If you have dependents—or just loved ones who you want to take care of after you die—life insurance is critical. This coverage helps ensure your lost income doesn’t translate to tangible material losses for your family once you’re gone.
But how much life insurance is enough? That’s a question whose answer can change significantly over your lifetime, and an important one to answer correctly.
You may be underinsured with life insurance coverage if…
1. Your only life insurance coverage is through your employer.
While some life insurance is certainly better than no life insurance, if your only coverage is through your employer, you may not have enough. These plans generally offer very limited coverage (like a year’s worth of your salary, maybe two), which is unlikely to be enough to meet your family’s needs if you have any significant debts or children whose college educations you’re hoping to help fund.
Furthermore, life insurance offered through your employer is usually contingent on you keeping that job, so if you leave your position for any reason, the coverage disappears.
Finally, buying an individual policy gives you access to different types of life insurance policies, including permanent life insurance, which has living benefits you can use while you’re alive.
2. Your income went up.
Getting a raise is almost always a good thing, but if you’re making significantly more income today than you were when you first bought your life insurance policy, you may find yourself underinsured. A higher income usually comes with associated lifestyle changes, and learning how to live with less is likely the last thing your loved ones will want to do if you depart unexpectedly.
3. Your stay-at-home spouse doesn’t have life insurance.
If your stay-at-home spouse doesn’t have life insurance coverage, you’ll want to consider getting them a policy. Even if they don’t make an income that would need replacing, they perform valuable services like childcare that would need to be paid for if they’re no longer there.
Watch the Virgen family’s Real Life Story to see just how critical life insurance was for a family who, thankfully, insured Teresa, a stay-at-home mom. If not for the insurance, they’re certain that they would have lost their home.
4. You had a child.
As every parent knows, having a child is expensive—in fact, in 2023, raising a child costs more than $21,000 per year on average. (And that’s before you factor in college!)
All of which is to say, if you’re a new parent or you brought an additional child into your family, it’s a good time to review your life insurance coverage and ensure you have enough to meet your dependents’ long-term needs, including food, shelter and education, until they’re of age. Given the high cost of childcare (and the precarious financial position of an underinsured single parent), even one child can increase your life insurance needs significantly.
5. You bought a new home.
Paying the mortgage is one of the most pressing financial needs for any family—and more pressing, still, for a newly widowed spouse. If you purchased a new home since you first got your life insurance policy, you may find that you need more coverage to help ensure your loved ones can successfully pay down that debt. After all, moving is never fun, especially in the face of a tragic loss.
While it can feel overwhelming to determine how much life insurance coverage you need as your financial situation changes over time, it’s also well within your power to ensure you’re sufficiently covered. Life Happens’ Life Insurance Needs Calculator is a great starting point for estimating how much coverage you need. A half hour of work today can translate to years’ worth of financial stability in the future.
The automotive market has been hit hard by ongoing inflation and uncertainty about trade policy. And with President Donald Trump enacting a 25% tariff on all imported vehicles and vehicle parts as of April 2025, car prices are about to rise even higher.
That means fewer Americans will be shelling out money to buy new vehicles and instead will focus on maintaining their current set of wheels. In 2024, the average age ofdrivable vehicles reached a record of 12.6 years, according to an S&P Global Mobility report in May of that year. With upcoming price increases, owners will likely hold onto their vehicles longer.
But as any machine ages, components degrade, parts wear down, and failures potentially become inevitable. Routine maintenance is critical to preventing deterioration and prolonging a vehicle’s lifespan in terms of both safety and operation. Maintenance tasks often have a time or mileage schedule, and knowing when to change fluids or rotate the tires can help owners extend their vehicle’s lifespan and reduce the need for more costly repairs down the line.
Not all types of vehicles will require the same maintenance, however. Electric vehicles are exempt from regular spark plug or oil changes, but require much larger batteries for operation.
The General broke down 10 essential maintenance tasks that help keep your car safer, more reliable, and on the road longer.
QUICKLY FILE YOUR SR-22
Learn how you can get back on the road after a driving offense with a free SR22 insurance quote.
Jacktamrong // Shutterstock
Engine Oil Change
Changing a vehicle’s oil is one of the most common and critical maintenance tasks for gas-powered vehicles. Clean engine oil is crucial to ensuring that mechanical components are properly lubricated for optimal longevity, which in turn also affects fuel mileage.
While specifics vary by vehicle make, oil blend, and driving conditions, drivers should change most modern oils between 5,000 and 7,500 miles or at least twice a year. Oil changes usually cost between $35 and $125 and are offered at most dealerships and repair shops. Owners looking to change their oil on their own must be aware of local disposal regulations for automotive fluids and filters.
Lightfield Studios // Shutterstock
Brake Pad Replacement
Cars need to be able to drive—but more importantly, they need to be able to stop. Working brakes are a requirement for the safe operation of any vehicle. Brake pads are one of the most essential components of a vehicle’s braking system and need to be changed somewhat regularly.
Brake pads often last between 25,000 and 50,000 miles, but if the brakes start squeaking or making other noises, it may require more immediate replacement. Brake pad replacement varies depending on the type of car, but costs around $300 and is commonly available at repair facilities.
AMNAT DPP // Shutterstock
Tire Rotation and Alignment
Tires should be the only component of a vehicle that makes contact with the road. Ensuring they are properly aligned and regularly rotated will not only prolong the lifespan of the tires, but also grant increased fuel efficiency and ensure smoother operation.
While often considered the same, tire rotation and wheel alignment are two separate procedures, with rotation swapping the tires’ positions to evenly distribute wear and alignment adjusting the suspension to ensure they make proper contact with driving surfaces. The need for such repairs varies with regular driving conditions, vehicle type, and function, but is often recommended on an interval similar to oil changes.
Yury Nikolaev // Shutterstock
Replacing Air Filters (Engine and Cabin)
Most vehicles have two primary air filters. One protects the airflow in and out of the engine from contaminants that hinder combustion, while another filters the air entering the cab, much like the air filter in a home climate system. Filters are exposed to dirt and contaminants, so they need to be changed regularly.
Experts recommend changing air filters at least once a year or every 12,000 miles; the average cost for an air filter replacement ranges between $59 and $78, depending on parts and labor.
Setta Sornnoi // Shutterstock
Transmission Fluid Replacement
The transmission is a critical piece of any vehicle’s drivetrain system. Whether controlled manually or automatically, it ensures that power generated from the engine is transferred to the wheels. Much like the oil in the engine, this vital system depends on transmission fluid to ensure that gears change smoothly and that the engine uses fuel efficiently.
It is recommended to change transmission fluid between every 30,000 and 100,000 miles depending on the vehicle and transmission type. Not maintaining a system as essential as the transmission can leadto failures that will cost significantly more to fix later in a vehicle’s life.
GREAT ONLINE CAR INSURANCE
With low rates, low down payments and flexible payment options, this is one of the best ways to get car insurance online.
Deemerwha studio // Shutterstock
Battery Inspection or Replacement
Almost all systems in modern vehicles rely on some sort of electrical component, with EVs relying on electricity for all systems. This makes the battery an extremely important nerve center for the entire vehicle.
Experts suggest changing a battery for gas-powered vehicles every three to five years, with regular inspections beginning at the three-year mark. Electric vehicle batteries are much larger and may last12 to 15 years in moderate climates. Batteries may show subtle signs of failure, such as dim headlights, slow cranking when starting, or a sulfuric smell, but once the battery dies, the vehicle will not even start. The price for battery replacement will vary depending on the size and power necessary, along with accessibility within the vehicle.
Pawel Radomski // Shutterstock
Coolant Flush
Since both combustion engines and electric motors generate heat, regulating the system’s temperature is necessary. Antifreeze, also known as engine coolant, keeps a vehicle’s engine from either getting too cold to function or overheating. It is recommended to check coolant at least twice a year: once in the summer and once in the winter.
Due to gradual degradation and contamination, the fluid in gas-powered cars should be flushed and replaced approximately every 60,000 miles, with specifics varying on vehicle manufacture and driving conditions. The service for flushing coolant often runs between $200 and $250 and is commonly offered at dealerships and repair shops. For electric vehicles, experts recommend changing the fluid every five years, which may cost between $400 and $650.
kanemme6 // Shutterstock
Timing Belt/Serpentine Belt Replacement
The serpentine belt and timing belt perform different but critical functions. The serpentine belt transfers energy generated by the engine to accessories such as the alternator and air conditioning compressor. The timing belt regulates smooth engine operation. Failure of either can cause breakdowns and lead to expensive repairs.
One of the most common symptoms is a squeak or squeal under the hood, which is often accompanied by a smell of burning rubber. Some belts can last up to 100,000 miles, but it is recommended to routinely check them since they are made of rubber and exposed to heat generated by vehicle operation.
Nor Gal // Shutterstock
Spark Plug Replacement
Spark plugs play an integral part in the function of a combustion engine by igniting the fuel. Therefore, it is important to ensure they are functioning cleanly and efficiently. Dirty spark plugs can lead to loss of fuel efficiency and rough engine operation.
They should be checked starting at 30,000 miles for standard plugs made of copper, while plugs made from metals such as platinum or iridium offer longer lifespans. Replacement can run between $100 and $500, with spark plug replacement often included in tune-up packages.
FIND AFFORDABLE CAR INSURANCE
Get a hassle-free online quote to find the cheap car insurance you need at no cost in just two minutes.
noPPonPat // Shutterstock
Windshield Wiper Replacement
While not always regarded as essential to vehicle operation as engines, batteries, or alternators, windshield wipers help ensure driver visibility in all driving conditions. They are also one of the most easily accessed components to inspect and replace. If the wiper is not clearing the windshield fully or shows visible damage on the blade, replace it.
Windshield wiper blades should be inspected and replaced every six to 12 months. Replacing the blades can come in around $60, but it may cost more if there are issues with the wiper motors or other components.
Written by: Daniel Dennerline. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.
In recent years, inflation has put extensive pressure on the legal industry. According to our 2024 Legal Risk Index Report, 50% of attorneys now cite inflation as the biggest danger to their firm’s bottom line. And they’re not wrong. From rising overheads to mounting pressure on pricing, firms are feeling a squeeze that’s not likely to let up anytime soon. As financial pressures mount, strong law firm financial management has become a critical part of running a firm.
Inflation’s impact on law firms is compounded by several economic factors. Recent tariffs on goods and services make it more expensive to operate and grow. If your law firm is already undergoing tighter margins, these added cost pressures should be addressed.
In this article, we’ll break down the real ways inflation is affecting law firms today and share practical strategies you can use to maintain profits, stay resilient against inflation, and position your firm for growth.
How inflation is hitting law firms harder than ever
Inflation is reshaping the day-to-day economics of running a law firm. The cost of everyday expenses like rent, salaries, software, and malpractice insurance is climbing. When firms are already balancing high client expectations with tight margins, these increases quickly add up, putting pressure on them.
Rising operational costs for attorneys
Unfortunately, many key law firm expenses — office space, insurance premiums, vendor contracts, utilities, etc. — are both non-negotiable and currently increasing.
In fact, rising business costs were the most commonly cited financial pain point in our 2024 survey, with 58% of attorneys reporting that they are directly impacting their bottom line.
Firms that transitioned to hybrid or remote models during the pandemic are experiencing higher demand for more flexible infrastructure. This may include things like shared workspace subscriptions for your staff, cloud-based platforms to improve communication, or upgrades to home office tech.
Tech investment pressures
Investing in legal technology has become essential to productivity and client services for law firms. That said, keeping up with the latest changes, even if they do give you a competitive edge, isn’t cheap.
Inflation has pushed up the price of licenses, subscriptions, and implementation costs. At the same time, the pressure to adopt new tools is growing fast.
This creates a tricky double bind. Technology enables firms to stay competitive, but the cost of staying ahead of these trends continues to rise. Plus, it can be difficult to establish a clear return on investment (ROI), making it easy for leadership to delay investments that could actually improve margins in the long term.
Recruiting and retention
The legal industry is also dealing with significant recruitment and retention challenges. Our report found that:
50% of law firms faced employee retention challenges in 2023
52% of legal professionals are making employee retention and hiring a top priority in 2024
This talent crunch is exacerbated by shifting work preferences. Many attorneys are seeking flexible work arrangements and a better work-life balance. Firms that fail to adapt to these expectations risk losing top talent to more accommodating competitors or online freelancing platforms like Hire an Esquire.
Insurance premiums
Insurance costs are also on the rise, which adds another layer of financial pressure on law firms. For lawyers, insurance is non-negotiable, especially policies like cyber liability and malpractice insurance.
Recent data indicates that the industry anticipates premium increases of 10-15% in catastrophe-prone regions, for example. Carriers are also implementing stricter underwriting criteria for cyber coverage in response to escalating threats.
With rising insurance costs, it’s extremely important to take a proactive risk management approach and look for coverage options that align with your firm’s needs.
Client price sensitivity
Law firms are certainly not the only businesses that are affected by inflation. Costs have been increasing dramatically across the board. This means that clients — especially any businesses that you represent — are becoming far more cautious about their spending.
Even long-standing clients are questioning rates, pushing back on billable hours, and asking for more flexible pricing structures.
This sensitivity is showing up across multiple firm sizes. According to our Legal Risk Index report, nearly 1 in 3 attorneys are facing client pressure to reduce costs. Since clients also face tighter budgets and internal cutbacks, law firms are under pressure to provide more transparency and justify every hour billed.
If your firm relies heavily on hourly billing, this shift in client expectations can quickly erode your margins.
The long-term risks of ignoring inflation
Inflation is not a short-term inconvenience, and treating it as such is a risky move. To keep your law firm in a healthy financial place, plan for sustained economic pressure so that you can mitigate inflationary risks.
Here are some of the major long-term risks of ignoring inflation:
Profit margin erosion
If you choose to absorb rising costs instead of raising rates or reworking pricing models, your profit margins will take a direct hit. Over time, that margin pressure often trickles down to attorneys. They’re then expected to bill more or take on heavier caseloads. In some cases, this delays much-needed hires like paralegals and assistants just to keep revenue stable.
It’s a short-term fix with long-term consequences. Our report found that 45% of attorneys reported that burnout was affecting performance across their entire firm, and nearly one in three firms expressed concerns about billable expectations leading to employee turnover.
Missed growth opportunities due to capital constraints
In order to grow your firm, you’ll need capital. Whether it’s expanding into a new market or launching a practice area, your law firm needs proper cash flow to move forward. But as inflation eats away at profitability, those forward-looking investments tend to be pushed down the priority list (or cut altogether).
The result? Firms end up stuck in maintenance mode, unable to take advantage of opportunities as they come along. Meanwhile, competitors may be modernizing and expanding while inflation-hit firms fall behind.
Losing top talent to more financially stable firms
When margins tighten, compensation freezes, and workloads grow. It’s a familiar pattern, but in today’s market, top legal talent has options. Firms that can’t offer competitive pay, flexibility, or a sustainable work environment risk losing high performers to better-funded competitors.
In 2024, 52% of attorneys identified talent acquisition and retention as a top priority, with many pointing to financial instability as a key driver of current turnover rates. It’s one of the offshoots of inflation. This impacts your ability to attract and keep the people who power your business.
Weakened client relationships due to cost-cutting measures
Clients are currently more price-sensitive, but that doesn’t translate to a willingness to compromise on service. Unfortunately, when firms go too far with budget cuts, the client can experience suffer. Moves such as letting go of support staff, rushing billable work, or delaying investments in client-facing tech all add up over time to the detriment of service quality.
And it doesn’t go unnoticed. Our report found that 31% of attorneys said rising client expectations were creating operational strain, particularly around responsiveness and perceived value. Cost control is certainly important, but when it comes at the expense of service quality, it can quickly erode trust and client loyalty.
Increased risk of a data breach and other exposures
As inflation drives up the cost of data breach response, many law firms are finding themselves underinsured and unprepared. Cyber threats continue to rise, but few firms are adjusting their insurance policies to match the reality of today’s risk environment.
Our Legal Risk Index found that only 14% of law firms planned to enhance their insurance coverage this year, despite acknowledging increased risk, which is a dangerous mismatch. Failing to update your coverage in line with inflation and threat levels could leave your firm paying significantly more out of pocket if and when a breach occurs.
Strategies to mitigate inflation and protect your firm’s profitability
Inflation may be the top concern for law firms in 2024, but it’s not stopping everyone. In fact, 35% of firms are still prioritizing growth despite economic pressures. So, with the right strategy, profitability and resilience can go hand in hand.
The key is to stop reacting to inflation and start planning proactively. A few smart shifts in your law firm financial management can go a long way. Here are some of our top strategies your firm can implement.
Rethink pricing models and fee structures
Rigid hourly billing can quickly become a friction point for budget-minded clients. Forward-thinking firms are getting creative with pricing, both to stay competitive and to align better with client expectations.
This includes Alternative Fee Arrangements (AFAs) like fixed fees, capped fees, and contingency-based models. Value-based billing, where pricing reflects outcomes rather than the time spent, is also gaining traction in areas such as corporate counsel and M&A support. Another relatively new pricing model is packaged legal services.
Use technology to boost productivity
When inflation puts pressure on profitability, squeezing more value out of your legal team’s time becomes essential. But instead of forcing unrealistic expectations, you can use technology to make a real difference.
Firms are increasingly investing in tools like document automation, AI-driven research assistants, and workflow management systems to help reduce the amount of time lawyers spend on repetitive or administrative tasks. After all, the ultimate goal for any attorney is to spend as much time as possible on billable hours.
The goal is to improve output while also supporting a healthier workload and helping your team focus on client-facing work.
According to the 2024 Legal Risk Index, firms that had already invested in legal tech reported higher profit margins and stronger retention rates, even as operating costs rose. In this way, tech isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a strategic lever for productivity and profitability.
Diversify revenue streams and services
Relying too heavily on a narrow set of practice areas or billing methods can leave your firm vulnerable when the market shifts. Diversify your revenue streams to open up new opportunities and stabilize revenue during slow periods in your core areas.
That could mean launching subscription-based legal services for startups. Or you could explore expanding into adjacent practice areas (like compliance or privacy law). Some firms are even creating alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) under their umbrella to attract different client segments and increase profitability without diluting their core brand.
Improve operational efficiency
Inflation quickly exposes inefficiencies. If your internal processes are clunky, the impact of rising costs will only be magnified while your margins take the hit.
Here are a few ways firms are tightening operations without sacrificing quality:
Auditing internal workflows to identify bottlenecks or duplicated effort. Many firms find they’re spending far more time on admin than they realized.
Outsourcing non-core tasks like bookkeeping, marketing, or document review, where possible, can cut costs while freeing up your team to focus on legal work.
Spending time to reevaluate vendor contracts (e.g., legal research platforms, office leases). This can help you uncover where you’re still getting value and where you’re paying for legacy systems you’ve outgrown.
Improve client communication and relationships
Let’s say a corporate client calls with concerns about rising legal bills. They’re not threatening to walk, but they’re clearly frustrated. You’ve raised rates to keep up with inflation, but that doesn’t mean the client understands what’s changed. That kind of misalignment is becoming more common and has the potential to seriously erode client trust.
In the legal industry, it is hard to overstate the importance of communication. It is one of the most overlooked drivers of profitability. When clients understand the value you provide and feel like their concerns are being heard, they’re more likely to stay with your firm, even after a pricing shift.
Firms that invest in and prioritize communication are better positioned to retain clients, even in tough economic conditions such as inflation. And in many cases, they’re also uncovering cross-sell opportunities simply by staying closer to their clients’ evolving needs.
Plan for the unexpected: Financial resilience
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that “business as usual” can change overnight. Inflation is just one pressure point, but it’s a reminder that firms need a plan for financial uncertainty rather than just hoping that things level out.
Building financial resilience doesn’t mean hoarding cash or slashing budgets across the board. It means taking a deliberate approach to things like:
Scenario planning: What happens if your biggest client cuts their legal spend by 30%? Or if your office lease jumps next year?
Maintaining a cash buffer: This is not just about weathering dips in revenue, but taking advantage of unexpected growth opportunities.
Stress-testing your pricing and cost models: Can your current setup withstand 10% higher overhead next year?
According to our 2024 Legal Risk Index, firms that reported higher financial preparedness were more likely to prioritize growth, even in the face of inflation.
How growth-minded law firms are responding
Many firms are embracing smarter processes, sharper positioning, and new models to combat inflation. Below are a few real-life examples of what that looks like.
Leveraging technology to reduce costs without compromising quality
AI is changing the way businesses operate, and law firms are no exception. Take Allen & Overy, which rolled out “Harvey,” a custom generative AI tool that 25% of their team of 3,500 lawyers now use daily to speed up contract drafting, research, and multilingual translations.
Take advantage of new working norms
Working from home, either fully remote or in hybrid systems, is quickly becoming standard practice for many organizations now that the technology is available to make it easy. Law firms can take advantage of this to reduce overhead on expenditures like rent. Amidst a legal dispute with a landlord, Crowell & Moring took the opportunity to downsize from its massive 391,000 square foot office to the top five floors of a new development. Now, their staff are coming to the office 2-3 days per week.
Re-assessing necessary overhead spend like insurance
A key area law firms can look at to reduce costs without compromising the client experience is insurance. However, when it comes to making a switch, proper coverage in all areas is still essential to mitigate risk. Goldstein Hall worked with Embroker to reduce their insurance premiums by 28% per lawyer.
Exploring new fee structures and subscription pricing models
With inflation also affecting clients who may be more inclined to negotiate hours and rates as a result, some law firms are re-examining how they structure their fees. The Prinz Law Office in Silicon Valley introduced tiered flat-fee subscriptions for its startup clients, providing a more predictable cost structure with an add-on menu for more ad-hoc needs.
Don’t let inflation define your firm’s future
Inflation may be a top concern for law firms in 2025, but it’s far from unbeatable. With the right strategies, such as clear communication, financial auditing, and the adoption of new technology, your firm can protect its margins and stay relevant in a competitive market.
Want more data-driven insights into what your law firms can do to stay ahead? Check out our 2024 Legal Risk Index today.
In recent times, the insurance industry has been at the forefront of addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our era. From the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles to the gender pension savings gap, the role of insurance in mitigating risks and providing financial security has never been more critical. In this Insurance News Analysis, I am joined by Deborah McBrearty, Chloe Harmer and Belinda Djamson to delve into how data and AI is shaping the future of insurance.
The Los Angeles wildfires have been yet another stark reminder of the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. Alarmingly, only 25% of the losses from these wildfires are likely to be insured. Deborah highlights what the world could learn from New Zealand where 90% of homes are insured for natural hazards and damage.
Next, we look at how innovations in data and AI are revolutionizing the insurance industry, particularly in parametric insurance. One notable example is the use of satellite data to track rainfall levels in key coffee-growing regions as a means to providing immediate financial relief to farmers when adverse weather conditions hit.
Another critical issue we discuss is the gender pension savings gap. This gap, which sees women saving less for retirement compared to men, is a significant concern. In addition to that, we identified this gap was similarly found with Gen X. Insights from Chloe and Deborah highlight the importance of the pension industry’s role in providing financial education, personalized advice, and digital platforms in order to help women and younger generations better prepare for their financial futures
Lastly, we looked at the growing instances of insurance fraud, highlighting the critical need for sophisticated methods to combat it both at the applications and claims stages. Belinda gives us an understanding of steps insurers could take, using data and AI, to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group.
Motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually — some of which are not actually “accidents.”
Staged auto accidents — in which fraudulent actors deliberately orchestrate collisions with commercial vehicles to earn the claims payout — are a significant and growing concern for the commercial transportation industry. These scams are not only costly for fleet carriers but also dangerous for everyone on the road. Fraudulent claims from staged accidents can lead to increased insurance premiums, legal battles and damage to a company’s reputation.
Organized crime rings often orchestrate these scams, targeting commercial trucks due to their high insurance claim payouts. They typically involve multiple participants, including fake witnesses, corrupt medical providers and unethical attorneys who inflate injury claims.
Understanding the common types of staged accidents is crucial for fleet carriers and truck drivers to protect themselves.
The swoop and squat – A vehicle quickly cuts in front of a truck and suddenly slams on the brakes, causing a rear-end collision. The scammer then claims severe injuries, leading to hefty insurance payouts.
The drive down – In this scenario, a fraudster waves a truck forward in a merging or parking lot situation and then intentionally collides with the truck, later denying they ever signaled.
The panic stop – Bad actors fill a vehicle with passengers, pull in front of a truck, and abruptly brake. The passengers all file exaggerated injury claims, increasing the cost of the fraudulent claim.
The sideswipe – Scammers take advantage of lane changes or tight spaces in intersections, ensuring a truck brushes against them. They later exaggerate damages and injuries.
The fake witness setup – A witness suddenly appears, claiming to have seen the accident and placing the blame on the truck driver. Often, these witnesses are accomplices in the scam.
How fleet carriers can protect themselves
Staged accidents can cause severe financial and operational disruptions for fleet carriers. Recognizing red flags and taking the following proactive measures is essential to mitigating risks.
1. Install cameras
Dash cameras and other recording devices provide irrefutable evidence of what actually happened in an accident. Some scammers will deliberately reverse into a truck (sometimes called a “swoop and squat”) to make it appear that the truck rear-ended them. Without a camera, proving innocence is difficult. Cameras expose these frauds by showing the sequence of events clearly. In most cases, video footage makes it obvious who was at fault, stopping fraudulent claims before they start.
2. Train drivers to spot the signs
Driver awareness is crucial in preventing staged accidents. Educating drivers about common scam tactics enables them to recognize red flags before an accident occurs. Some warning signs include:
Erratic or suspicious driving behavior
A vehicle with multiple passengers appearing ready to claim injuries
A bystander who conveniently appears to “witness” the accident and sides with the other driver
Situations where a truck gets deliberately wedged in, making movement difficult
Encourage drivers to trust their instincts. If something feels off, it likely is. Training programs should include real-life case studies and defensive driving techniques to help drivers mitigate risks.
3. Collect data at the scene
One of the hardest things for drivers to do after an accident is to remain calm and document everything. However, collecting data at the scene can make all the difference in disproving fraudulent claims. Key steps include:
Taking multiple photos of the scene, vehicles, license plates and surrounding conditions
Noting any suspicious behavior from the other driver or witnesses
Gathering witness statements from unbiased third parties
Documenting injuries (or lack thereof) with timestamped photos
Recording personal observations and details while they’re fresh
4. Work with law enforcement
If a driver suspects fraud, they should immediately notify the responding officer. Showing dashcam footage on-site can be a game-changer, as it provides indisputable evidence that can prevent false claims. Officers who recognize fraud can document it properly, strengthening the defense against a scam.
5. Communicate with your insurance company
Quick and clear communication with your insurance company is crucial. Fleet managers should provide all available evidence, including:
Dashcam footage
Driver statements
Witness information
Police reports
The sooner insurance companies receive this information, the faster they can begin investigating potential fraud, reducing claim costs and exposure to liability.
6. Document even minor incidents
Not every staged accident involves major damage. Sometimes scammers stage minor accidents, only to later claim severe injuries. A common scenario involves a minor rear-end collision where the other driver appears uninjured but later files a lawsuit claiming chronic back pain. The statute of limitations in many states is two years, meaning fraudulent claims can emerge long after the accident. Documenting even the smallest incidents ensures fleet carriers are prepared to counter false claims when they arise.
7. Follow proper accident reporting protocols
Fleet carriers must have a standardized accident reporting protocol that drivers follow after every incident. Best practices include:
Reporting all accidents immediately
Documenting everything thoroughly
Notifying insurance and legal teams about potential fraud
Retaining records and reports for the long term
If fraud is suspected, alerting insurance companies and investigators early allows for a more thorough investigation, potentially stopping fraudulent claims before they gain traction.
Awareness and defense driving
By leveraging technology, training drivers to recognize scams and maintaining thorough documentation, fleet operators can protect themselves against costly schemes. By staying vigilant and proactive, carriers will safeguard their business from the growing threat of staged accidents.
ASK A LOSS CONTROL REPRESENTATIVE
Have a question on how to mitigate risk? Email [email protected] for a chance to see your question answered in a future blog.
Wildfire risk is strongly conditioned by geographic considerations that vary widely among and within states. The latest Triple-I Issues Brief shows how that fact played out in 2024 and early this year and discusses the importance of granular local data for underwriting and pricing insurance in wildfire-prone areas, as well as for much-needed investment in resilience.
The 2024 wildfire season in the South and Southwest was particularly severe, marked by such events as the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle fires in February and March and significant blazes in Arizona and New Mexico. The Southwest accounted for the largest number of residential structures destroyed by wildfire, and three of the top five areas for homes destroyed were in the South.
California accounted for the largest number of homes at risk for extreme wildfires. In the first half, the state experienced an above-average number of fires, though most were contained before growing to “major incident” size. Subsequent rains suppressed subsequent wildfire conditions – and caused substantial flooding.
But this rain contributed to an accumulation of fuels so that, when hurricane-force Santa Ana winds whipped through Los Angeles County in early January 2025, the conditions were right for fast-moving blazes to tear through Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon.
Temperature, humidity, wind, and topography vary too widely for a single “one size fits all” mitigation approach. This underscores the importance of granular data gathering and scrupulous analysis when underwriting and pricing insurance. It is also important that insurers proactively engage with diverse stakeholder groups to promote investment in mitigation and resilience.
A recent paper by Triple-I and Guidewire – a provider of software solutions to the insurance industry – uses case studies from three California areas with very different geographic and demographic characteristics to go deeper into how such tools can be used to identify properties with attractive risk properties, despite their location in wildfire-prone areas.
Most people are not immune to the worries of the wallet—big and small. From paying for monthly bills all the way to paying for long-term care and everything in between, people from Gen Z to Boomers told us what they are concerned about financially.
Turns out, saving retirement is a key financial worry, with 44% of Americans expressing concern, according to the 2024 Insurance Barometer Study, from Life Happens and LIMRA. This has been true for every year since the study began in 2011.
It’s Millennials’ Turn
While there hasn’t been a major change retirement concern, what has shifted is who is worrying the most about a range of financial issues. This year, Millennials expressed the highest level of financial concern on nine of the 15 specific financial matters we asked them about. Just two years ago, Gen X was the most concerned on 14 of the 15. A generational shift is clearly underway.
If we take a look at the key financial concerns across all generations, we see the gap between these two generations:
Millennials vs Gen X
Having enough money for retirement: 54% vs 48%
saving for an emergency fund: 45% vs 38%
supporting myself if I couldn’t work due to a disabling illness/injury: 45% vs 39%
paying for long-term care if I couldn’t care for myself: 40% vs 37%
paying for medical expenses in case of an illness/injury: 40% vs 34%
And yet, one of the things that can bring them financial peace of mind—life insurance—is something that fewer Millennials own (50%) than their older Gen X counterparts (55%). So why don’t Millennials have coverage? Well, 42% say it’s too expensive, but 46% overestimate the true cost by 5 times or more. And it’s not surprising they were so far off with on price, as almost half (47%) admit they used a wild guess or used a gut feeling to estimate the cost.
There’s Coverage for That
Additionally, some of their other concerns can be addressed by other types of insurance coverage. For example, disability insurance is there if you are unable to work due to a disabling illness or injury (a concern for 45% of Millennials), but only 19% of Millennials say they own it, and only 20% say they are very/extremely knowledgeable about.
And this year’s Barometer Study also looked at combination products, specifically life insurance combined with long-term care. This type of coverage could allay concerns that Millennials have about both leaving their family in the lurch financially if they died (38%) and paying for long term care (40%).
An easy solution is to explore info on these products: life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care, and then talk to an insurance professional who can help you find a solution in your budget. Plus, that conversation is at no cost and no obligation. If you don’t have an someone to work with, you can use our Agent Locator here.
In light of, well, literally everything, businesses of all sizes are reassessing their risk management strategies and insurance coverage before their renewal date.
Finding the right insurance for your business can be a complex process, requiring careful consideration of your specific risks, industry requirements, and budget constraints. The decisions you make during this process can significantly impact your company’s financial security and operational resilience.
In this month’s newsletter, we’ll walk you through the essential steps of shopping for and purchasing business insurance. From identifying your unique risk profile to finalizing and implementing your policy, our goal is to demystify the insurance buying journey. We’ll also share industry insights on emerging trends that are reshaping how businesses approach insurance in 2025.
In a marketplace filled with options and complex terminology, having a structured approach to insurance purchasing can save you time, money, and pitfalls from potential coverage gaps. This month, we’ll dive into making your insurance buying experience more strategic and effective.
According to Embroker’s 2024 Cyber Risk Index Report, 81% of startups surveyed have experienced a cyberattack in the past year, up from 78% in 2023, and 67% in 2022. This trend underscores the growing threat, and the need for businesses to invest in robust cyber risk management and insurance policies.
Chris Davis at Insurance Business Magazine interviewed Ana Mello, commercial account manager at Summit Commercial Solutions, on the growing concern of “underinsurance.” They note that while coverage limits aren’t keeping up with inflation, premiums are. This highlights a critical disconnect that businesses must address to avoid significant financial exposure.
Businesses are facing a period of economic uncertainty as new tariffs and trade restrictions reshape global commerce. Forward-thinking business leaders can weather the storm — and even flourish — by focusing on key strategies for success.
The insurance shopping process: Building your coverage strategy
Finding the right insurance coverage requires a methodical approach to identifying your risks and understanding what the market offers to address them.
Key points:
The average business needs 2-5 different insurance policies to be adequately protected.
Many small businesses report being underinsured, according to Insurance Business Magazine.
Taking time to properly assess risks before shopping can help reduce premium costs.
Step-by-step shopping guide:
1. Risk assessment
Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your business operations to identify potential risks.
Categorize risks by severity and likelihood to prioritize coverage needs.
Consider industry-specific exposures that require specialized coverage.
2. Coverage research
Identify which insurance types address your specific risk categories.
Research industry benchmarks for coverage limits in your field.
Review regulatory requirements that may mandate specific coverage types.
3. Market exploration
Investigate carriers with expertise in your industry.
Determine whether a broker, direct carrier, or digital platform best suits your needs.
Gather preliminary quotes to establish a budget baseline.
4. Policy comparison
Create a standardized checklist to compare offerings across providers.
Focus on coverage limits, exclusions, and endorsement options rather than just premiums.
Evaluate carrier financial strength ratings and claims satisfaction scores.
Insurance consideration: When shopping for coverage, consider the total cost of risk rather than just the premium. A slightly higher premium that provides significantly broader coverage or lower deductibles may represent a better value for your business in the long run.
The insurance buying process: From selection to implementation
Once you’ve completed your shopping research, the process shifts to finalizing and implementing your selected coverage.
Current situation:
Digital transformation has streamlined the insurance buying process, with the vast majority of commercial policies now available through online platforms.
Verifying coverage limits and terms has become increasingly important, with many businesses citing discrepancies between expected and actual coverage.
Proper implementation of risk management recommendations can significantly reduce premiums at renewal.
Step-by-step buying guide:
1. Final selection
Request formal proposals from your top insurance options.
Clarify any ambiguous policy language or coverage questions.
Negotiate terms, including premium payment schedules and multi-policy discounts.
2. Application process
Gather all required documentation, including financial statements and loss history, as well as past claims.
Complete applications with thorough and accurate information to avoid future coverage issues.
Prepare for potential underwriting questions or inspections.
3. Policy review
Carefully review all policy documents upon receipt.
Verify that all negotiated terms are correctly reflected in the policy.
Create a summary of key coverage provisions, exclusions, and claim reporting requirements.
4. Implementation
Distribute relevant policy information to key stakeholders in your organization.
Set up calendar reminders for premium payments and policy renewal dates.
Implement any required risk management measures specified by the insurer.
Risk management tip: Create a centralized digital repository for all insurance documentation, including policies, endorsements, certificates, and correspondence. This ensures easy access during a claim situation when time is of the essence.
The future of insurance purchasing: Digital transformation
The insurance buying journey is evolving rapidly with technological advancements reshaping the customer experience.
Notable aspects:
AI-powered risk assessment tools are reducing the time needed to identify coverage needs.
Blockchain technology is beginning to streamline policy verification and claims processes.
Usage-based insurance models are gaining traction, allowing businesses to pay premiums based on actual exposure.
Business insight: While technology continues to transform the insurance buying process, the fundamental principle remains unchanged: A thorough understanding of your risks and careful matching with appropriate coverage options is the path to success. Digital tools should enhance, not replace, thoughtful risk management planning.
Last week, Embroker COO Kristy Malm participated in the Change Management panel at Resource Pro’s Summit 2025 Conference. Kristy shared Embroker’s approach to maintaining employee engagement during transformation, and more.
On April 16, Embroker CTO Gene Linetsky spoke on the “Engineering Leadership at the AI Frontier” panel at Revelo’s Conference in San Francisco. On the panel, Gene spoke to the challenges and opportunities AI offers engineering teams and their leaders, and the types of skills required in this evolving field.
Is AI making data privacy worse? Discover AI data privacy risks facing tech companies — data breaches, bias, compliance challenges, and more — plus, how to mitigate them effectively.
In its 25th year, the annual Accenture Tech Vision report continues to be a guiding light for the future of technology. This year, the report highlights four key trends that are set to revolutionize technology: 1) The Binary Big Bang, 2) Your Face in the Future, 3) When LLMs Get Their Bodies, and 4) The New Learning Loop. Among these, “Your Face in the Future: Differentiating when every interface looks the same” stands out to me as a particularly compelling trend for the insurance industry.
The power of Agentic AI
So what is Agentic AI? Put simply, Agentic AI are ‘AI agents’ that exhibit human-like behavior, characteristics and interactions. Often, these AI have been imbued with distinct personalities shaped by their words, speech patterns, and tone. Agentic AI brings generative AI to the next level, with this ‘personification’ also extending to virtual avatars and physical robots. 56% of insurance executives in the report believe gen AI could have the greatest impact on reinventing their organization in the area of customer relationships, such as engaging with customers through Agentic AI.
What’s your AI personality?
As businesses increasingly integrate gen AI into customer interactions, a critical question emerges: What is your AI’s personality? 99% of insurance executives state that establishing or maintaining a consistent personality will be important or very important to their customer-facing AI agents over the next 3 years. Generic agents can lead to a bland and impersonal experience, diluting brand identity. 79% agree with this, saying that ‘chatbots that all sound the same are creating differentiation challenges for organizations like theirs’. However, agentic AI offers a solution. Think about it – historically, brand identity has never had an actual, real voice. Communicators have talked about the more intangible yet crucially important concept of ‘brand tone of voice’. Think Nike and you immediately think ‘motivating’ and ‘empowering’. Equally, Lemonade is known for its unique and quirky tone. Insurance companies and brands must protect their unique voice to avoid becoming generic. Now it is possible to marry AI’s scale and efficiency with the humanizing voice and tone of a company’s brand and values, breathing life and personality into digital representatives, hyper-personalizing customer interactions and unlocking customer relationships like never before.
In this blog, I’m going to examine the application of Agentic AI in three key areas :
Customer Experience
In personal lines, Agentic AI can help amplify trust and loyalty that are critical in insurance service interactions, enabling more intuitive and empathetic agentic conversations in both policy sales and claims experience. Delivering service interactions that are highly curated, contextual and reflective of someone’s current situation can now be enabled by AI. 94% of insurance executives agree that the ‘context of the customer,’ such as purchase history, engagement behavior, and demographic/psychographic data, is important or very important in establishing a consistent personality for customer-facing AI agents. Additionally, customers’ ability to submit videos to back-up their claims should become table stakes, further cementing that trust. 74% of insurance executives agree or strongly agree that multimodal AI interactions, such as videos of medical injuries, crash sites, and drone footage of natural disaster zones, will be at the forefront of customer experience in the next 3-5 years. This will give customers optionality for how they can share relevant real-time information and how an AI agent helps them satisfy a claim or service request within hours (not days).
On top of all this, the best AI will go beyond and also leverage historical customer conversations to inform future ones. It will anticipate individual customers’ pain points and potential needs for future new products or offerings so the AI agent can curate value to customers. It should be designed to embody the unique personality of the company and brand values, including its voice (beyond tone), maintaining consistency and authenticity and creating more differentiated, dynamic and engaging customer experiences.
Employee Experience
In both personal and commercial lines, AI agents can complement insurance employees across the entire marketing, sales and service life cycle and aid to accelerate decision making, call summarization and insights generation. This can help human agents focus on higher value tasks.
Agent & Broker Experience
For any insurance segment, gen AI can significantly enhance the personalization of the agent and broker experience. This technology ensures that recommendations are more tailored to the specific risk appetite of each client, leading to more effective and satisfying interactions. Whether distribution is captive or independent, providing gen AI solutions to expedite decision making, drive dynamic price and deliver tailored recommendations to end-customers will enable agents and advisors to succeed and enhance the carrier to attract next-gen sellers and agencies.
Preserving trust and brand identity
76% of insurance executives agree their organizations will need to proactively build trust between Agentic AI and their customers.To build and preserve this trust, it is essential to keep your agents aligned with your brand by meticulously reviewing and continuously monitoring their training data inclusive of brand “voice” data. Work with AI experts to set clear rules and boundaries that limit their knowledge and vocabulary. Additionally, demonstrate restraint in data collection by respecting user privacy, preparing for regulatory challenges, and providing transparent, customizable privacy settings. This approach ensures that your AI interactions are beneficial and respectful and that you are translating the brand promise and identity into a brand that users can rely on.
CARA: Irish Life’s leading-edge claims app
CARA, the Claims AI Reasoning Assistant by Irish Life, is a prime example of how Agentic AI can enhance customer interactions. It is a groundbreaking multimodal AI system that is revolutionizing the insurance claims process. Developed to address the critical need for swift and compassionate support during life’s most challenging moments, CARA leverages advanced generative AI and medical reasoning to validate and transcribe claim documents, evaluate medical criteria, and ensure accurate and efficient claims processing. By reducing the time from initial claim submission to payment from weeks to just half a day, CARA delivers an unparalleled claims experience. This innovative solution, which handles multilingual data and integrates with Azure Cognitive Services, has not only enhanced customer satisfaction but also significantly boosted employee productivity and morale as it intelligently assigns claims to assessors based on complexity and experience, ensuring swift resolution with the right expertise.
Agentic AI will make the insurance industry a hyper-personalized business
The future of customer interactions in the insurance industry is bright with the potential of Agentic AI. By infusing personality into AI agents and maintaining a strong brand identity, companies can build deeper, more meaningful relationships with their customers. The key is to approach this technology with intention and a commitment to trust and transparency. It’s more than just a brand exercise. This is the first step to reinventing business models around AI. The potential is there for the insurance business to hyper-personalize and curate to the individual throughout the value chain, in underwriting, pricing, policy duration and claims, where tailored offerings will become the customer norm. The more we build trust in AI, and the more customers grow an affinity for working with an AI, the more the door opens up to AI becoming a true direct channel for customers. Exciting times ahead!
