Distribution

The rapid proliferation of enterprise content, such as electronic documents, audiovisual files, instant messaging (IM), recorded phone conversations and e-mail, is having significant impact on the global insurance industry.Insurers now face severe penalties if they are unable to produce legally viable records of business conversations and transactions. Additionally, globalization, the dispersion of data and strict compliance regulations are key drivers of this emerging industry mindset.

Hartford, Conn., October 23, 2006 – To help agents speed up the decision process and provide quotes for eligible small business customers, Travelers Select Accounts division of Hartford, Conn.-based St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. has introduced TravelersExpress for Master Pac.TravelersExpress is an approach to processing new small commercial policy applicants because risk evaluation and pricing are delivered to the agent up front during the submission process. It will be available initially to agents in Illinois, Utah and Nevada and rolled out nationally in 2007.

Pearl River, N.Y. - To eliminate redundant information requests, the ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) is promoting a new questionnaire form, available online, that lets independent agencies organize data commonly requested by carriers.The form, Agency Questionnaire (ACORD 812), was developed after agents and brokers expressed concern that too much time is spent filling out multiple questionnaires, according to AUGIE leaders. "Every carrier seems to ask agencies the same questions every year," says Jo Ann Litwin, who chaired the AUGIE working group that addressed the problem. "The questions are generally valid, but many are also redundant--from year to year and carrier to carrier."

New York - New York Life Insurance Co. has launched a Web site called www.nylcareersforwomen.com to provide information about careers in life insurance for women at all stages of professional development.The site offers details on opportunities in sales and field management. A questionnaire on the site helps readers assess their interest in a sales career. In addition, the site provides information about working for New

Los Angeles - Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. introduces its new Mobile Catastrophe Command Center bus, which is designed to help its customers immediately after a catastrophe that may strike anywhere in the contiguous United States."The new Farmers Mobile Command Center bus was chosen as the catastrophe center-point for handling claims and servicing our customers," explains Frank Soldano, state executive, Farmers Insurance Group, Kansas. "The bus is equipped with the most state-of-the-art equipment available anywhere in the United States. It will enable Farmers claims representatives to offer claims help to our customers immediately following a catastrophe," Soldano said.

New York and Saint Paul, Minn. – Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife) and Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc. renewed their agreement to offer Synchrony absence management services.Synchrony combines group disability insurance and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration from MetLife with workers compensation insurance and claim administration services from Travelers to deliver one, integrated approach that can help companies better manage employee absences whether due to occupational or non-occupational events and assist employees in returning to work as soon as medically appropriate. First offered by the two companies in 1998, Synchrony programs currently cover more than 180,000 employees.

Media, Pa. - A network of insurance and financial Web sites is creating an online national directory of business insurance agents, a move that observers are calling another ripple in a movement to expand insurance distribution on the Internet.

Darien, Ill.-based Insure.com Inc.'s Web site has been named a "best site" for life insurance quotes by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.The citation came in a special report called "The Best List" that appears in the November 2006 issue.

Two celebrated anti-aging experts are joining Humana Inc. in what the company calls a multi-media campaign to turn passive healthcare users into active healthcare consumers.

Jersey City, N.J. - ISO, a Jersey City, N.J., provider of data, analytics and decision-support solutions, is extending its product set and focus to the healthcare industry with its plans to acquire the assets of Urix, a Cheshire, Conn., provider of healthcare analytics and employer reporting solutions. Terms were not disclosed. The Urix product set includes Web-based business solutions that enable health insurers, national brokerage firms and large employers to derive strategies to improve the quality of health care while lowering the cost of delivery. Urix is a developer of Web-based healthcare analytic solutions that are scalable and cost-effective, the companies report. ISO entered the healthcare sector in 2004 with the purchase of Boston-based DxCG, a company widely recognized as a world leader in predictive modeling software solutions. ISO will form a single company containing the Urix and DxCG assets doing business under the Urix brand name. Urix CEO John Farrell will serve as president of the combined entity; Michael Coyne will serve as COO. "With so many synergies between the Urix business intelligence solutions and DxCG predictive modeling capabilities, it makes sense to combine our assets and approach the market with a unified set of solutions," said Michael Coyne, head of DxCG. "Our teams will create new and, in many cases, unique solutions by working together closely," continued Coyne. ISO's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Frank Coyne, cited ISO's plans to combine Urix and ISO's DxCG unit as "an excellent opportunity for ISO to expand its presence in the healthcare business intelligence market by leveraging complementary strengths in both companies' product lines. We expect the new entity to lead the market with a host of solutions designed to improve the quality and efficiency of our nation's healthcare system," said ISO's CEO. Source: ISO