becoming educated in their insurance and going for the lowest dollar value. Going with a cheap policy is fine when a customer understands the risk associated with a cheap policy, but here’s the problem, when a catastrophic claim happens, there may not be another chance for the person to choose the right coverage next time because their already financially devastated.
This is especially common with home insurance. Losing your home is a financially devastating event, and you only have to have one major loss to realize you didn’t educate yourself. It’s the responsibility of the agent to at least attempt to save the person from their uneducated self before it’s too late.
Will Lemonade be able to educate the Millennials before a catastrophic event sends them into financial ruin?
“Who will be buying insurance through traditional channels?” The people that want to buy insurance with a company that’s not in receivership or on the verge of receivership. Lemonade is going to get an education when the claims starting coming in. They can’t survive with the low premiums they are charging. Just wait until their insured’s dog runs out to play with the neighbors dog and the neighbor claims injuries and they pay out $40,000. Or the insured who takes his grill to the high school for a tail gate party and an intoxicated person walks by and trips over the leg of the grill and breaks their arm and they get a settlement for $50,000. Or the home on the golf course has a tree go through the dining room and it cost $50,000 to repair. You say this can’t happen, all three of these claims happened in my agency this year. Of course lemonade with their algorithms are so smart they won’t insure homes with these kind of claims.
Allowing “self service” with coverage changes, deductible changes, without anyone guarding the cookie jar? Customers are so honest, this is bound to work very well, right?
I just ran through an online renter’s quote here in Texas. Essentially they will be trying to compete with the Geico/Progressive market which has historically been very difficult for other carriers to profit on. Lets just say they won’t be competing with CHUBB anytime soon for the high net-worth clients…
The problem with any online program [jokes anyone?] is that they are so fudgeable. You can plug in whatever information you want to quote a low price on a risk that would be normally declined or ineligible. Agents do this all the time. They lie, get the commission and pray that they do not have a claim. Often their policies are cancelled within a few months because someone is not asleep [not usual] at the wheel. Online risk selection and rating is a total joke and until algorithms are idealized it will continue to be so. This holds true for both wholesalers, agents and insureds.
Wow Mighty, way to slam agents once again. How about the underwriters not paying attention and selecting poor risks to write due to their Algorithms saying it is ok. You must be one of those desk jockeys in a cubicle preaching your hatred of agents. If it weren’t for good agents, you wouldn’t even have a job in this industry.
Did anyone try to use the Lemonade app? It’s not available in Indianapolis, IN.