A Final Feature Turns Into a Search for Lost Trust
A veteran journalist who spent his career covering insurance is using his final feature for Carrier Management to examine a question close to home: how much the public actually trusts the property/casualty industry. Early reading of existing research, he says, suggests trust in insurance is "not as bad as I thought. But it's not good either." He describes insurance as an industry built on trust.
The author opens by reflecting on a career spent in what he jokes are the world's two most hated professions — insurance and journalism — and says he feels "depressed" about how their reputations have slipped. He connects the project to a formative memory from his early days at National Underwriter in Hoboken, New Jersey, when a local agent told him how much influence a young writer could have on the industry "with the stroke of a pen."
Over the coming weeks, he plans to pore over trust research, speak with media representatives and seek out leaders willing to join what he calls a crusade to restore confidence. He is also inviting readers to contact him directly or submit bylined thought-leadership articles on trust in insurance, with the stated goal of putting property/casualty insurance "on the top of the list of trusted industries."
Why Trust Is the Property/Casualty Industry's Core Product
Why Trust Is What Insurance Actually Sells
Insurance is unusual in that customers pay premiums now for a promise — that claims will be paid fairly and quickly later. That promise is only as strong as the public's belief in it, which is why the author calls trust the industry's foundation. As interpretation, this means reputation is not a marketing afterthought for insurers; it is part of the product itself. If policyholders expect disputes or delays, they may buy less coverage, shop more aggressively on price, or push regulators for intervention.
A Credible Starting Point, Not a Verdict
It is worth noting what this piece is and is not. The author has not yet published data; he says early results from his research are mixed — better than he feared but far from the top of any trust ranking. The verified facts end there. The anecdote about his early days at National Underwriter is also meaningful: he tells it to illustrate journalism's power to expose bad practices and highlight strong ones, which he clearly intends to apply in this series. That is his stated rationale, not an independent finding.
What the Series Could Change
An announcement like this is itself part of the trust conversation. Carrier Management is a trade publication read by executives, agents and brokers, so a sustained editorial project on trust can set the terms of internal industry debate in a way that scattered coverage cannot. The realistic near-term effect is less about shifting consumer perception and more about prompting self-reflection — whether carriers, agents and trade associations respond to the invitation or stay silent.
What Readers Can Do to Join the Trust Project
For insurance professionals who want to shape the series:
- Reach out to the author through Carrier Management; the column explicitly invites readers to set up conversations about trust in insurance.
- Submit a bylined thought-leadership piece, since the author says he will consider reader-written ideas for the series.
- Expect the planned articles to single out specific practices, because the author states his aim is to spotlight bad practices and commend the best ones.
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