Digital Platforms

Insurers face an uphill battle when it comes to claims management, according to James Swayze, president and CEO of Symbility Solutions, Toronto. Swayze, who presented on the topic at the 2010 PLRB Claims Conference last week in San Antonio, presented results of a JD Power & Associates study that revealed 46% decline in client satisfaction scores for property claims between 2004 and 2008, and a rising claims process cycle time that averages 18.6 days to close.

A new Moody's report says favorable economic and capital market trends signal stability.

Ventana research finds 41% of respondents have a strong desire to improve BI and performance management in the areas of operations, finance and customer management.

A coalition of industry associations is working to scuttle an amendment to financial reform legislation that would strip health insurers of anti-trust protections currently enjoyed under the auspices of the McCarran-Ferguson Act.

To alleviate apparent confusion over storm surge and flooding predictions that were in conflict with the reality of events when a hurricane made landfall, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale was updated by the National Weather Services’ National Hurricane Center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Insurer looks to bring investment capabilities of Sun Life’s Boston-based asset management arm to Canadian retail investors.

Alterra Capital Holdings sees favorable ratings following merger, Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Co. and First Chicago Insurance Co. downgraded.

In testimony on Capitol Hill, industry says the use of credit scores vital for underwriting.

A survey conducted by Munich Re America that targeted insurance executives to determine their most pressing concerns revealed what most in the industry know: the economy still presents a challenge, but less so than last year.

SAP's pending acquisition of Sybase is designed to offer improvements in transactional and analytic applications as well as enhanced mobility, messaging interoperability and content delivery.

The new Cyber Command appointment confirms the notion that we really are engaged in cyber-war.

Allianz SE, The Hanover and Nationwide all see net income growth over this time last year.

Kognitio’s Data Warehousing-as-a-Service program compares historical and current price points using Quomation technology.

Branded Marketing LLC is trying to combat churn by offering free Chubb insurance policies to users of its prepaid MasterCards.

The boundary between where social networking for an employer stops, and personal networking begins keeps getting fuzzier and fuzzier.

It apparently will take more than a visit from the Dali Lama to rebuild Conseco’s name and reputation as a stable financial services leader in Medicare supplement, long-term care, life and annuity products.

Beacon Mutual will integrate StoneRiver Power Suite and Underwriting Management System into its BeaConnect site.

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is planning an initial public offering for its subsidiary, Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation (LMAC).

AIG's mortgage insurance subsidiary reported Q1 earnings of $73 million —its first quarterly profit in three years.

AIG and Prudential are in talks to revise the composition of the AIA Group Ltd. deal—cutting the $25 billion cash component of the deal by $2 billion.

Aetna, Berkshire Hathaway, Genworth and Wellpoint among the insurers affected by most recent ratings changes.

NIBC reports staged-accident questionable claims skyrocket 46% from 2007 to 2009.

Insurers still focusing IT dollars on delivering core systems and much-needed support for the business side.

Lack of communication, persistence of silos among the factors hampering risk management at an enterprisewide level.

The stalwart reputation garnered by global insurance companies over the years may be fleeting, according to a report by rating agency A.M. Best.

While the workers’ comp calendar year combined ratio was 110 in 2009—up 9 points from 101 in 2008—the market still faces a host of challenges, says NCCI Holdings.

For the second consecutive month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports insurers reduced their ranks, and has seen a 3.2% loss in jobs over the past year.

Having weathered the financial storm, life insurers need to shift away from rebuilding capital and towards premium growth, according to a new study by Hartford, Conn.-based Conning Research & Consulting.

As legislators craft reform measures for the financial services industry, insurers are asking to be excluded from funding a bailout mechanism for systemically risky companies.

Aon’s Investment Protection Insurance, the first policy written for space investors, covers satellite-related losses, including failure to launch.

RMS’ portforlio management platform, Miu, includes event mapping and historical cat event analysis features, and the ability to compare historical scenarios with future risks.

Forrester survey finds knowledge workers seeking agile, self-service business intelligence tools to ease backlog.

Novarica reports reveal that policy admin projects are now designed to deliver business capabilities or replace unsustainable systems, not necessarily to reduce costs.

The debate devolved into partisan gridlock as both sides clashed over how much power to give to a new consumer protection bureau.

The insurer, which needed a hefty government bailout, reported a profit of $1.45 billion as a result of fewer writedowns in the quarter.

Progressive Insurance has become a financial sponsor of the Real Time/Download Campaign, an initiative to drive greater efficiency through the Independent Agency System.

The oil slick befouling shores in the Gulf of Mexico is also set to sully the insurance industry’s bottom line.

And so the soft market continues to slither on. Premium and corresponding rates for all lines of commercial property/casualty business in the United States were down 4% in April, mirroring a steady trend throughout the beginning of 2010, according to the latest MarketScout Market Barometer.

White paper says a federal regulator could work in concert with state insurance regulators.

As insurers continue to investigate their next data storage project, or weigh the pros and cons of cloud computing, virtualization or any a document management project, one of the oft-forgotten items is the actual volume of data that they store, and how it's expanding at an almost exponential rate.

New report surveys the impact of aging U.S. vehicle fleet on policyholder decision-making and spending.

In joint letter to legislators, trade associations ask that insurers be excluded from resolution funding.

While insurers' annuity sales seem to be steady, banks' fixed annuity sales fell 16% from Q3 to Q4 in 2009, and 43% year-over-year.

The insurer selected the 4Sight Business Intelligence for Property and Casualty solution, which offers more than 70 standard reports and dashboards.

Sale of common stock and senior notes have brought the mortgage insurer back into compliance with the risk-to-capital ratio and minimum policyholders' position requirements.

Gartner finds organizations drawn to SaaS hype failed to recognize downstream problems.

Sircon for Carriers is designed to streamline a producer’s lifecycle process by automating the licensing and appointing, producer compliance management and agent on-boarding aspects.

A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Survey reveals that 74% of nation’s insurers are hiring.

Nearly one-third of survey respondents use search engines first when researching policy options.

INN announces a call for nominations for the 2010 Women in Insurance Leadership program.

TransUnion’s Insurance Risk Index falls for the third consecutive quarter.