Auto liability claims have taken an interesting turn. The headlining trend: frequency has fallen and should continue to fall. Meanwhile, auto severity has increased on the back of rising medical costs. Between 2007 and 2012 auto severity grew at a faster rate than economic inflation for the same period. View three highlighting trends (including distracted driving) in this infographic. Read the full blog post here: http://www.genre.com/knowledge/blog/whats-driving-larger-auto-liability-losses.html

1. Sources:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/NHTSA+Data+Confirms+Traffic+Fatalities+Increased+In+2012
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/1/1
Insurance Information Institute, “Auto Crashes”, February 2014
Gen Re Personal Umbrella Cause of Loss Study 2006-2010 (compared against prior study 2000-2005)
http://www.iii.org/articles/cell-phones-and-driving.html
http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Distracted_Driving/index.html
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811719.pdf
http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/NHTSA+Data+Confirms+Traffic+Fatalities+Increased+In+2012
http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2014/03/05/245467.htm
Med CPI from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, WC med severity from NCCI based on NCCI states
Insurance Journal, “Rise in Auto Injury Medical Costs Tops Inflation While severity Declines”, March 7, 2014
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811737.pdf
auto liability
Distracted pedestrians
driving
Technology and
improved safety
standards result
in fewer accidents.
2012 saw the first
year-to-year increase in auto
fatalities since 2005.
Fatalities in motorcycle,
pedestrian and drunk driving
accidents have all increased.
Number of highway
deaths over the past
five years are at
historic lows.
Graduated driver’s license
laws help to reduce
young driver crashes
and deaths.
Percent growth of fatalities among motorcyclists, pedestrians and bicyclists
6.4%
Increase in pedestrian
fatalities in the last
three years.
7.1%
Increase in motorcycle
fatalities in the last
three years. Pedestrians and cyclists make up an increasing
proportion of deaths on U.S. roadways.
From 1997 to 2012,
fatal crash rates fell
for older drivers.
3.3%
42%
32%22%
2003 2012
Injuries of cell phone-using pedestrians have skyrocketed over the past 10 years.
!Severity
Exposures
Frequencyis down
distracted driving
pedestrians/cyclists/motorcyclists
rising medical costs
looking forward
and we expect to continue seeing larger losses in auto…
1 out of 4
Number of vehicle crashes in which
driver distraction plays a part.
21%
Drivers aged 15-19 involved
in fatal crashes were distracted
by cell phones.
Texting
Impacts visual, manual and
cognitive functions, making it
the most disruptive distraction.
every day
More than 9 people are killed and
more than 1,000 people are injured
due to distracted driving.
© 2014 General Re Corporation
severity is up
More pedestrians
distracted by electronics?
Smart cars, golf carts,
motorcycles converging
with larger SUVs? Driverless cars,
and assisted driving
innovations lowering
frequency claims?
Leveraging analytics—
future role of big data
on driver information
exposures?
MEDICAL COST INFLATION AND AUTO SEVERITY HAVE BEEN TRENDING HIGHER THAN OVERALL CPI
(YEAR OVER YEAR — 2007 – 2012)
Average annual
growth for
healthcare
Average annual
growth for
overall inflation
3.6%2.2%
Average annual
growth for auto
severity PIP
Average annual
growth for auto
severity BI
8%4%