(Newswire.net — April 26, 2020) —
The insurance industry has been a very significant and important industry for people all over the world for a long time. Traditionally, the insurance industry has been considered one of the more stable industries through good times and bad. While the industry will continue to play an important role in 2020, it is bound to change in some different ways due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Auto Insurance Rate Reductions
One way that you can expect that the insurance industry will change is by seeing a reduction in your auto insurance rates. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many different people across the world are spending more of their time at home and not driving to and from work. This makes the typical driver less of a risk to insure. Due to this, auto insurance providers are offering discounted rates to people in states that are practicing social distancing. As these practices continue, it is likely that the insurance rates will also remain low.
Home Insurance Rate Reductions
Another trend that we could see in 2020 is a reduction in home insurance rates. With social distancing occurring, people are generally having less guests over to their home. This then reduces the likelihood that someone will get injured in your home, which reduces your liability risk. Due to the reduction in risk, there is a good chance that home insurance premiums could decline. Further, with people being at home, there is a lower chance that a home will be broken into and if there is damage from a burst water pipe, a property owner is normally able to address the issue faster.
Forgiveness for Late Payments
Similar to other industries, the major insurance companies are dealing with a lot of customers that have lost their jobs and are not able to pay their bill on time. Traditionally, if you fell behind for more than 30 days, you risked losing coverage entirely. Now, many of the major insurance providers recognize that their customers may need a bit of relief. Beyond offering lower rates, they may offer you an extension of terms that could result in forgiveness of deferral of payments for a couple of months.
Life Insurance to be More Conservative
The 2020 calendar year is going to have a major impact on the life insurance industry as well. It remains to be seen how people that have had the disease in the past will be viewed from an underwriting perspective. However, it is clear the life insurance providers are going to be more conservative. There are already reports that life insurance providers have taken a harder look at older customers due to the heightened risk associated with COVID-19. It is likely that the process for applying for this insurance coverage will be changing in a variety of different ways.
Co Pays and Other Costs
The healthcare industry will also be going through a lot of different changes in the coming year. With the amount of people that are sick and need hospitalization bound to increase, the amount of money that is needed to meet deductibles will be quite a bit higher for a lot of people. This is going to put on a lot of stress for those that are already out of work and not able to meet their other obligations. Due to this, many people would benefit greatly from receiving some form of assistance from the insurance companies to reduce their out of pocket costs.
The year 2020 is going to always be an extremely transformative one in many different ways. One industry that is bound to change this year due to a variety of different factors is the insurance industry. These trends are likely going to be some of the more significant ones that will impact the industry this year and in years to come.