Digital Platforms

With fewer than half of the 50 U.S. states participating, spending is expected to double initial estimates.

Based on sustained pricing increases and a normal level of catastrophe losses, the P&C industry is experiencing a return to profitability, strong net-premium growth and a substantially improved combined ratio for 2013, according Conning’s “Property-Casualty Forecast & Analysis by Line of Insurance.” The quarterly forecast and report is developed by Conning using a proprietary property/casualty industry model and analysis of key industry drivers and data.

The insurer will use the platform to process Covered California Exchange enrollment and billing, and meet the demands of new members.

Survey of executives finds many carriers hindered by inflexible legacy systems that limit access to data and analytical tools.

President Obama proposes a decrease of crop insurance subsidies and cutting out all direct payments to farmers in his latest budget. The administration is estimating the move would save $37.8 billion over 10 years.

Casualty to increase the most, followed by property and non-CAT risk programs.

Mobile platform designed to provide web payment functionality and electronic document management services.

Rebranding effort takes effect as company expects to gross proceeds around $600 million through public offering.

Managing general agency turns to EagleEye in an attempt to gain visibility of its critical business performance.

Configurable app blocks network connectivity; separate “What If Calculator” demonstrates the impact of tickets, accidents, moving and changing vehicles on insurance rates.

The life insurer's chairman and CEO spoke frankly before regulators, saying the "traditional business of life insurance does not pose systemic risk."

While reinsurance renewal rates were stable as of April 1, Guy Carpenter reports that traditional and alternative capital sources are converging to change the marketplace.

While reauthorization of The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is likely to receive strong support in Congress, success may come very late in the process, predicts Robert Gordon, SVP, policy development and research, for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) during the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Spring National Meeting in Houston yesterday.

Riverside to use SunGard’s enterprise accounting system for investment and compliance, in addition to accounting.

Delivering easily accessible, multimedia resources that are broken into small packages is key to engaging and educating individuals, according to new research.

Fitch outlines the financial figures of life insurers and warns of macroeconomic headwinds in 2013.

iPipeline, a provider of on-demand marketing, selling and processing technology for insurers, distributors and producers, announced American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co. has selected the Content Partner platform to aggregate and distribute annuity product information and forms to 1,200 distributors via the iPipeline distributor network.

Americans are relying on technology to help with their personal finance needs, but most (60 percent) use it to simplify and automate financial tasks such as banking and bill payment, according to a recent survey conducted by Northwestern Mutual's financial literacy website, TheMint.org.

Insurer fears negative publicity if the former AIG CEO continues lawsuit against the federal government.

U.S. commercial lines insurance underwriting performance also improved moderately last year, according to Fitch’s review of initial industry financial results for 2012, indicating that a market turn is taking hold, citing a second year of material premium growth and signs that loss ratios reached a cyclical peak in 2011 as indicators.

Nearly all claims solutions are noted as offering the 14 basic kinds of functionality, as well as many of the 11 kinds of advanced and additional functionalities.

For the first time since the dot com bust, Janco’s metrics show that hiring by CIOs is at a standstill — there is a high degree of uncertainty in the economic climate.

Insurer invests in policy admin overhaul, including underwriting, billing and claims management.

Actions against four large mortgage insurers is only the beginning as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau looks to squash deals between reinsurers and mortgage insurers.

Bad driving habits and trends are diminishing among teens, according to a new report on teen driver safety released by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm. From 2008 to 2011 the number of teen passengers killed in crashes not wearing seat belts decreased 23 percent, the number of teen passengers driven by a peer who had been drinking declined 14 percent, and 30 percent fewer teen passengers were killed in crashes involving a teen driver.

Commercial rates increased 5 percent, while personal lines prices were up 4 percent last month, according to MarketScout’s monthly Market Barometer.

PolicyCenter, BillingCenter designed to leverage automated underwriting rules and increase real-time functionality.

Big data maturity levels among insurers are perfectly split, according to the report, with 25 percent falling under each category: exploring, experimenting, deploying and expanding. This means the insurers find themselves a little ahead, as 38 percent of banks surveyed are reportedly still exploring big data while only 13 percent are expanding its use.

While 40 percent of Americans expect health care reform to have a major effect on their lives, 90 percent don’t know when the new exchanges will open, according to a new study.

With questionable claims numbers and fraud costs expected to grow through 2016, Aite Group outlines emerging techniques and technologies to stem the tide.

Company launches Bolt Platform, an online sales and client service platform, is designed to make real-time access available to all stakeholders.

Starting in 2014, workers at companies with fewer than 100 employees were supposed to have been able to choose from a variety of health plans through new small-business insurance marketplaces.

New version designed to complement governance, risk appetite measurement and assessment services.

Data-driven analytics company for health care and insurers launches iPad app, Q-Metrics dashboard.

Emerging markets, with low interest rates and minimal market penetration, present best opportunities; products fail to thrive in United States.

While the large number of catastrophes is prompting some specialty carriers to exit more challenging lines, cyber-liability insurance continues to see double-digit growth.

Celent report finds the tools increasingly capable and sophisticated, provides tips for insurers considering the many options.

Amica receives the highest score in J.D. Power and Associates’ claims satisfaction ranking of 19 insurers.

Celina to use Talon predictive analytics suite as part of agreement.

Edinburgh office intended to enhance client services globally.

New report lists the top 5 fixed annuity companies from a record-breaking 2012.

Workers’ compensation and medical malpractice among lines most likely affected; impact likely to differ by state.

Income annuity sales set new quarterly record, increase for fourth-consecutive quarter; fixed annuity sales drop 11 percent compared to 2011.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed banning force-placed insurance commissions in a blow to banks and other mortgage servicers.

OneShield's Dragon chosen by the medical malpractice/workers' compensation insurer for policy, rating, billing and business intelligence.

Provider of nonstandard auto coverage looks to data and analytics to drive growth.

In 2012, banks sold $1.6 billion in life insurance premium, the second highest annual production level in the history of the bank channel. The bank’s record year was 2010, when it sold $1.8 billion in life insurance.

Sales and hiring expectations are restrained, however, due to public policy concerns.

Policy administration, claims and billing to be centralized for all of Haverford's group of companies.

Claims Manager brought in to serve as cloud-hosted core claims processing system for PCM.

Coverage designed for U.S.-based multinational companies with complex exposures.

The insurance industry in Puerto Rico had a compound-annual-growth-rate of 5.8 percent between 2007 and 2011, despite a contracting national economy, according to a report from Timetric, a provider of online data, analysis and advisory services on the financial services industry. However, opportunities for further foreign investment and sustained growth in Puerto Rico are limited, due to the high rate of insurance penetration, according to Timetric’s “The Insurance Industry in Puerto Rico, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2017.”