Digital Platforms

Mercury Insurance Group, a multi-line insurance organization, and property/casualty core technology solutions provider Guidewire Software, report that Mercury Insurance Group will implement Guidewire’s Insurance Suite as its new policy administration, billing and claims platform for its homeowners business.

Amlin Illinois Inc., the Chicago based subsidiary of Lloyd’s insurer, Amlin, selected a product called the InsuranceAccelerator solution for its U.S. domestic-admitted property/casualty product. Offered by Exari Group Inc., a document automation software company, InsuranceAccelerator, met the requirements of the Chicago operation, including support for multiple document types, the ability to easily build new products, scalability and the creation of detailed reports.

Calling for a summit, Gephardt and Thompson say all can agree on greater use of health information technology.

Legal ruling allows investor lawsuit against agencies to proceed.

As VP of Global Professional Services, Lisa Dragon will manage the iVOS, RiskConsole and SafetyLogic implementation teams.

Despite Gmail's brief hiccup, evidence still points to cloud being perhaps more reliable than insurers' servers.

Some tout social networking media as a marketing opportunity, but for many it is a substitute for family.

Association says views of health insurance industry not accounted for in debate.

With core technologies now readily available, it's time for insurers to rethink how they approach process designs and improvements.

AIA says analysis of federal data affirms the efficacy of industry-backed safety measures.

New Celent report contemplates the state of policy administration systems.

MassMutual's research shows that a laddered annuity strategy almost always outperforms a portfolio of only stocks and bonds.

AIG's new president and CEO, Robert Benmosche, is aggressively taking steps to re-energize the advisor group.

Variable annuities were hardest hit, freefalling approximately 50% for the second quarter and 55% for the first six months of the year.

Messaging on the importance of curbing greenhouse gases is in the spotlight three months before a U.N. meeting designed to establish a treaty that would replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The Health Information Trust Alliance will work with insurers, among others, to develop health IT security certification programs.

Celent’s Catherine Stagg-Macey – a fellow contributor here at the Insurance Expert’s Forum – has made the call: the industry is emerging from the economic downturn. This is a recession that famously ravaged the financial services sector, and those insurance companies with a stake in financial services saw a more sever impact on their businesses than those focused on policies and premiums.

Previously only advising the wealthy, the company thinks its investment advisory platform will help to retain customers whose balances have dwindled during the recession.

As Conseco Inc. plans to consolidate three insurance companies within its Conseco Insurance Group segment, the company prepares for one-time expenses over the next year.

Troubled insurance giant and former CEO agree to settle differences out of court.

AON CONSULTING TO SUPPORT ING DIRECT

P&C WEB-BASED BILLING

COLLABORATION TOOL FOR COMMERCIAL INSURERS

Recent survey results show companies lack transparency needed to prevent insider threats.

With the financial crisis fresh in their minds and new regulatory hurdles on the horizon, insurers are looking to get more out of their GRC solutions.

Data analytics can help insurance managers control growth, costs and risks throughout the enterprise.

ARNOLD FISHER INSURANCE PICKS SAAS PORTAL SOLUTION

Carriers need to consider everything from bad data to "black swans" when assessing their CAT models.

DOCULEX UPGRADES IMAGING AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT

STONERIVER ADDS CAPABILITIES TO WORKERS' COMP SOLUTION

For the fourth year in a row, INN is proud to recognize female leaders paving the way for others in the insurance industry.

Also receiving recognition this year are four leaders who have successfully driven significant project and/or process improvements within their companies.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has joined with other U.S. financial regulators in completing a self-assessment under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). While the U.S. Treasury is the principal coordinating body for the FSAP, in the insurance sector, the NAIC has evaluated the extent to which U.S. insurance regulatory practices “observe” international principles established by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

Innovation! What does it really mean to be innovative for an insurer? Does innovation deal mainly with insurance products or does it concern also processes? Are there external elements or factors that contribute to facilitate innovation? According to me, innovation relates to both products and processes:

CIGNA, FM Global and Tower Hill Companies are some of the insurers seeing recent ratings action from A.M. Best and Fitch.

WANTED Technologies forecasts a loss of 8,000 jobs in finance and insurance—much better than U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July report of 12,900.

A changing IT workforce continues to be a concern for the insurance industry. Could talent management software help insurers in their quest for tech-savvy IT workers?

A survey from Nationwide Insurance shows eight out of 10 Americans favor a ban on texting while driving.

The Governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue, has signed into law House Bill 1305, legislation that makes statutory changes to the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association, commonly known as the Beach Plan.

Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC), a group of six regional insurance carriers that are part of the Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, launched the second phase of its implementation of a policy administration solution from Duck Creek Technologies Inc., Bolivar, Mo. Phase I allowed BHHC to issue policies directly through the Duck Creek's system for workers' compensation business for more than 30 states. Phase II, which is currently underway, will allow BHHC to issue an array of commercial insurance line products including automobile, property, and general liability.

SNL Financial released their initial compilation of Q2 statutory results for the U.S. P&C industry yesterday. Loss ratio numbers were in the low 70’s, demonstrating good pricing and underwriting decisions. The combined ratio for the quarter was right at 100% — surprising given that revenues have been decreasing and this lower revenue base makes the loss and expense ratios worse. Investment gains added to net income results at many companies as the rise in the markets benefitted badly battered portfolios.

According to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc., picking the correct business focus is the most important first step to successful enterprise content management and information governance.

A new survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) finds that many small business owners lack confidence in determining the health insurance that best fits their employees’ needs.

The Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule on Aug. 19, 2009, establishing standards for notification of breaches of unsecured protected health information (PHI).

When I penned my recent rant on the inadvisability (at least at present) of SaaS for core systems in insurance, little did I know I would hear from some enthusiastic fans eager to sing the virtues of SaaS.

In the Twitter era, the ability of information or misinformation to spread rapidly poses operational risks for businesses, a new survey from Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers Cos. Inc. finds.

Oldwick, N.J.-based A.M. Best Co. has withdrawn several of its rating classifications for a raft of health insurance companies, saying it can no longer justify the ratings based solely on publicly available data.

What was positive in theory back in 1986 became a dark reality for health insurance policyholders. When the U.S. government first enacted the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) legislation to help provide the unemployed with access for up to 18 months of continued medical insurance coverage, the premiums passed along to the unemployed were not discounted; in reality, they carried a 2% additional administrative fee. There were fewer unemployed then; compared to today’s unemployment rate of 9.7%, the average unemployment rate in 1986 was a paltry 7.0%, reports the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Former New York State Insurance Commissioner was highly visible proponent of state regulation of insurance.

Insurers are interested in technologies that use GPS systems to monitor a car’s speed and force-quit the driver’s text messaging applications.

Drop in California's workers' compensation spending slows growth in national spending in 2007, study reports.

Nearly 60% of North American insurers plan on maintaining a budget at least consistent with 2008 spending, according to Forrester research.