Overview:

The US P&C insurance industry is being battered on several fronts. Revenue is lower than it was before the financial crisis. The regulatory situation is becoming more burdensome. The 2010 hurricane season may be as active as 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. Moreover with the ongoing soft market, P&C insurers do not see any premium revenue lift in the immediate future.
 
 Scope
 
 *US Property & Casualty insurance industry
 
 *This report covers opportunities for technology providers selling to the US P&C insurance industry
 
 Highlights
 
 The market forces impacting the US P&C insurance industry are intensifying. Finding profitable growth is the US P&C insurance industry's greatest challenge.
 
 Technology firms must have a truly differentiated value proposition to get the attention of P&C insurers who are, by nature, slow to replace existing providers or adopt new technology.
 
 Reasons to Purchase
 
 *This research identifies opportunities for technology providers selling to the US P&C insurance industry
 
 *This research provides a primer for technology salespeople unfamiliar with the US P&C insurance industry

SUMMARY 2
Catalyst 2
Ovum View 2
Key Messages 2
THE US PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE INDUSTRY IS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC 3
A high-level view of the multi-billion dollar US P&C insurance industry 3
P&C insurance is a multi-faceted product 5
P&C insurers discuss the retail and corporate markets in different terms than L&A insurers 6
Personal and commercial P&C insurance customers have similar reasons for purchasing coverage 7
Automobile insurance dominates the total P&C insurance market 9
P&C insurers generate revenue from customers and investments 10
P&C insurers use metrics focusing on losses and expenses to get a sense of profitability 11
The high-level strategic and operational aspects of the P&C insurance industry illustrate the essence of the industry 13
THE MARKET FORCES IMPACTING THE US P&C INSURANCE INDUSTRY ARE INTENSIFYING 14
P&C insurers are continually impacted by major market forces 14
FINDING PROFITABLE GROWTH IS THE P&C INSURANCE INDUSTRY'S GREATEST CHALLENGE 17
P&C insurance companies have traditionally focused on costs and compliance 17
The US P&C insurance industry market maps illustrating participants such as policyholders, prospects and producers provide sign posts to profitable growth 18
TECHNOLOGY IS THE ENGINE THAT ENABLES THE US P&C INSURANCE INDUSTRY 20
There are six major areas of business opportunities requiring technology support 20
Each of the business opportunities can be explored for potential technology applications 22
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS 23
Have a truly differentiated value proposition 24
Realize the differences of the speed of change between the technology and P&C insurance industries 24
Demonstrate US P&C insurance industry business knowledge 25
Offer modular solutions or pilots 25
APPENDIX 26
Ask the analyst 26
Definitions 26
Further reading 27
Ovum Consulting 28
Disclaimer 28
 

List of Figures
Figure 1: Top five countries by P&C direct premiums written, 2008 (US $ billions) 5
Figure 2: Terms that P&C and L&A insurers use to describe the retail and corporate markets 7
Figure 3: P&C insurance is sold to both individual and corporate clients 9
Figure 4: Percent of top five US P&C insurance lines of business, 2008 written premium 10
Figure 5: Where the P&C insurance company revenue dollar goes, 2008 11
Figure 6: Three key P&C ratios for the 2004-2009 time period 12
Figure 7: High-level snapshot of the US P&C insurance industry 13
Figure 8: The major market forces impacting the US P&C insurance industry 16
Figure 9: Value of insured coastal properties vulnerable to hurricanes for the top ten states, 2007 ($ billions) 17
Figure 10: High-level map of the US P&C personal lines insurance market 19
Figure 11: High-level map of the US P&C commercial lines insurance market 20
Figure 12: Six major P&C insurance company challenges requiring technology support 22
Figure 13: Selected potential technology applications for each of the six business opportunity areas 23