Opinion: Data quality – why it matters to the board

Peter Frei

Data is arguably one of the most important resources of an insurance and reinsurance company, the indispensable “lubricant” of most if not all wheels of it. It could even be viewed as an insurer’s or reinsurer’s “lifeblood” given the critical importance to strategic planning, enterprise risk management, product development, capital deployment, underwriting, pricing and claims handling. Therefore, it is straightforward to conclude that the issue of data quality should not be left to actuaries, catastrophe modellers and other experts but rather become a core concern of a company’s board.