Paper checks still dominate insurance payments, but fraud data, workflow drag, and customer expectations are pushing carriers toward digital alternatives.

Revised Bulletin 206 allows virtual claims handling across all lines but requires insurers to offer in-person inspections and reinforces standards for total loss valuations.

New AI Claim Assistant handles auto damage claim calls, guides FNOL and shifts adjusters toward resolution-focused work.

Survey data shows carriers and brokers ramping up AI, cybersecurity and digital platforms as claims, fraud and catastrophe pressures intensify.

Losses tied to Venmo, Zelle and Cash App are climbing, pushing underwriters and claims teams to scrutinize controls, coverage limits and internal fraud exposure.

Gallagher Bassett’s 2026 Carrier Perspective report finds social inflation, medical costs, catastrophe losses and AI-driven fraud are compounding severity and workforce pressure for carriers.

Real-time driver behavior data is helping insurers reduce collision frequency, lower severity, and strengthen underwriting decisions before a claim occurs.

Higher medical costs, cumulative trauma litigation, and social inflation are driving severity and pressuring reserves, with California signaling a potential market shift.

Utilities across the West are increasingly cutting power during high-risk weather, reshaping wildfire prevention strategies and claims exposure for insurers.

Most carriers add AI to claims workflows that were already failing. Real results come from redesigning intake, audits, and prioritization before automation ever starts.

Legacy data systems built for reporting, not real-time decision-making, are preventing insurers from moving AI tools into daily underwriting and claims operations.

Freeze-related property damage and power outages across 14 states are driving insured losses that could make Fern one of the costliest winter storms on record.

Economists and former tech employees say workforce reductions tied to artificial intelligence often reflect cost cutting and restructuring rather than direct job replacement.

Fitch expects broader P/C softening in 2026, while Morningstar says casualty pricing will stay out of step due to litigation and severity. Early earnings-call commentary shows carriers leaning on portfolio mix, disciplined underwriting, and AI tools to protect margins.

At ITC London 2026, executives said artificial intelligence is exposing weak leadership cultures and forcing insurers to rethink innovation, risk tolerance, and long-standing business models.