Digital Platforms

After auto claims satisfaction dipped in the first quarter, decreased out-of-pocket spending and shorter repair processes contribute to much stronger results in the second quarter.

One offers consistency while the other offers complexity and a chance to engage advanced technologies.

Alfa2Go mobile application now enables customers with iPhone and Android smartphones to pay bills, file claims and access policy info.

Malpractice costs and tort environment are major considerations in decisions to locate and invest, finds Aon analysis.

Security emphasized in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's first set of mobility and management best practices.

With an eye on improved reliability, insurer turns to mobile security company Keynote DeviceAnywhere.

Q2 Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index also finds personal injury claims jump 18 percent.

AIA Group also plans to enter a bid today before the deadline passes.

Latest version aims to enable quicker document creation and time-to-market for new products.

While the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) attempts to begin its work with the release of the office’s first report pending, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to FIO Director Michael McRaith seeking more defined jurisdictions for the FIO and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

BillingCenter to handle both direct and agency billing for Penn National and will be deployed for all lines of business.

Software delivers rating and analytics information to product managers and actuaries.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is shaking up the Medicaid market as insurers look to scoop up the business that states are trying to shed.

Insurance is labeled an early adopter of social media in a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), titled “2012 U.S. Social Media Trends by Vertical.” The banking industry was cited as being a late adopter.

Big data may be getting all of the hype right now, but its data warehousing platforms and analytics tools and applications that are racking up double-digit market growth, according to a new quarterly industry assessment from IDC.

Although overall activity in the annuity market has been down over the past 13 months, inflows in May increased by slightly more than 1% to $7.5 billion from $7.4 billion in April, according to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

While the adoption of mobile standards is rising fast, it is critical for strategy and development teams to discount the hype, take a comprehensive view of where mobile apps are currently and chart a direction that recognizes that fast changes in the mobile market are inevitable, according to the “Mobile Strategies: State of Mobile Apps 2012” survey, from MGI Research.

Despite increase, quarterly numbers show easing growth, according to index.

Talks could align Freddie's policies with reforms proposed by Fannie.

Novarica finds a lack of social media policies, which increases risk and limits opportunities.

2012 global IT spending projections increase slightly, but still lower than pre-recession levels.

On-Demand SAAS-based agency management system now used for P&C operations.

New briefing from Guy Carpenter offers analysis of global reinsurance market, update on P&C market and trends in life, accident, health and loss warranty markets.

A recent study tested the usability of coverage calculators and site-to-site comparisons, and in the end, found them lacking in almost all cases.

Gartner: By next year, one-third of all business intelligence functionality will be consumed through a mobile device.

The 2012 Mid-Year Salary Survey, just released by Janco Associates and eJobDescription.com, is not good news for IT professionals. The survey shows that hiring and salaries are soft for most IT positions and most North American metropolitan areas.

Huatai's purchase represents the first deployment of anti-fraud analytics in China's insurance industry.

Adults 26 and older see declines in coverage numbers; percentage of adults covered by government health insurance continues to climb.

$61,500 in scholarships awarded in effort to attract and retain up and coming talent.

Intending to address product development and customer service, insurer picks up Duck Creek's policy administration and billing solutions.

U.S. unit could be up for sale as insurer attempts to regain adequate capital levels.

Regulators in New York and California are looking into the extremely high profits yielded from, and competitive nature of, force-placed insurance.

New version designed to offer captive premium payment tracking for both locally, centrally invoiced insurance programs.

Deloitte survey also finds risks not continuously monitored at most firms despite available automation; most intend to revamp risk management within 12 months.

With wide-spread use just around the corner, hundreds of IT and business professionals nearly unanimously affirm the effectiveness of BI.

Don’t let appearances fool you; North American and International reinsurance rate increases are due to modest losses and poor results, not a hardening market, according to Willis Re chairman.

The property/casualty industry experienced rising financial impairment trends in 2011, with impaired companies still emerging well into 2012 and driving figures well-beyond industry averages. 2011’s 34 P&C impairments represented a significant jump from the 28 reported for the year by A.M. Best on Jan. 23, 2012.

Victims of wildfires that have claimed hundreds of houses and almost 30 miles of land prompt are flooding insurers with hundreds of claims.

U.K. general insurer goes to Guidewire for underwriting, policy administration and claims software.

Industry associations applaud the long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program as part of a compromise deal that included the surface transportation reauthorization and student loan bill.

RIMS benchmark survey also finds property insurance coverage leads increase.

In a recent survey, European and global non-life insurers are found frustrated with the inflexibility of their portals.

Second-quarter 2012 renewal rates have increased by 1.4 percent compared with the second quarter of 2011, according to Marsh.

Public, private cloud resources designed to improve effectiveness of system engineering and professional service teams.

Despite cash on hand, slow growth and regulatory pressures prompt concentration on operational efficiencies and regulatory readiness, according to KPMG Survey.

The ruling this morning gave health insurers a deadline of 2014 for embracing such provisions. On the other hand, competitively speaking, this places much more of a burden on large health insurers to provide a wide range of packages that appeal to demographics that may not have been on the radar.

Reporting functionality, recommendation management and workflow management tools are just three of the elements Novarica says are critical to loss control systems.

Elephant Insurance, a consumer-direct auto-insurance writer, has selected Guidewire PolicyCenter as its new rating, underwriting and policy administration management system.

The court ruled 5-4. However, the court added that Congress has the authority to implement the individual mandate under the taxing clauses of the Constitution.

GlobalOptions will prepare AIC’s fraud compliance reporting, conduct fraud training programs as well as the investigation and identification of suspected fraudulent insurance activities.

The U.S. property/casualty industry is increasingly profitable, with a Q1 net income of $10.1 billion, compared with $7.8 billion for the same quarter last year; profitability as measured by the cumulative annualized rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus increased to 7.2 percent from 5.6 percent for the same quarter last year, according to the Insurance Services Office (ISO), and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), which released its quarterly profits and profitability report.

Insurer introduces new cyberliability insurance product and will partner with NetDiligence, a provider of post-incident services.