Three Industry Trends that Dominated 2024 – Have Your Say For 2025

“The year 2024 holds immense potential for insurers …”

That is how this year’s edition of, ‘The Carrier Perspective: 2024 Claims Insights’, opened our in-depth report into the findings of our annual survey, in which 150 businesses from across the insurance sector shared their expectations and concerns for the year ahead. Now, seemingly in the blink of an eye, we are once again inviting insurers to cast their minds forward and provide insights into the opportunities and challenges they believe we will face in 2025.

To mark the launch of our 2025 Claims Insights survey, we look back at some of the key results from the 2024 edition to see how the industry has grappled with the issues that were top of mind 12 months ago. From employee retention and data security to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, it has certainly been another big year for the insurance sector.

Labour pressures – staff recruitment and retention were identified as key challenges by Australian insurers, with our 2024 survey revealing that 80% of respondents believed offering competitive salaries was key to employee retention. This was later reinforced by an independent study that found insurance professionals were tipped to attract among the highest salary increases in Australia’s key industries. More than 700 companies participated in the Australia Salary Budget Planning, with insurers predicting staff wages would soar 4.2%, outstripping the likes of energy and natural resources (3.8%), biopharma (3.9%) and high tech (3.7%).

Data security and privacy – regulatory challenges are an annual reality for the sector and a year ago 83% of Australian insurers nominated data privacy and security compliance as their biggest concern. Given the rising prevalence of cyberattacks, such focus is justified. The first quarter of 2024 saw a substantial rise in data breaches across Australia, with one study finding 1.8 million user accounts were compromised during the period. The ramifications for companies that fail to protect customer data were also reinforced mid-year when the Australian Information Commissioner announced it was suing one of Australia’s leading health insurance providers over one of the country’s largest-ever breaches, with a maximum potential fine of about $21 trillion.

Artificial intelligence – the past couple of years has seen a boom in the use of AI chatbots and generative AI and our 2024 survey found 90% of insurers in Australia had implemented or were in the process of implementing such technology for claims resolutions. Innovation does not come without headaches though, with seamless integration (43%) and adoption by staff (35%) among their leading AI concerns. In recent months the Insurance Council of Australia tabled its perspective on the integration and regulation of AI within the general insurance sector, including a push to refine existing regulatory frameworks to enhance AI governance rather than impose new laws without a clear analysis of costs and benefits.

As a leading claims services partner, Gallagher Bassett is committed to staying at the forefront of industry advancements and our annual survey is a golden opportunity to understand what is on the minds of those on the frontline of the insurance sector. Be it social inflation, legacy claims or climate change, The Carrier Perspective: 2025 Claims Insights Survey is your chance to have your say and contribute positively to the industry.

Do you expect that salaries will continue to top the list of employee priorities when it comes to where they invest their loyalties? What challenges and changes do you expect to face in the regulatory sector, and will the use of AI become a part of that regulatory framework in a more official capacity? 

Share your predictions and industry observations today. 

John White

Head of Sales and Client Services — General Insurance

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