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Torus, a specialty insurer, has acquired First Sealord Surety Inc. to augment the development of a new platform, Torus Surety. The transaction is expected to be finalized in January 2012, pending regulatory approval.

Emergency Physicians Insurance Company RRG (EPIC) and Echo Ridge Partners have implemented iCatalyst, a policy and claims management system designed to streamline processes and improve customer service throughout an entire policy lifecycle.

From a catastrophe-loss standpoint, 2011 is more likely to be remembered for the variety and frequency of loss events rather than a singular catastrophe.

Professional insurance agents have what insurance customers are looking for, according to research results issued by the PIA Partnership. The PIA Partnership is a group of insurance companies that works collaboratively with PIA National to conduct research and develop tools and resources designed to benefit professional independent insurance agents. PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance.

Amica Mutual received the top honor for overall excellence from InsuranceQuotes.com’s inaugural Insurance Quality Awards.

The insurance industry showed strong support for The National Transportation Safety Board after it announced yesterday that it recommends all 50 states and the District of Columbia pass legislation banning the non-emergency use of portable electronic devices by motorists while driving.

Potentially simpler interconnectivity and cheaper information dissemination processes could make insurers, and insureds' wallets, very happy.

The National Transportation Safety Board said today that texting, emailing or using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be too dangerous to be allowed anywhere, and recommends that all states impose a total ban, except for emergencies. The recommendation would also apply to hands-free devices, the federal safety board said.

FINEOS Corp., a provider of claims management software, is including the IBM Insurance Framework in its product. FINEOS says insurance solutions offered by IBM are built on the IBM Framework and aim to create more flexible, responsive insurance companies through the progressive transformation of operational processes. FINEOS, a partner of IBM, offers FINEOS Claims, a solution to manage claims for life and disability, P&C, London market and government insurance.

New survey puts insurance companies at the bottom of the list in terms of consumer-friendliness on the Web.

On the heels of reports coming out of Washington on the government’s scramble to protect the country’s power grid from cybercriminals, CSC reports the launch of an Insurance Cybersecurity Advisory Council for life insurance and annuity providers and property/casualty insurers. The goal of the council is to facilitate the development of best practices and technology strategies that effectively mitigate the risk of cyber attacks on the insurance industry.

The International Underwriting Association has established an enhanced lobbying presence in the Americas, the group reports.

More evidence of a hardening market has arrived via the most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) from Towers Watson.

For the second straight year, MetLife leads life insurers in annuity considerations through the first three quarters, ended Sept. 30, 2011. Prudential Financial and Jackson National Life Group round out the top three in the rankings released by SNL.

According to data from ACSI LLC, P&C insurers are improving customer satisfaction, while life insurers are steady and health insurers are slightly declining. For its American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), ACSI annually conducts interviews with approximately 70,000 consumers and plugs the information into an econometric model to measure satisfaction with a wide range of industries, products and large companies. The results are released on a monthly basis, with all measures reported using a scale of 0 to 100, and this month it was the insurance industry’s turn.

National Western Life Insurance and Celent analysts discuss the intersection of business infrastructure and technology implementation, and how the path to speed and agility begins there.INN is pleased to present, with permission, occasional videos from Celent, a research and consulting firm and a member of the Oliver Wyman Group. These videos originally appeared on Celent's website as part of the firm's educational offerings.

Risks continue to outweigh the benefits when it comes to implementing technologies of convenience behind the wheel.

United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC), a privately held P&C insurer specializing in auto insurance, has deployed BillingCenter as its billing management system. BillingCenter is a product of Guidewire Software, a provider of core system software to P&C insurers.

Swiss Re CEO Stefan Lippe will retire sometime next year after approximately 30 years with the company, the reinsurer said today.

While the insurance industry was an early adopter of mobile technology for basic communication functions, it has lagged in developing and implementing internal and customer-facing applications.