Who's Buying What

Recent deals for technology software and services

BITCO, MAJESCOMASTEK CONVERT BILLING TRANSACTIONS

Bituminous Insurance Cos. (Bitco), a Rock Island, Ill., provider of insurance services to special industries including construction, forest products and oil & gas, has implemented the STG Billing and Accounts Receivable system from MajescoMastek, a U.S. subsidiary of Mastek Ltd., Mumbai, India.

STG Billing is a Web-based configured billing application that provides property/casualty insurance carriers and managing general agents with a standard set of interfaces, as well as Web services that are leveraged to integrate with virtually any application.

MajescoMastek helped Bitco, a part of the Chicago-based Old Republic International family of companies, successfully convert more than 42,000 policies, and approximately 1 million legacy billing transactions over to the new system. The new billing system is designed to enable Bitco companies to meet increasingly demanding customer service requirements and regulatory changes, and provides new and flexible payment options to its policy holders.

"Completing this large conversion of policy and billing transactions with MajescoMastek's STG Billing Solution will help drive business for our insurance companies," says Dennis VanderVinne, VP accounting & asst treasurer. "As the demands and expectations of policyholders and agents continues to increase, STG Billing will help meet those needs and put Bitco at the forefront of the industry."

PHYSICIANS LIABILITY Picks POLICY ADMIN SOLUTION

Physicians Liability Insurance Co. (PLICO), a professional liability carrier based in Oklahoma City, recently completed an implementation of an insurance solution (S4i) from U.K.-based SSP. This implementation represents a significant milestone for the company, which chose SSP as the technology solution provider to help completely replace its existing legacy system.

Prior to the SSP implementation, PLICO was using an inflexible legacy system that made it difficult for the company to meet the increasing demands of customers. PLICO's executive team recognized replacing the system was a key part of the company's transformation strategy, and committed to modernizing technologies and processes through the SSP implementation.

SSP provides PLICO with Windows functionality at a lower cost than what would have been possible if the company maintained the existing legacy application, notes the vendor, helping PLICO streamline business processes and improve efficiency across the business.

"With markets changing faster than ever, we needed to be able to quickly analyze our business and rapidly make changes in-house," says Becky Meares, IT director at PLICO. "SSP allows us to do that."

SSP's insurance solution (S4i) is an end-to-end policy administration system comprising underwriting, policy administration, claims management, customer management and full accounting functionality for all lines of business.

ISLAND SELECTS DRC FOR FORMS DEVELOPMENT

Two Honolulu-based companies have struck an insurance technology deal. Island Insurance signed with Decision Research Corp. (DRC), to have the rating and policy processing software solution provider develop forms for multiple lines of business, both personal and commercial.

Island Insurance uses the HP Exstream Document Automation system for its document automation software needs; DRC is an authorized HP partner with extensive HP Exstream software experience, says the vendor. During this engagement, DRC will be working with Island to convert nearly 300 documents, including declaration packets, correspondence and invoices.

"As we implement new technologies to support our growth strategies, we remain focused on partnering with the leaders in our industry," says Jeff Fabry, CIO at Island Insurance. "DRC's years of insurance expertise and experience with the HP Exstream solution were the clear choice to fulfill our future needs."

AXA IN UK SIGNS WITH DUCK CREEK, TATA

AXA Insurance UK has signed with Bolivar, Mo.-based Duck Creek Technologies' European software and service solutions for the insurance industry, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Mumbai, India, to supply a new commercial insurance processing system for the insurer.

Duck Creek's flexible approach combined with experience in the commercial market were key factors in the selection process, AXA says. The solution will support the full policy lifecycle, enhancing AXA's customer service.

As one of the largest general insurers in the UK, AXA required a modern, flexible and future-proof solution to replace the existing legacy and back office systems. Duck Creek's EXAMPLE Platform is designed to enable rapid product definition, development, deployment and management of products and services across multiple lines of business and multiple distribution channels.

The solution empowers AXA to react quickly to changes in market conditions, Duck Creek says. The EXAMPLE Platform requires no hard coding or complex programming, and is a scalable and flexible solution. The modern architecture of the Duck Creek platform ensures a future-proof solution, while delivering business growth with a lower total cost of ownership.

Duck Creek is partnering with TCS, an outsourcer with a long-standing relationship with AXA, having worked globally on a number of large-scale implementations. They bring with them a wealth of project management experience, as well as an in-depth knowledge of AXA and how its current systems operate.

MAIN STREET AMERICA COMPLETES INNOVATION AUTO SOLUTION ROLLOUT

Innovation Group, a Hampshire, U.K., global provider of enterprise software and business process outsourcing solutions to the property/casualty insurance industry, announced that super regional insurance carrier The Main Street America Group, Jacksonville, Fla., has completed its rollout of Innovation Group's Innovation Auto offering. Already in production with Innovation Group's FNOL solution, Main Street America has successfully deployed Innovation Auto throughout all of its regions.

The implementation and deployment effort included systems integration between Innovation Group and Main Street America's claim system, eliminating manual data entry and providing for seamless workflow between all parties, including iMRN shops, non-network shops and independent appraisers.

Rolled out under Main Street America's Priority Choice Repair Program brand, the Innovation Auto program provides policyholders and agents with a streamlined option for auto repair management. The offering utilizes a "choice model" for shop selection with credentialed repair facilities providing high-quality, improved turnaround times and lifetime warranty on repairs, the company says.

Supporting MSA's current auto claim volume across its corporate footprint, Innovation Auto's INSURER platform is also able to support Main Street America's anticipated growth, including the added volume from the recent acquisition of Great Lakes Casualty Insurance Co. and its pending affiliation with Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Co.

"We are always seeking ways to enhance our policyholder customer experience, while driving key performance indicators to more favorable levels," says Mike Lancashire, Main Street America's VP of claims and integrated customer solutions. "Innovation Auto helps us to achieve these goals by providing a high level of scale and claims expertise, along with the ability to customize its processes and software platform to support our unique requirements. The ability to involve our independent agent-customers in the iMRN network process was a major differentiator in our decision to partner with Innovation Auto."

FARMERS ADDS ORACLE'S SIEBEL CLAIMS VERSION 8.0

Farmers Insurance, Los Angeles, has deployed Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle's Siebel Claims Version 8.0 for its workers' compensation line of business. The National Workers' Compensation System (NWCS) is a Web-based solution replacing an aging legacy system. The goal of NWCS is to help Farmers to elevate customer service and satisfaction, improve productivity and operational efficiencies and reduce total cost of ownership through use of the easy to deploy and easy to maintain application.

The solution, which moves Farmers from paper-based files to straight-through processing that takes advantage of electronic bill review and online file storage, will serve as the blueprint for Farmers' multi-line "claims redesign" initiative. After completing the rollout of the enterprise-wide claims redesign, Farmers expects to have 12,000-plus users live on Siebel Claims Version 8.0.

TIM PARKMAN INC. TO USE TEAM-UP AGENCY DOWNLOAD

Houston-based Connective Technologies reports that it will provide TEAM-UP Download to Tim Parkman Inc. (TPI), a Clinton, Miss., managing general agency that provides personal and commercial insurance. TPI selected the TEAM-UP suite of products to help manage TPI's growing southern regional U.S. presence, the companies report. An Internet-secure offering, TEAM-UP is designed to provide once-and-done processing in an industry compliant, data-secure environment for agency downloads.

The suite is already being leveraged by more than 55 P&C carriers by providing accessibility to more than 28,000 communicating agency pairs using at least 40 different agency management systems throughout every region in the United States.

"We're excited to take the next step in our ongoing commitment to providing premier service to our valued agent partners," says Tim Parkman, president of TPI comments. "The TEAM-UP initiative allows us to download our policy information to all of the major agency management platforms across our more than 1,000 agency base. Coupled with our unique sales and marketing strategies and our diversified product portfolio, TEAM-UP furthers our mission of providing ease of doing business with our agents."

BRIT INSURANCE SIGNS WITH EDGE IPK for DISTRIBUTION

edge IPK, a U.K.-based provider of insurance solutions designed to enable a browser-based, internationalized presentation layer to provide all distribution channels an ideal user experience, announced that commercial lines carrier Brit Insurance, London, will use an Enterprise License of edge IPK's edgeConnect open presentation platform as a key element of its Britbord offering.

Brit Insurance will deploy edgeConnect to enable new and enhanced services and products for distribution to all brokers, policyholders and internal users who use its Britbord service.

edgeConnect will provide the key integration with a user-friendly Web interface to Brit Insurance's existing back office systems; delivering intuitive, anywhere access to all internal and external users of Britbord.

"We chose edgeConnect to enable us to provide a cost-effective, flexible and competitive offering as we develop the next generation of Britbord, our Web-based system for selected brokers," says Simon Cooter, U.K. Distribution Director at Brit Insurance.

PREPARED INSURANCE, CATMANDO, SIGN DEAL

Tampa-based CatManDo Inc., an independent insurance adjusting company that serves smaller carriers, has been chosen to become the third-party administrator (TPA) for Prepared Insurance Co., a new property/casualty insurance carrier that will initially serve the State of Florida. In its role as TPA, CatManDo staff will adjust and process claims, including check disbursement, and will work directly with policyholders on behalf of Prepared Insurance Co. Prepared Insurance will focus on the underserved older home market with an underwriting focus on building code compliance and loss mitigation, rather than age.

NARRAGANSETT BAY PICKS Pipeline CLAIMS SOLUTION

Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. (NBIC), a Rhode Island-based specialty underwriter of homeowners' insurance products and services along the Eastern seaboard, has selected PipelineClaims, a Java-based solution from Blue Wave Technology that combines business process management (BPM) with centralized claims operations to expedite claims resolution.

The implementation will be considered one of the core solutions in NBIC's Project APEX technology modernization initiative.

With legacy systems currently handling various aspects of claims transactions, NBIC's goal was to establish a highly advanced, flexible and nimble technology environment. That meant identifying, and then selecting, a system to consolidate IT processes and create a more fluid claims processing system. NBIC's requirements for a new claims system dictated the selected solution would be Web-based, highly customizable and able to improve claims turnaround time.

Through PipelineClaims, Honolulu-based BlueWave Technology can provide NBIC with the tools company adjusters need to process claims more efficiently, says the vendor, including offering options for system and workflow configuration, as well as user-defined data fields and business rules.

"At NBIC we strive to use leading edge insurance carrier technology that will make certain our partners and clients receive the best Web-based, self-service and agency-management-integrated insurance processing platform available," says Mike Anselmo, CIO for NBIC. "Our APEX strategy will deliver this new innovative information architecture that will leapfrog other available platforms early next year. APEX will provide NBIC with exceptional client services, platform scalability, business alignment and the product agility needed to transform the homeowners' insurance marketplace."

(c) 2009 Insurance Networking News and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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