Featured Interview: Veronica Andersen, AVP, Property Risk Solutions, Nationwide

MK: Veronica, it was so great to have you and key leaders from Nationwide with us this past April in D.C. for ClimateTech Connect. Casey Kempton, President of Nationwide, gave a powerful keynote on the predict and prevent mindset.  I have been reading her excellent white paper on the same subject: Transforming Personal Lines Through a Predict and Prevent Mindset.

Do you view Predict and Prevent as primarily a customer experience strategy, a loss ratio strategy, or a competitive differentiation strategy…all of the above?

VA: It’s all of the above. Embracing a Predict and Prevent mindset helps us and our distribution partners better serve customers, keep insurance affordable, and be a stronger protection partner. At its core, having that prevention mindset reflects our responsibility as risk professionals to help make people safer. 

MK: With severe convective storms, wildfires, and flooding becoming more frequent, how does the Predict and Prevent framework help insurers address these emerging risks differently than traditional underwriting models?

VA: Traditional underwriting often focuses on tightening rules and pricing risk appropriately, which remains important. Implementing predict and prevent strategies goes further by treating risk as an opportunity to use better data, stronger technology, and frequent customer touchpoints to educate our insureds on how to take proactive steps that will help reduce a loss before it occurs.. It also requires collaboration across carriers, regulators, distribution partners, communities, and consumers to better protect people and their property. If we work together, we can create value for everyone.

MK:  You have written recently, “No single company, capability, or dataset can solve the complexity of climate risk alone. The future depends on how well we connect insights, collaborate across industries, and take proactive action together.”

The recent Nationwide and Tomorrow.io relationship  is a great example of leveraging technology as a tool to empower the policy holder in the predict and prevent movement. Let’s take hailstorms as an example.  Hailstorms are sudden and destructive and can cause significant damage to property and also pose risks to personal safety. To address this hazard, Nationwide has partnered with Tomorrow.io to alert its customers when dangerous weather is about to occur. Those who sign up to receive hail and weather text alerts, for example, will be notified up to 30 minutes before a storm producing potentially damaging hail, giving them time to move their cars to a covered location to reduce the risk of hail damage.  How is the adoption rate going a year into the partnership? How do you feel this partnership is promoting the “predict and prevent” mindset at the consumer level?

VA: We’re one year into our work with Tomorrow.io and our weather tech alert roll out. The relationship is an encouraging proof point for what can happen when carriers partner with insurtech in embracing a Predict and Prevent mindset. More than 11,000 members have already enrolled, and the program has expanded from hail alerts into a broader protection alert capability. By implementing this new program, Nationwide’s role as a carrier has evolved to not only helping policyholders recover after a storm but also taking an active role in mitigating  damage before it occurs—whether that means moving a car under cover, preparing for high winds, or protecting a home ahead of a freeze. The satisfaction and trust signals we’re seeing suggest customers value that evolution. 

MK: What role does the agent have in the “predict and prevent” mindset?

VA: Agents play a critical role. Their customers view them as trusted advisors they can rely on for protection guidance. Our job is to equip them with the right products, programs, and education so they can help customers prevent loss before it happens.

MK: Veronica, switching gears, you have been very active on the spring conference circuit! What sorts of new technologies and emerging trends are you seeing that we should be paying attention to?

VA: AI is getting a lot of attention, and rightly so. In my mind, what matters most is using technology that solves real problems and works alongside human support, whether that’s smart home tools or better data that helps customers prepare for severe weather. The best technology innovations make protection simpler and more practical for customers. 

MK: You recently were one of the panelists for Solera’s WIINs (women-in-insurance) event in NYC, an initiative near and dear to me, especially as they celebrate the one year anniversary in North America. What were some of the themes of this year’s discussion?  What advice might you have for the next generation of female leaders in our industry?

VA: A key theme was the importance of leadership in a business that remains deeply human, even as technology advances. Leaders need to balance innovation with customer needs and create psychologically safe environments where people can do their best work. For the next generation of female leaders, my advice is to be authentically yourself. Many of us have ‘imposter syndrome’ so we shrink to fit expectations. Resist the urge to do that; we need your perspective and voice! 

About Veronica Andersen, MBA, CPCU, AIC, LSSBB

Veronica Andersen leads Nationwide’s enterprise efforts to reduce property losses. With a focus on innovation and proactive risk management, Veronica drives the development and execution of risk mitigation strategies spanning smart home technology, fire safety solutions (fire blankets), and enhanced inspection optimization to strengthen hazard identification and prevention. 

A key part of Veronica’s work centers on partnering with customers and distribution partners to help them predict and prevent losses—advancing Nationwide’s commitment to protection, resilience and forward‑looking risk solutions across the property value chain. 

Prior to her current role, Veronica spent 24 years in a variety of claims and claims leadership roles at Nationwide. Veronica earned her MBA from Upper Iowa University. She also holds both the CPCU designation and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, which she completed in 2021 through George Washington University. 

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