Peter Venetis, Principal Claims Consultant at ValueMomentum

Social inflation really got its start in 2010s in commercial auto. And since that time, it’s now taken a hold in almost all lines of business — and personal lines to commercial to general liability, specialty, excess, and even workers comp. So now, I’d say it’s pretty much ubiquitous in any liability claim type. You’re going to see social inflation.

Since the pandemic, we’ve seen almost every line become even more prone social inflation and we’ve seen it blow up exponentially. So for instance, commercial lines, we’re seeing trucking claims. We’re seeing ride share claims now becoming more and more prevalent and more and more vital for insurers.

Commercial liability, we’re seeing the explosion of shareholder suits by stockholders aggrieved by whatever perceived wrongs within the corporations.

In excess lines, we’re seeing that they’re being pierced more regularly because primary limits are eroded far faster than ever before.

In workers comp, we’re seeing more and more injured workers staying out longer and looking for benefits far longer than they did in years past.

And then general liability claims, we’re seeing more and more claims stay open longer, far more than we ever did in the past.

What we’re seeing now is that leading claims organizations are undertaking a mix of risk management and proactive litigation management, leveraging analytics and AI in order to mitigate the effects of inflation.