Small business insurance goes back a long, long way.
It was formalized when British merchants began to finance voyages before shipping goods overseas, sharing the financial burden to reduce the risks of piracy and bad weather and support global commerce. In fact, the first U.S. insurance company was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. Small business insurance has only continued to evolve since that time.
While supporting businesses in the event of the unexpected, small business insurance has long been more about talk and less about action. Today, most small to medium-sized businesses are dependent on their brokers who, in turn, rely on large insurers and reinsurers who have struggled to profitably underwrite niche businesses. Today’s forecast for small business insurance definitely calls for greater clarity and support.
So, what is the future of small business insurance?
At Accelerant, we believe that there will be a resurgence of specialty insurance steadied by a values-aligned risk exchange—the key to the industry’s overall success, growth and long-term stability.
Many small businesses have updated their business models to meet consumer expectations but remain underinsured, despite being a core segment for insurers. They would all be wise to embrace data and technology and move forward with a willingness to change the industry status quo.
To that end, Accelerant delivers a full-service risk exchange, which makes it easy to understand and share risk. We continue to democratize insurance and align incentives around risk exchange—a game-changer in our industry. We also invest in many of our Members, rather than competing with them, to share risk while offering additional capital to support their future growth.
With values-aligned risk exchange and a commitment to the SMBs the heart of global business, we believe that the future of small business insurance is clear; and that this approach, in fact, is the future of insurance as a whole.
Want to learn more? Reach out.