El Segundo, Calif.-based Computer Sciences Corp., a consulting and information technology services firm, has launched a strategic alliance with Austin, Texas-based software technology provider InfoGlide Corp. The agreement calls for the cooperative development and marketing of fraud detection products and services for the property and casualty insurance market. Additionally, InfoGlide has granted CSC exclusive global rights to resell the company's Fraud Investigator software, an application developed specifically for the property and casualty insurance Special Investigations Unit (SIU) market. Because insurance fraud is a $26 billion per year problem, many states have mandated that insurers establish SIUs to implement anti-fraud programs.Fort Worth, Texas-based insurance agency InsureZone has acquired AgentSecure Enterprises Inc., a provider of Web-based insurance service designed for small and rural commercial agents. The acquisition is regarded as a key element of InsureZone's agent initiatives program, which provides member-agents with nationwide access to insurance products from major carriers. AgentSecure's business model revolves around establishing exclusive marketing alliances with state associations within the independent insurance agency system. Last October, it launched a Web site, www.agentsecure.com, to enable rural agents to better serve customers. InsureZone, a "clicks-and-mortar" insurance agency, offers small commercial coverage online and offline through partnerships with major banks and Web portals. AgentSecure.com has established working relationships with such carriers as CNA, The Hartford and Zurich North America.
Torrance, Calif.-based ePolicy.com Insurance Services Inc., has expanded its portfolio of insurance products under an agreement with Philadelphia-based ACE USA, which offers a line of specialty professional liability insurance. The newly offered products are designed specifically for architects and engineers with more than $1 million in revenue. Using proprietary technology to streamline the application and policy-writing process, ePolicy says it is able to deliver high-quality insurance products in a matter of minutes instead of days.
San Francisco-based online insurance agency NetInsurance.com, has launched distribution agreements with five Internet affinity providers that the company believes will exponentially increase its online insurance offerings-particularly auto insurance. The agreements were forged with BuyerZone.com, Business.com, MostChoice.com, Private Business Inc. and AIAPonline. Through these new partnerships, NetInsurance is eager to strengthen its auto insurance portfolio, and is encouraged by statistics that reveal that 28 million consumers-30.3% of the active U.S. adult online population-sought P&C insurance information online in the month of March. NetInsurance operates in 45 states and has established partnerships with carriers including The Hartford, Safeco, Progressive and Kemper. Through its proprietary platform, NetInsurance provides a turnkey service that enables marketing partners such as banks, brokers, traditional insurance agencies and portals to offer consumers an array of insurance.
Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Internet claims solution provider ProcessClaims is embarking on a Web-based initiative with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp., which is designed to remove costs and expedite the claims processing cycle. Built on Microsoft's .Net framework, ProcessClaims will collaborate with Microsoft to implement a full suite of Web services that will enable all parties in the collision repair process to quickly and seamlessly integrate their business and technology processes. The Microsoft .NET framework aims to help developers craft applications as Web services that share functions with disparate applications and devices via the Internet. ProcessClaims plans to use Microsoft's Technology Center in Silicon Valley to develop and test these solutions.
ArcStream Solutions, a wireless consulting and systems integration firm in Watertown, Mass. has engaged in a joint marketing initiative with Palm Inc. targeted at insurance companies. Initially, ArcStream and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palm are focusing on property and casualty insurance. For their first initiative, ArcStream developed a P&C workflow application that enables insurance claims adjusters to handle claims on a Palm OS device. The mobile application enables claims adjusters to have all the policy information at their fingertips, get driving directions to the site of the claim, perform instant calculation of estimates, have up-to-date data and more quickly process the claim.
Travelers Insurance and San Diego-based Mitchell International have successfully completed a pilot and begun the phased rollout of online processing of Travelers auto glass replacement claims via Mitchell's new Web-based auto glass claims assignment and processing system. In using the new Web-based application, independent glass shops will be able to receive glass assignments for the Hartford, Conn.-based carriers' policyholders and process their claims through www.eGlassMate.net-Mitchell's secure Web site address. Travelers developed the policy verification component that interfaces online with Mitchell's system. Using this, glass shops can verify a customer's coverage in real time by typing in basic customer information, such as name and policy number. Mitchell developed the core Internet application that provides participating glass shops with the ability to verify coverage, assign jobs, and create invoices and submit them directly to Travelers.
