As the majority of Property & Casualty insurance professionals transitioned to working at home during the pandemic, their use and engagement with PropertyCasualty360.com email newsletters and the PropertyCasualty360.com mobile site have substantially increased.

Over the course of the last year, PC360 has seen:

• 4% increase in newsletter open rates
• 34% are mobile visitors, up from 31% last year

The reason for increased engagement: Our audiences are even more interested in Property & Casualty insurance industry news and analysis in these challenging times. Plus, the many ways that we enable users to consume information makes it easier to integrate digital media use into their busy day.

Curious about data detailing how Property & Casualty insurance professionals engage with digital media? You can find more information in the 2021 PropertyCasualty360 Media Kit.

How have your media consumption habits changed in the last year? Drop me a line with your thoughts at [email protected].

• Cannabis. The coronavirus has put some topics we were watching on the back burner for most of this year. However, with the U.S. general election, five more states legalized some form of marijuana use. Currently, only six states have not legalized it for medicinal or recreational use. Proponents of legalization believe that under the Biden Administration, some sort of federal legalization is likely. Regardless, this is a major growth industry with sales expected to top $16.1 billion in 2020, up from $12 billion in 2019. The Western states have seen a 32% increase in sales compared to the same period in 2019. We will continue to monitor these growth opportunities and educate our audience on the risks and benefits associated with providing coverage.
• Business travel. This will continue to be extremely limited going into the first half of 2021. We spoke with two CHUBB insurance executives who see several trends: Only essential travel will take place, there will be increased scrutiny for any type of travel, the face-to-face benefits of a meeting will be weighed against any travel risks, there will be more regional travel, and companies will continue to focus on keeping employees safe and ensuring they have the information and resources they need before an incident occurs. As the insurance industry is already extremely risk averse, it’s likely that many insurance-related events will continue to be virtual well in 2021.
• Climate change. Regardless of how political pundits try to play this issue, the fact is that natural disasters are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. Look no further than the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, the most active on record, for proof of the environmental reckoning that continues to take place. The insurance industry bears the burden of responding to these events, rebuilding in their wake, and mitigating losses from future events. To that end, while some people around insurance are looking at innovative solutions such as parametric coverage for high-risk areas, this dialogue and work needs to become more commonplace if the industry has any hope of surviving financially from future crises. We can help further this conversation with our coverage.
• Diversity & inclusion. It’s no secret that the insurance industry has a diversity and inclusion problem. Related issues are the talent gap and the ongoing struggle to replace insurance professionals who are retiring or selling independent insurance agencies and brokerages. Many insurance executives are reluctant to discuss the problem publicly, but privately they agree that recruiting efforts and leadership advancement need to change.