Patrick Girouard

Regulators asked an insurer, “What does this AI mechanism do?” Their response will shock you: “We don’t know.” That’s Florida’s Insurance Commissioner recounting a carrier’s AI‑driven filing. CFOs, CUOs, and board members at regional insurers, mutuals, MGAs, and insurtechs: regulators have moved from “Do you use AI?” to “Can you explain it?” In 20+ years placing insurance coverage for financial institutions, the pattern is always the same: Innovation → Questions → Requirements. We’re entering phase two. Florida just declared Dec 8–12 “AI Week” in the legislature. Bills already filed would require a human to review AI‑driven claim denials. Everyone should be paying attention. And we summarized one of the more interesting insurance and risk podcasts of the past 30 days from Lowenstein Sandler… On New York courts raising the bar on claims handling too, examining investigation pace and communication cadence, not just settlement outcomes. Carriers with documented AI governance and disciplined claims protocols will be fine. Those without face mounting compliance exposure. Three things to lock in on now: ⦁ Human‑in‑the‑loop: name the accountable officer who can explain each model’s purpose, inputs, outputs, and controls. ⦁ Claims cadence: document investigation steps, timelines, and contact frequency—every file, every time. ⦁ Decision logging: keep a model registry and attach explainability notes when AI informs a denial. Read more in this week’s LION Specialty Friday Five Boardroom Briefing. Comment “BRIEF” if you want the sources and checklist. P.S. we just wrapped up a fantastic week in London with clients and trading partners. The Lloyd’s market was buzzing!

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Three hidden tripwires await insurance executives this week. Capable of seven-figure damage or equivalent opportunity. Your competitors are still decoding Florida’s misleading safe harbor provision, deliberating over practical AI applications, and strengthening defenses against increasingly sophisticated bad faith tactics. Meanwhile, you and your board are already 60 days ahead in leveraging these developments. This week’s 5-minute Brief delivers the intelligence your executive team needs to double down. The cost of waiting… Potentially millions. The window to act: now! First signal: Florida’s HB 837 rewrote the rules on bad faith. Get the 90-day window right, and you’re protected. We break down what qualifies (and what doesn’t) so you can brief your board with confidence. No fluff, just facts. Second: AI’s splitting the insurance world—46% are scaling it for game-changing efficiency, while 54% lag in exploration mode. We spotlight the gap, from productivity boosts to risk tools, and share strategies to get ahead. And… Bad faith “setups” are plaintiff attorneys’ favorite play, targeting gaps reinsurance misses. Enter the LION Specialty Lloyd’s program for seamlessly coordinated coverage between your ICPL and ECO/CPL for bad faith litigation. DM us for more information! Between evolving reforms, AI divides, and litigation traps, this week demands your attention and some sharp intel. We got you covered! P.S. Want this kind of boardroom intelligence weekly delivered straight into your inbox? Every Friday we share curated insights like this that cut through the noise and help you make the best risk management decisions. Join here: https://lnkd.in/garzxSxG LION Specialty The Leader in Institutional Insurance

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Anonymous patient story: A Medicare beneficiary in Chattanooga began with concerns about persistent anxiety. After an initial assessment at our Chattanooga location, our care team coordinated with the patient’s primary care provider to verify coverage and develop a treatment plan using Medicare-covered therapy sessions. Progress was tracked with standardized outcome measures, showing reduced symptom scores and improved daily functioning over three months. This step-by-step approach—assessment, coordination, measurable outcomes—demonstrates how Medicare can support meaningful mental health recovery. Learn more: https://wix.to/q0r3ha3 #Medicare #BehavioralHealth #Chattanooga

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Veracity Insurance Solutions has earned its second consecutive spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, demonstrating sustained momentum in the insurtech sector. The company achieved 95% growth over the past three years while expanding its reach to more than 200 business classes nationwide. 'Our growth is fueled by a team committed to simplifying the way small businesses and independent professionals buy insurance,' said Daryle Stafford, CEO of Veracity Insurance. 'We're building tools and products that help customers get covered faster, with options that fit the way they work today.' The company operates through a portfolio of specialty brands serving diverse industries. Insurance Canopy provides tailored policies across 20+ sectors, while FLIP covers food and beverage operators. Additional offerings include ACT Insurance for creative professionals, BBI for wellness practitioners, PCI for pet business owners, and FFI for photographers and videographers. Veracity's competitive advantage lies in blending technology with specialty underwriting. The company recently launched instant integrations with online booking platforms, allowing customers to secure coverage during vendor registration. Real-time policy delivery now enables most clients to obtain proof of coverage within minutes. The recognition reflects broader market trends as entrepreneurs increasingly seek flexible coverage options paired with personalized service. Veracity also earned recognition on CNBC's 2025 list of the Top 30 InsurTech Companies in the World, compiled with Statista. The dual recognition underscores the company's position as a leader in modernizing insurance access for small business owners facing limited traditional carrier options.

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Most MGAs think distribution = appointing brokers. Had some incredible conversations with several MGA founders, leaders and insurtech vendors in the past two weeks. The best way to uncover problems/challenges and design solutions for your niche is to go directly to the source and ASK. "What problems, challenges or aspirational goals do you have that we might be able to help you solve or achieve this year?" Here's one gold nugget I learned... A basic truth in the industry no one wants to say out loud: Most of your appointed brokers can’t sell your product. They’re not trained. They’re not positioned. And you’ve become just another market in a sea of noise. I call this the dreaded "Commodity Abyss"... Now your lost at sea, stranded and sucked into the abyss with 30 other markets competing for the business based on a price and a quote on a piece of paper. But, wait... 🔥 You've built a niche MGA to solve a specific problem, right? But without a content engine, a sales strategy, or trained "niche" specialists in the field… You’re not building a business. You’re building a burn rate. You're just a commodity. Distribution ≠ Just appoint more brokers MGAs of the future will win because they: ✅ Generate their own leads (and pass them along to...) ✅ Elite "specialist" brokers and producers who are properly trained to sell their niche insurance products...and close the deal ✅ Dominate the attention grab (digital eyeballs) in their niche ✅ Build content that makes submissions inevitable This is the real problem no one in the insurtech is talking much about or being honest with themselves (awareness of the REAL problem). And I’m building the OS that solves it. If you're an MGA founder, operator, investor or insurtech vendor who’s serious about winning the distribution game… 📩 DM me “Distribution” and I’ll send you the blueprint. #MGA #Insuretech #InsuranceDistribution #CategoryCreation #SalesEnablement #ProfitProtection

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Thoughtful interview with Adam Schwebach of Gallagher Re in Insurance Journal. Indeed, Florida will benefit from confidence in the permanence of the legal and regulatory reforms which harmonized the state with national insurance standards and restored to stability to a market on the precipice. "I think the hope and goal of all stakeholders right now should really be stability. Stability leads to natural competition and improvement for policyholders, for carriers and for reinsurers, all the way around. I would give a ton of credit to the governor’s office, legislators and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation who, over the past year have done a wonderful job of getting in front of the various reinsurance stakeholders and making sure they understand that the reforms that were passed are not going anywhere. That’s incredibly important to the market—maintaining stability." #Florida #insurance #reinsurance #propertyinsurance #coastalinsurance #homeownersinsurance https://lnkd.in/e8HfQNCv

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The Best Practices Study provides benchmarks and insights for all independent insurance agencies to strengthen their foundations as the market may present challenges in the coming years. Meet David Foster, President, Three Arbor Insurance, Birmingham, Alabama. “I’m a firm believer that agency owners and sales leaders aren’t setting big enough quotas or goals for their sales teams. The Best Practices Study shows the average new production for a producer, and I think a lot of people are still using outdated goals. If you push those goals higher, you’ll be surprised how many people meet them.  “What I spend the most time on with my sales team is the qualification process. We all know time is finite, so we have to make the most of it. Qualifying every deal properly saves time and ensures the team works on better opportunities. In theory, you’ll close more deals because you’re focusing on the right ones.”  Get more insight into Best Practices Agencies.     https://lnkd.in/dT8FuFa9 Alabama Independent Insurance Agents, Inc. #independentagents #BestPractices #insuranceagency  

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“But not insurtech” or “…and especially insurtech”? 🤔 Thoughts? Read on for Joe Procopio’s industry-agnostic 2026 Tech Take in Inc. Magazine TLDR: disillusioned CTO-with-an-empathetic-soul-and-corporate-integrity versus “the money”. And what the people building the tech/creating the revenue have done/are doing/can do. https://lnkd.in/eyzGRgNw

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Your board asks: "Why are loss ratios climbing while insurtechs operate at half our cost?" Because your claims team is drowning in work that doesn't need human judgment. Your adjusters can't manually triage 10,000 FNOL submissions, audit every partner transaction, and extract millions of litigation docs... and still have time for complex claims, fraud investigations, and customer relationships. AI agents handle the grunt work. Your team handles the decisions. → Claims Agent (processes routine, flags complex for adjusters)  → Partner QA Agent (monitors 100%, escalates issues to auditors)  → Underwriting Agent (handles applications, routes edge cases to underwriters) → Compliance Agent (auto-reports, flags gaps for officers) → + 4 more Result: Same headcount. 65% faster processing. 12% better loss ratios. Your adjusters become claim strategists instead of data processors. Get the handbook → https://lnkd.in/gxNCM9Uy #LyzrAI #EnterpriseAI

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Is your insurance strategy helping your technology manufacturing company grow, or is it quietly slowing things down? Many Georgia manufacturers don’t realize how often outdated, inflexible insurance programs delay expansions, stall product launches, or limit geographic growth. We just published a comprehensive guide that explores everything from the “growth insurance paradox” in Georgia to in depth case studies where manufacturers eliminated delays, freed up capital, strengthened business interruption protection, reduced underwriting bottlenecks, and accelerated launches simply by restructuring their coverage. Inside, you will see how companies have used: • Layered property policies • Parametric triggers for storm related delays • Reserved capacity agreements • Manuscript endorsements for consumer products • Cyber liability designed for IoT devices • Modular, scalable policy structures We also break down a flexible framework for growth ready insurance, a phase by phase coverage timeline, and a practical implementation roadmap. You will learn how to evaluate your current program, restructure it for scalability, and measure success using metrics like time to bind, claim responsiveness, and premium efficiency. If you are a Georgia technology manufacturer preparing for expansion, or already feeling the strain of rigid insurance programs, this guide will give you the clarity and direction you need. #technologymanufacturing #georgiabusiness #manufacturinggrowth #riskmanagement #businessinsurance #commercialinsurance #techmanufacturing #iotmanufacturing #productlaunch #facilityexpansion #businessstrategy #scalableinsurance #theoakinsurancegroup #atlantabusiness #manufacturingleaders

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Insurance innovation often stalls because systems can’t easily talk to each other. Agency management systems. Policy admin systems. Rating engines. Claims platforms. Data providers. Distribution portals. Each connection typically requires custom integration, time, and ongoing maintenance. dmConnect changes that. Dark Matter InsurTech, LLC’s dmConnect enables insurers and MGAs to rapidly connect systems, partners, and data sources through a flexible integration framework designed specifically for insurance. The result: ✔ Faster partner onboarding ✔ Reduced integration costs ✔ Improved data flow across the insurance lifecycle Because innovation shouldn't be limited by connectivity. Free your data now with dmConnect! #digitalinsurance #mgatech #ESaaS #insurtech #dmconnect

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#ProfilesInRisk Tony Speaks with David R. Carothers, CIC, CRM, CWCA about the agency world and how producers need to produce in the latest economy.

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Is CMS signaling a position on carriers cutting commission mid-year? Very interesting clause in the 2026 CMS broker compensation letter that was released today. Key clause is "CMS expects organizations to keep full records documenting that they are updating compensation schedules and paying agents and brokers according to CMS requirements." Does that speak to carriers making certain plans non-commissionable during the year as an issue that CMS would deal with? NABIP, NAIFA and others recently sent CMS letters on this issue, the timing is interesting for sure. I went back and looked at the 2025 letter and do not see similar language. It also says: Compensation Rate Submission for CY 2026 42 C.F.R. §§ 422.2274(c)(5) and 423.2274(c)(5) require organizations to report to CMS whether the organization intends to use employed, captive, or independent agents or brokers in the upcoming plan year along with the specific rates or range of rates the plan will pay independent agents and brokers. In addition, if an organization pays referral fees, they must disclose the amount. The regulations state that organizations must provide this data to CMS by the last Friday in July which would be July 25, 2025, for the 2026 plan year. Organizations must submit their agent/broker information in the HPMS Marketing Module between June 2 and July 25, 2025, 11:59 pm EST. Please note that CMS does not consider the submission process complete until the organization’s CEO, COO, or CFO has completed the attestation in HPMS. Organizations that fail to submit and attest to their agent and broker compensation data by 11:59 pm EST on July 25, 2025, will be out of compliance with CMS requirements. Furthermore, organizations may not make changes to those submissions after July 25, 2025.

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