Distribution

New York and Dayton, Ohio - The competitive online marketplace is being bolstered by two more companies planning to offer consumes an online insurance shopping experience.

Springfield, Mass. - MassMutual Financial Group today unveiled a new addition to its Web site designed to focus on the financial needs of women, enabling them to educate and empower themselves to help build a more secure financial future.

Minneapolis - Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America will integrate detailed insurance data with investment information for USAllianz Securities, a broker dealer subsidiary of Allianz Life. The agreement represents the first time any practice management system will integrate comprehensive financial and insurance information, according to Investigo Corp., the practice management provider that is providing the solution.Investigo CEO Tom Rozman cites results of an investment industry survey that his firm conducted last fall. "Broker dealers are starving for information and must have a way to track the sales of insurance products through their firm."

Oak Park, Ill. - Home page usability of many insurance companies isn't up to snuff. That's according to a study by Vox Inc., a firm focused on increasing retention and referalls by improving the customer experience. The study analyzed the positioning of key customer and user elements, such as insurance quote and "find an agent" functions. Each company was given a rating based on a set of usability and benchmark criteria.One exception to the overall findings is 21st Century, which recently redesigned its home page to improve the positioning and clarity of the various user elements.

Mexico City - When ING Mexico, a provider of insurance, pension benefits and financial services in Mexico, needed a way to enhance customer service by connecting customers to the right agent and at the right time, the company selected an intelligent communications solution from Avaya, a provider of business communications applications, systems and services.With branches located throughout Mexico, ING needed to centralize its customer care operations in order to improve efficiency and customer service. The company established a contact center in Mexico City with 305 employees and 229 agent positions that attend to an average of 220,000 calls each month. Car accident reports, health and life insurance inquiries, pension information and tele-sales are some of the services provided via the contact center in addition to services for ING employees such as IT and HR support.

Worcester, Mass. - The Hanover Insurance Group Inc., a regional property and casualty company has introduced a business owner's policy (BOP) class comparison look-up tool. The tool is designed to help The Hanover's agent partners quickly and efficiently categorize a small business owner's industry classification and obtain a quote for the company's Avenues BOP faster than ever."The new BOP class comparison look-up tool will simplify the quoting process for our agent partners, saving them precious time and helping them achieve even greater productivity," says Marita Zuraitis, president of The Hanover's property and casualty companies. "This tool is yet another example of our commitment to continuous improvement and to deliver on our promise to provide world class products and services, while doing whatever it takes to make it easy for agents to successfully conduct business with us."

From the healthcare carrier's perspective, the logic is simple: Support physician members' ability to access aggregate patient data and use of e-prescribing and e-doctor visits. Physicians use technology to provide improved quality care, business- and patient-related efficiencies. Ultimate ROI: healthier patients and reduced exposure associated with later health-related problems.Long-term results may not be available yet, but carriers have high hopes for programs designed to create incentives for providers that will help create a "healthier" patient base.

AGENCY WEB PORTALNew York-based P&C Insurance Systems Inc. introduced a Web portal that allows direct Web-based upload of ACORD data from agency management software. The portal leverages the architecture of the PCIS management system to provide Web-based multi-line rating, real-time agency access to quote documents, and up-to-date agency production reports.

DESPITE DEADLINE, MANY FIRMS LACK AML PROGRAM

Consumer satisfaction with the P&C insurance industry increased by a mere 1% last year, according the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)--a survey to monitor customer satisfaction levels in various industries. Overall, satisfaction with the P&C industry has declined nearly 5% since 1994--the first year of the survey produced by the University of Michigan.Insurance carriers face a unique challenge with customer communications because they depend on so many different channels. Unlike other service providers, such as banks or telephone companies, carriers don't own every interaction with the customer. Independent agents and third-party administrators are often the main point of contact, slowing down the transfer of information.