Insurance

OLDSMAR, Fla. --eAutoclaims, a provider of claims management services, and ADP Claims Services Group, a leading provider of integrated business solutions for the property and casualty, collision repair and automotive recycling industries, announced today an agreement offering insurance carriers a new service to more efficiently and effectively administer their managed repair programs.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Hartford, Conn., assisted the New York Attorney General's Office and the New York Insurance Department's Auto Fraud Unit in a major investigation that led to a 100-count indictment charging 11 people and seven corporations, including health care providers, attorneys and a network of recruiters, for engaging in a scheme to defraud insurance carriers of an estimated $1 million.New York's No-Fault law allows reimbursement to medical facilities for services provided to persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The defendants are charged with manipulating New York's No-Fault system by soliciting motor vehicle accident victims to attend Queens-based IK Medical P.C., and submitting fraudulent claims for treatment that had not been provided and for medical procedures that were unwarranted. Among the charges the defendants face are scheme to defraud, money laundering, grand larceny, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records.

New York Life Insurance Co. has unveiled an educational online resource for African—American consumers at www.newyorklife.com/africanamerican. The site is intended to increase awareness and understanding of the protection and wealth building aspects of life insurance, annuities and the company's financial products. Centered on education, the site will be updated regularly with articles targeted toward individuals, families and businessowners.In addition to offering details on insurance and financial planning, the site contains information on the company's commitment to diversity, supplier diversity program, diversity—themed messages in its current advertising campaign, job postings, and various awards for being an outstanding employer in the African—American community.

Investment professionals wanting to help clients better plan for retirement investing and distribution now have access to a tool capable of modeling both. Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Financial has introduced its Nationwide preVIEW tool, located on the company's sales and service center Web site at www.bestofamerica.com. "Investing for retirement is only half of the retirement financial equation," said Richard A. Karas, president of Nationwide Financial Services Distributors Inc. "Investment professionals should be enabled with answers to the complete equation, which includes calculating accumulation and distribution needs. This tool can help producers develop personal defined benefit plans for their clients."

Wilmington, Del.-based Rockwood Programs has initiated a promotional campaign designed to raise market awareness regarding its Sponsored Errors & Omissions Program. This campaign will be aimed at insurance companies and Managing General Agencies with large sub-producer networks.

LANSING, Mich.--Continuing a year-long process to significantly expand its life insurance operations, Jackson National Life Insurance Company (JNL) announced today that it has launched Perspective Investor, its first-ever variable universal life product. Perspective Investor is a flexible premium, variable universal life product designed to provide the security of base life coverage for the duration of the contract.

DALLAS--Docucorp International, a leading provider of enterprise information solutions, announced today the availability of Library Xpress for the insurance industry. Library Xpress provides insurers with customized electronic libraries of ISO industry standard forms for the property and casualty (P&C) marketplace.

GREENSBORO, N.C.-- Jefferson Pilot Financial, one of the nation's leading providers of fixed and variable universal life insurance and fixed annuities, today introduced its E-Delivery service for owners of variable universal life and variable annuity policies on the company's public Web site at www.jpfinancial.com. E-Delivery, or electronic delivery, enables owners of variable policies to view product prospectuses and semi-annual and annual reports online.

With the number of career life insurance agents on the decline, new research from TowerGroup urges insurers to explore nontraditional distribution outlets as a means to mitigate potential future losses. These channels include banks and wirehouses, where life insurance premium sales have traditionally been elusive."It's imperative that insurers approach this market with a fresh perspective relative to products, distribution and operations," says Cindy Saccocia, senior analyst in the Insurance practice at TowerGroup and author of the research. "The distribution of life insurance through nontraditional channels is an area of growth for those insurers willing to invest in long-term opportunities."

JUPITER, Fla.--Property and casualty insurers earned $22.9 billion during the first nine months of 2003, representing a $12.1 billion, or 112 percent, increase over the $10.8 billion profit reported during the same period in 2002, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks.

Answer Financial Inc., provider of the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, will offer group health insurance plans to small businesses through the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, enabling business owners to provide a suite of employee benefits.This launch builds on an already extensive list of insurance products available nationwide geared toward SAM'S CLUB business members including commercial property, liability and worker's comp insurance as well as auto, home, life and individual health insurance plans. The initial rollout of group health will be to five states largely populated with SAM'S CLUB business members: Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

EnvoyWorldWide Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based provider of enterprise notification services, and Unitrin Direct, the direct, personal auto insurance arm of Unitrin Inc., Chicago, have unveiled details of Unitrin Direct’s successful pilot of EnvoyConnect, the campaign management suite from EnvoyWorldWide.Implemented in September 2003, EnvoyWorldWide’s solution enabled Unitrin Direct to deliver automated, personalized messages to policyholders, proving to be very cost effective while improving customer satisfaction and retention. Unitrin Direct is now live with a full implementation of EnvoyConnect.

Evolution Benefits Inc., Avon, Conn., and Seattle-based drugstore.com inc. have teamed to create a paperless, IRS-compliant system for electronically substantiating and adjudicating the reimbursement of over-the-counter medications (OTCs) eligible under flexible spending accounts.The program, available through the drugstore.com Web store, automatically recognizes and separates those OTCs eligible for reimbursement under flexible spending accounts (FSAs)--a benefit authorized by the Internal Revenue Service last year--as well as for prescription drugs covered under basic health plans. Purchases of eligible OTCs and covered prescription drugs can be placed on Evolution's Benny Card, a special purpose, debit MasterCard card, and electronically deducted from the consumer's appropriate Benny Card account(s).

BB&T Insurance Services today said it plans to buy Iler Wall & Shonter Insurance Inc. of St. Petersburg , Fla. The acquisition would give the nation's sixth largest insurance broker its second agency in the Sunshine State .

At the urging of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance that will provide annuity policyholders under age 59 more flexibility in taking distributions from annuity contracts.In Notice 2004-15, the IRS says that annuitants age 59 or younger who are receiving annuity payments --a regular stream of income--from a life insurance company can revisit their insurer to restructure their payment plans. In effect, the IRS guidance allows these annuitants to restructure their payment schedules to take advantage of changing market conditions.

Traditional methods of predicting financial intermediary investment preferences based on distribution channel segmentation provide little insight into underlying behavior and may actually be counter-productive, according to the results of a new study conducted by kasina, a New York-based consulting firm.The study, "The Six Segments: A Comprehensive New Look at Intermediary Behavior" examines the investing behavior and product preferences of financial intermediaries across the full range of distribution channels, including wirehouse and regional brokers, registered investment advisors, independent advisors, accountants, and bank- and insurance agency- based agents.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--Workscape Inc., a provider of benefits and workforce management solutions, today announced that it has acquired the business of Performaworks, Inc., a leading developer of Goal-Driven Performance Managementsoftware based in Burlington, Mass.

ATLANTA--Crawford & Company was recently named one of three national service providers to offer property, casualty, and workers' compensation claims handling to CNA Insurance Companies. "Crawford is honored to be chosen as the primary provider for such a prestigious and world-renowned company," said Grover L. Davis, Crawford chairman and CEO. "I look forward to continuing to grow this relationship, and am confident that this arrangement will greatly benefit both companies."

Quotesmith.com, Darien, Ill., has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of privately held Life Quotes Inc., an Evergreen, Colo.-based life insurance agency. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Quotesmith.com also has agreed to sell 2.36 million shares of its common stock to Zions Bancorporation for $5.50 net per share, thus raising $13 million in new capital, which is contingent upon the closing of the Life Quotes asset acquisition. After the completion of this capital transaction, Quotesmith.com will have 7.3 million outstanding common shares, with Zions holding a 32% equity interest and one board seat.

A new study by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is on the boardroom agenda as a key driver for a competitive edge in the insurance industry, but some leading insurers need to close the gap between the design and planning stages, and the actual execution and integration of ERM programs. Market and regulatory forces will continue to drive insurers to implement ERM as an enabler for attaining financial goals. Leading companies look to ERM as a framework under which they can not only manage all the categories of risk but also optimize their portfolios and enhance product development. Some, however, continue to struggle with the necessary infrastructure, people, processes and technology essential to fully reap these benefits.