Happy Wednesday - we hope everyone is staying warm this week! In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing how COVID-19 will continue to impact the insurance industry in 2021, Flood Insurance Awareness Week and two webinars you'll want to register for right now.

3 Ways COVID-19 Will Continue to Impact Insurance Industry in 2021

TransUnion has conducted a survey of 3,148 US consumers with active auto, homeowners, renters and/or life insurance policies during the first week of December. Their findings revealed several trends they believe the insurance industry can expect to see play out during 2021.

According to Insurance Journal, the first trend to watch will be, "The financial and economic challenges brought forth by COVID-19 will continue to impact consumers and businesses, potentially leading to profitability impacts for insurance carriers down the road." The TransUnion survey found that respondents were primarily worried about being able to pay for their car insurance, their car payment, their mortgage payments and life insurance bill. The second trend their survey found was, "Consumers and businesses expect insurers to have a greater understanding of their individualized needs in light of shifting behaviors and preferences." Their survey found that many consumers may be interested in user-based insurance and telematics programs. According to Insurance Journal, 61% of drivers would allow their insurance carrier to collect real-time information about their mileage and driving habits if it could lower their premium. The third and final trend they found was that insurance digitization efforts will continue to strengthen in 2021. All the way from marketing to claims submissions and digital policy servicing, there's a digital transformation. "TransUnion's survey found that almost half of respondents (47%) filed an auto and/or property claim in the last year, and of those, nearly four in 10 (39%) used a mobile app, website portal or e-mail. Read more about the TransUnion Survey and its findings here.

Flood Insurance Awareness Week

OCI is encouraging Wisconsinites to consider flood insurance before spring flooding. Commission Mark Afable said, "This week, we are encouraging Wisconsin consumers to learn more about the importance and benefits of flood insurance before the snow starts melting and the rain starts falling. With precipitation on the rise due to a changing climate, proper insurance coverage is a great step to secure the financial stability of families and communities that may be impacted by flooding." Gov. Evers has proclaimed February 7-13 Flood Insurance Awareness Week in Wisconsin to underscore the importance of obtaining flood insurance early. Some flood insurance policies, including the policies from the National Flood Insurance Program have a 30-day waiting period before they take effect. On Monday, the IIAW posted a graphic to help encourage Wisconsinites to consider flood insurance. You can visit our Facebook page to share that graphic to your own pages, hopefully reaching more customers to get the word out!

Upcoming Webinars

Next Tuesday, February 16th from noon to 1 p.m., you can learn more about the Paycheck Protection Program with a webinar brought to you by the UW-Madison Extension Community Development Institute. During this meeting, you'll hear from SBA officials, Wisconsin business owners and a regional banker. Wisconsin business owners will be able to ask questions and receive guidance on how the application process works, highlighting strategies, hurdles and common mistakes. You can learn more and register for the webinar here.

Block off your calendar on Wednesday, February 17th at 10 a.m. for the latest installment of our Agency Leadership Webinar Series. As we stated above, one of the trends to be aware of through 2021 is the digitization of the insurance industry. How do you prepare? Well, you can learn more about Agency Technology from our webinar's featured speaker, Steve Anderson. Steve has spent his 35+ year career helping the insurance industry understand, integrate and leverage current and emerging technologies. From business management systems to social platforms, Steve can analyze what's happening now and explain its implications for the future. Register for this webinar here.

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter Big I Buzz. If you aren't subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Don't forget you can stay up-to-date on other industry news and conversation by joining the IIAW's Online Community, exclusively for IIAW members. You can join the Online Community here. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week! 

It's hard to believe January is almost over - today marks the last Wednesday of the month! This week we are discussing IIABA's new Agency Guide to Getting Started With Social Media, a new report identifying and ranking the top risks of 2021 by likelihood and how PPP loans could be taxed by state.

The Agency Guide to Getting Started with Social Media

IIABA has released their new guide to help agencies get started with social media, and while we won't give away everything in the report - there are a few key topics that we wanted to break down. 

First, the guide outlines the demographics that mainly use each platform: 

• Facebook - 46% of American users are age 65+, 75% of ages 18 to 45 use Facebook. Usage among those ages 20-30 and 30+ is similar to these stats. 

• Instagram - 75% of Americans ages 18-24, 57% of Americans age 25-29, 47% of Americans age 30-49 and 23% of Americans age 50-60 use Instagram. 

• Twitter - 44% of Americans age 18-24 use Twitter. 80% of people under 50 use Twitter globally and Twitter tends to skew mostly male for its users. 

• LinkedIn - 27% of Americans age 26-35, 34% of Americans age 36-45 and 29% of Americans ages 56+ use LinkedIn. 

This guide also breaks down the main content trends for 2021: 

• Content value will beat production value

• Conversational marketing will change its tone

• Consumers will crave snackable content (content that is very short and memorable)

• Video will continue to take center stage

This is just a glimpse at the great content shared within this guide. If you want to dive deeper, check out the IIAW's Digital Marketing Playbook here. 

Top 5 Risks of 2021, Ranked By Likelihood

The results for the Global Risks Perception Survey from Zurich have been released. The 2021 Global Risks Report includes an analysis of the growing social, economic and industrial divisions in the U.S. and abroad, their interconnections, and their implications on society's ability to resolve major global risks. According to NU Property Casualty 360, "Researchers believe the factors of job losses, a widening digital divide, disrupted social interactions and and abrupt shifts in markets could lead to 'dire consequences and lost opportunities' for large parts of the global population."

According to the report, "Short term threats (0-2 years) show concern with the immediate impact of the crisis on lives and livelihoods - among them are infectious diseases, livelihood crises, digital inequality and youth disillusionment. 

In the medium-term (3-5 years), respondents believe the world will be threatened by knock-on economic and technological risks that may take some years to crystalize, such as asset bubble bursts, IT infrastructure breakdown, price instability and debt crises. Existential risk - weapons of mass destruction, state collapse, biodiversity loss and adverse technological advances - dominate long-term concerns (5-10 years)." Read more here. 

PPP Loans Could Be Taxed by State, Central Wisconsin Business Weighs In

Businesses who received PPP loans will have to pay Wisconsin state taxes on them. According to WAOW, "The federal government is allowing businesses to make deductions on those loans, but the Wisconsin Department of Revenue website says: 

'A taxpayer that received a covered loan guaranteed under the PPP and paid or incurred certain otherwise deductable expenses listed in section 1106 (b) of the CARES Act may not deduct those expenses in the taxable year in which the expenses were paid or incurred if, at the end of such taxable year, the taxpayer reasonably expects to receive forgiveness of the covered loan on the basis of the expenses it paid or accrued during the covered period, even if the taxpayer has not submitted an application for forgiveness of the covered loan by the end of such taxable year.'

Co-owner of  Wausau's Bull Falls Brewery, Michael Zamzow, hopes that something changes before Tax Day, as he the loan would be more impactful if the funds weren't taxed. Read more here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter  Big I Buzz.  If you aren't subscribed, click   here  to add your email to our emailing list. Don't forget you can stay up-to-date on other industry news and conversation by joining the IIAW's Online Community, exclusively for IIAW members. You can join the Online Community here. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week! 

Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing a new update to the Dane County COVID-19 restrictions, how social media ghosts can cause a risk management nightmare and how you can stay up-to-date on what's happening in politics and government.

Dane County Issues New Public Health Order, Increases Outdoor Gathering Limits

A new Emergency Health Order goes into effect on Wednesday, January 13th. The order allows for indoor gatherings of up to 10 people (mirroring the previous Emergency Health Order) and limits outdoor gatherings to 50 people (increased from the last Emergency Health Order's outdoor capacity limit of 25 people.)

Schools are still allowed to continue in-person learning for all grade levels, and colleges, universities & other higher education centers can also remain open. 

Restaurants in Dane County can offer indoor seating capacity of 25%, while restrictions remain the same for bars and taverns. 

According to the City of Madison, violation of the emergency order could result in a $1,000 fine. Read more here. 

Social Media Ghosts Are Real

In May, the United Way of Southeast Missouri faced a fake social media profile that claimed to be an employee of their business posting racist memes and causing an uproar online. While they worked to mitigate the damage from this fake profile, they are still needing to respond to comments about the fake profile months later. This 'ghost' caused reputational damage and they needed to use their workforce for the first week of this incident to respond to angry emails, comments and other communications about the fake profile. 

According to Property Casualty 360, "The organization did not have insurance coverage for the incident for this incident. And even if it had a cyber policy, it is unlikely it would have responded. Cyber insurance typically covers losses from computer-based attacks on a firm's information technology systems. Claims payments compensate for costs from the theft of data, loss of funds from online fraud, or lawsuits from privacy or regulatory violations... But the reputational damages from incidents like this are tricky to quantify. While there's no simple, easy-to-buy insurance protection from social media ghosts, you and your client organizations can take away a few important lessons from the United Way's ghostly experience:

• Create a crisis plan.

• Engage experts.

• Stay on message. 

• Move fast.

• Ask critics for viral help.

• Strengthen your diversity and inclusion action plan."

Learn more about the incident and how you can prepare for this harsh social media reality here. 

Stay Up-to-Date on What's Happening in Politics and Government

The IIAW's Online Community offers 11 different Groups to join, one of those being our Government Affairs Group. This Group will keep you informed on all the state and federal changes happening politically and emerging issues. This Group monitors legislation on state and national levels, they help direct grassroots lobbying efforts to support legislative activities. If you're not already one of the over 180 members of our Online Community, click here to join. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter  Big I Buzz.  If you aren't subscribed, click  here  to add your email to our emailing list. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!

Happy Holidays! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays with their loved ones. On this week's Big I Buzz we are discussing where those late holiday packages may be hiding, what you can do to help small businesses become cyber safe and where the COVID-19 relief bill sits today.

Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief and Government Funding Deal Struck

On December 20th, Congress poised to pass a roughly $900 billion COVID Relief Package. The package would allow direct payments of $600 for most Americans. The relief package included a $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for transit systems, an increase in food stamp benefits and about $4 billion to help other nations provide a COVID-19 vaccine for their people. The COVID-19 relief package includes a number of consequential legislative victories for Big "I" members and their clients. The package includes roughly $325 billion in small business relief, including an additional $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which is reauthorized through the end of March 2021. 

Late Tuesday night, President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples.The original relief bill contained a two-year tax break for corporate meal expenses, which President Trump stated was not enough to help struggling restaurants. According to Fox 59, "The White House did not signal any objections to the legislation before it passed, and gave every expectation that Trump would sign it. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was involved in the negotiations over the bill." At the time of writing this, White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's intentions. Read more here. You can also stay up-to-date on changes to this and other COVID-19-related news on the IIAW's COVID-19 Resource Center. 

Holiday Packages Held Up in Transit at Wisconsin Sorting Center

Many holiday shoppers have turned online to find the perfect gifts for their family and friends. But, shipping delays may be keeping many of those packages from arriving on time. According to Satish Jindel, president of Ship Matrix, an estimated 2.2 million packages are falling behind each day. Most of those packages are delayed by just one day, but some are showing up as many as six days late. If you're in the same boat as many Americans, waiting for your gifts to arrive, try getting creative. You can print out a photo of the item and sticking it in a card under the tree or you can come up with a riddle or small scavenger hunt to help clue in the recipient to what's in store. Gift for a kid running late? Tell them that their gift fell off Santa's sleigh, but that an elf or reindeer will be by later to drop it off. Today, December 23rd is the last day for shipping, should you choose to ship USPS Priority Mail Express Service. 

Do Your Part to Help Small Businesses Become Cyber Safe

In a recent survey, 64% of small businesses have reported not having cyber insurance coverage. According to Insurance Business, "As agents and brokers become more aware that cyber is a high-priority issue for their customers, they should work with their insurance markets to get up to speed on what the latest coverages are and the benefits of them. One benefit is the fact that most cyber insurance providers include robust education and training resources with the insurance. You can see more information about how and why small business are seeing an uptick in cyberattacks, and what can be done to combat the rising threat here with CyberScout's free whitepaper, "Small Business, Huge Risks". 

Big I Buzz will return after the holidays on January 6th, 2021. For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter  Big I Buzz.  If you aren't subscribed, click here  to add your email to our emailing list. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week! \

Happy Holidays!

Happy Wednesday! Christmas is only 16 days away - time to get that last-minute holiday shopping done. On this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing the IRS announcement about retirement plan contributions, when to expect the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines in Wisconsin and a few ways how auto insurers can exceed customer expectations post-sale. 

IRS Announces 2021 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits for 401(k)s and More

The Treasury Department has announced inflation-adjusted figures for retirement account savings for 2021. According to Forbes, "The basic salary deferral amount for 401(k) and similar workplace plans remains flat at $19,500; the $6,500 catch-up amount if you're 50 or older also remains the same; but the overall limit for these plans goes up from $57,000 to $58,000 in 2021. That helps workers whose employers allow special after-tax salary deferrals, and self-employed folks who can save to the limit in solo or individual 401(k)s or SEP retirement plans. Learn more here. 

Wisconsin Expects First Batch of COVID-19 Vaccines Soon, General Public May Not See it Until Mid-2021

Wisconsin health officials say the state could receive its first batch of almost 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine yet this month, but cautioned that it may not be until next summer before the general public can begin to receive vaccinations. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, "During a media call Monday with reporters, Julie Williams Van Dijk, deputy secretary with the state Department of Health Services, said the state expects to receive the first round of Pfizer's vaccine - 49,725 doses have been allocated - in the coming weeks, once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants emergency approval. First priority would be given to Wisconsin's roughly 450,000 health care workers and long-term care facility workers. Next up the vaccines would be given to other population groups that could include essential workers or those with at-risk conditions before the general public will be able to be immunized. Learn more here. 

Three Ways Auto Insurers Can Exceed Customer Expectations After the Sale

A recent study from MDgo found that the price of auto insurance policies is what motivated a majority of consumers int heir purchasing decisions, with 52% of consumers choosing cost as the major driver when purchasing auto coverage. Auto insurers are challenged to focus on their on-going customer experience and the quality of their touchpoints after the quote to improve customer retention. According to NU Property Casualty 360 insurers can exceed customer expectations post-quote by, 

1. Be there to support policyholders when they need it most - consider how you can offer policyholders a sense of security and support in their purchasing decision

2. Show that data privacy matters - show how consumers data is being used. Property Casualty suggests, "to gain access to the detailed accident data that powers personalized customer engagement and experiences, auto insurers should not only focus on collecting user-based data on an on-going basis, but also offer to only collect data at the moment of an accident, when it's needed the most." 

3. Acknowledge customer expectations in real-time - Auto insurers can leverage their knowledge to provide policyholders with a tailored response to their immediate needs, be it a reference to a nearby repair shop that specializes in certain kinds of damages or a recommendation to immediately visit the hospital based on the severity of injuries, said Property Casualty 360. 

By going above and beyond the quote, auto insurers can go above and beyond the quality of their customer touch points and personalized experience overall. Read more here.

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter   Big I Buzz.    If you aren't subscribed, click   here   to add your email to our emailing list. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!