as other manufacturer incentives offered
that year that took a high percentage of
older vehicles off the road.
For autos in the $101-to-$250 deductible range for collision, the proportion of
policyholders moving out of this range
averaged about 9 per cent per year.
“During Recession, American Drivers
Assumed More Risk to Reduce Auto Insurance
Costs,” Insurance Services Office, March 29,
2011.
http://www.iso.com/Press-Releases/2011/
During-Recession-American-Drivers-Assumed-More-Risk-to-Reduce-Auto-Insurance-Costs.html
what happened to auto premiums?
Dropping collision and comprehensive
coverage on older vehicles saved car
owners about $230 per year on average.
■ ■ Look for discounts (e.g.: for new
homes, for having home security systems installed), or purchase multiple
policies (auto and home) from the
same insurer;
■ ■ Shop around for the best home insurance premium;
■ ■ Go green on utilities (turn down the
thermostat in the winter, install low-flow showerheads, turn off lights and
electronics when not in use), and use
the savings to cover the cost of homeowners premiums.
“Recession Driving Homeowners to Risk
Insurance,” Prudential UK, July 25, 2012.
http://www.pru.co.uk/guides_tools/
articles/801414796-Recession-drivin/
Are people dropping homeowners’
insurance? Reducing coverage?
According to a 2009 study by the Association of British Insurers, about 17
percent of homeowners in the United
Kingdom said that they had canceled or
not renewed their homeowners’ coverage. In Scotland alone, the figure went
up to 21 percent.
For coverage of contents of a home, 22
percent of respondents said they’d canceled their contents insurance coverage,
with those in Scotland indicating that 28
percent had canceled contents coverage.
Another British study of 1,700 people, reported by Prudential UK in July
2012, found that about 20 percent of
British homeowners do not carry insurance. Those younger than the age of
35 are most inclined to take this sort of
risk. The study also found that over half
of those homeowners who were going
bare ( 56 percent) blamed the recession
for their lack of insurance.
CLAUDE PENLAND is an associate
of the Casualty actuarial society and a
member of the academy. He is a partner
in ezra Penland actuarial recruitment.
Resources
“Don’t Drop Home Insurance in this
Recession,” INSWeb, Jan. 31, 2011.
http://blog.insweb.com/2011/01/home-
insurance-recession.html#more
Simpson, Andrew G., “Mood on Main Street:
How Recession Changed Insurance Buying
Habits,” Insurance Journal, Feb. 15, 2011.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/
national/2011/02/15/ 186291.htm
“Uncovered and Exposed in the Recession—
One in Four People Cancel their Home
Insurance,” new release, Association of British
Insurers, June 9, 2009.
http://www.abi.org.uk/Media/
Releases/2009/06/Uncovered_and_exposed_
in_the_recession_-_one_in_four_people_
cancel_their_home_insurance.aspx
Change in Collision Coverage Deductible
70%
60%
50%
40%
■ 2006
■ 2007
■ 2008
■ 2009
■ 2010
30%
20%
10%
Better options
A 2011 posting on the INSWeb Insurance
Blog offered some tips to cash-strapped
property owners interested in reducing
their insurance premiums without cut-
ting coverage:
■ ■ Raise the deductible;
0%
–10%
$50–$100
Collision Coverage Deductible
$101–$250 $251–$500
$501–$1,000
source: Quality Planning
