Boston - A new report recognizes 39 insurance companies as “Model Carriers” for “doing everything right” in technology initiatives. The companies, which were cited in a report by Boston-based Celent LLC, were invited to a Model Carrier Summit, which began today in New York.
The idea behind the Model Carrier research was to try to answer a single giant question: “What would it look like for an insurance carrier to do everything right with today’s technology?”
Celent admits the terms “everything” and “right” mean different things to different insurance carriers, depending on their size, the complexity of their operations and product sets, and their technological starting points.
“Our approach was to offer, at a high level, some key best practices in the use of technology across the product and policyholder life cycle and in IT infrastructure and management that a ‘model carrier’ would use,” says Matthew Josefowicz, manager of Celent’s insurance group and lead author of the report, which was co-authored by the entire Celent insurance team.
Josefowicz defines the product and policyholder life cycle as product definition, distribution, underwriting, policy administration, service, billing, claims and reinsurance.
“Of course, there is no such thing as a single Model Carrier—every insurer does some things well, and others not as well when it comes to technology,” says Josefowicz.
So Celent gathered examples of effective use of technology and presents the case studies as components of a a theoretical model carrier’s insurance IT systems and practices.
The case studies average 100 to 250 words and nearly all include descriptions of business drivers, technology environments and quantitative success metrics, Celent says.\
Selected initiatives included:
* AAA Missouri: E-Apps and STP
* AIG VALIC: Closed Loop Lead Management
* Allstate Financial: Grid Computing for Annuity Valuation
* Allstate Financial: Rules-Based Automated Underwriting
* American Safety: Comprehensive Reinsurance Management
* Arbella Insurance Group: Common Interface Layer for Agent Portal and Agency Management System Support
* Aviva Canada: Electronic FNOL
* Baltimore Life: Teleunderwriting
* Chubb: Data Mastery for Underwriter-Assisted Sales
* Chubb: Underwriting Process Transparency via BPM
* Columbia Insurance Group: Externalized Underwriting Rules to Power E-Apps
* Connecticut Healthcare Workers Compensation Trust: Automated Medical Bill Review
* FCCI Insurance Group: Digital Claims Files
* Genworth: Document Management Center of Excellence
* Great American Financial Resources Inc. (GAFRI): Data Model and Repeatable Integration Methodology
* GUARD Insurance: Agent Portal with Electronic Applications
* Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: Group E-Billing
* Hastings Mutual: Comprehensive Claims Environment
* Helvetia Insurance Group (Switzerland): Services-Oriented Architecture To Enable E-Business and Reduce Development Expenses
* Indiana Farm Bureau: Wireless Claims Adjusters
* Mutual Benefit Group: Online Quoting and Applications Based on Web Services Architecture
* Mutual of Omaha: Remote Printing of Proposal Documents
* Mutual of Omaha: Rules-Based Underwriting Workflow
* Ohio Casualty: Ultra-Configurable Core Policy System br /> * Ohio Nation l. e-Apps Ohio National: Electronic Workflow with Familiar Interface
* Pekin Insurance: Common Calculation Engine
* Penn National: Mobile Loss Control Inspectors Reliance
* Standard Life: Policy Administration Replacement and Process Improvement Selective: Professionalized Project Management
* The Hartford: Data Mastery for Distribution Management
* The Hartford: Rigorous IT Governance with Senior Business Executive Oversight
* The Principal Financial Group: Print-on-Demand Proposals
* Tokio Marine & Nichido (Japan): Comprehensive Agent Portal
* Unitrin Kemper Auto and Home: Controlling First Notice of Loss
* Unitrin Kemper Auto and Home: Rules-Based Underwriting
* West Bend Mutual: Geo-Coding for Reserve Management.
* West Bend Mutual: Point-of-Sale Automated Underwriting with Agent Feedback
* Top 10 Life Insurer: Common Calculation Engine
Celent plans to make a similar report each year and will be gathering cases for the 2008 report throughout the year. Insurers may nominate themselves for the 2008 event using an online form.
Source: Celent LLC
