For P&C rating products, the number of choices and capabilities has increased and suite administration tools have improved, according to “Stand-Alone Rating Systems for North American P&C Insurers,” a new report from Celent.
The report offers reviews of 15 rating systems for personal, commercial and specialty insurance products and includes nine full and six emerging vendor profiles to present a comparative view of the marketplace, visually representing four review elements: advanced technology, breadth of functionality, customer base, and depth of customer service.
"This report helps insurers as they solve their challenges related to rating and product development," said Mike Fitzgerald, author of the report and senior analyst with Celent's Insurance Group. "This is a comprehensive analysis of the current market that informs the selection of vendor solutions."
Solutions with full profiles include:
• ACCENTURE DUCK CREEK RATING, from Accenture LLP
• RATABASE, from CGI
• CSC EXCEED RATING PROCESSOR, from Computer Sciences Corporation
• GAMECHANGER RATING ENTERPRISE, from Decision Research Corporation
• INSURITY RATING SOLUTION, from Insurity
• ISO RATING SERVICE, from ISO, a unit of Verisk Analytics
• NETRATE COMMERCIAL LINES RATING SYSTEM, from NetRate Systems Inc.
• ORACLE INSURANCE INSBRIDGE RATING AND UNDERWRITING, from Oracle Corporation
• IFOUNDRY RATING ENGINE, from ValueMomentum Inc.
Solutions with emerging profiles include:
• EXIGEN RATING ENGINE, from Exigen Insurance Solutions
• GUIDEWIRE RATING MANAGEMENT, from Guidewire Software Inc.
• STG PRODUCT MODELER, from MajescoMastek Inc.
• DRAGON RATING, from OneShield Inc.
• COMPVISION- RATING, from PCIS
• INSURANCE RULE ENGINE 3G, from SISTRAN
To address the challenge of an increasing number of choices, Celent offers the following suggestions:
• Insurers understand “the art of the possible” with advanced tools; redesign the rating and product development process, if possible, to determine the ideal future state
• Identify critical, high-level requirements in collaboration with business stakeholders and IT
• Perform proof-of-concepts with short-listed vendors; consider partnerships carefully, as functional gaps between vendors are closing and the relationship between an insurer and its rating vendor likely will stretch for 10 years or more
Other highlights from the report include:
• The choice between stand-alone and embedded suite raters includes considerations such as product complexity, competitive pressure and technical system architecture. For products that are simple and generally standard, suite rating systems may deliver the required functionality; and in markets with few competitors, having a single sales channel and thus fewer systems to keep in sync, may be sufficient. If the insurer's automation and process architecture enable each solution to stand alone with minimal integration, a suite may be an acceptable alternative, Celent said. As complexity and competition increase, however, the power and breadth of a stand-alone rating package may be required.
• Some stand-alone rating systems packages now extend beyond rating calculation and rate management and into product configuration, Celent said, as the separation between product and rating rules is becomes less distinct for some insurers and packages that include product management more effectively address those needs.
• Features such as analytics, modeling and testing distinguish stand-alone rating products. The ability for insurers to manage user interface, screen display and operation, is a feature found in some solutions, but not others.
• The level of end-user involvement in creating and maintaining rates and product attributes reported by insurers varies, Celent said. Some stand-alone raters focus on accommodating business; others remain more technical in approach.
