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"Tiny House," the Geico spot for a fake reality series, has been hailed as the funniest ad on television. The commercial mimics TV's reality genre, seemingly promoting a non-existent show about newlyweds living in a house so small they can't stand up straight.Then there's the Cockney talking gecko who dispenses reptilian wisdom in a series of Geico advertisements. And who could forget the Geico ads with Charo prattling on in a very loose interpretation of a stone-faced policyholder's comments on his experience with a claim?

The customer relationship-it's a touchy subject. How do you make sure you're doing the right thing for each and every customer? How do you know if your follow-up on a lead wasn't duplicated by a coworker?Cottingham & Butler Insurance Inc., a privately held Dubuque, Iowa, insurance company, encounters those dilemmas daily. It's part of the job for a firm that offers employee benefits and risk management services, including property & casualty insurance, casualty claims administration, employee benefit brokerage and consulting, benefit claims administration, medical management services, wellness and disease management, and personal insurance services.

SITE SELLS POLICIES ON GROWNUP TOYSMarkel American Insurance Co., Waukesha, Wis., launched a Web site that provides a single access point to customers seeking to insure motorcycles, boats, personal watercraft and ATV.

AGENTS AND BROKERS ADOPT NEW RPOST E-MAIL SERVICELos Angeles-based RPost U.S. Inc. says independent insurance agencies and brokerages are adopting RPost as a service platform for outbound e-mail. Confronted with errors and omissions (E&O) liability exposures, agents and brokers need technology that enables them to optimize electronic communications while minimizing risk. By shoring up the security gap, RPost Registered E-Mail messages offer speed, security, accountability and personal liability protection in a cost-effective solution that can be used for an average cost of 59 cents per message. The company's services provide the e-mail sender with legally valid evidence of what e-mail content and attachments were sent and received, by whom and when.

How is 2007 shaping up for the insurance industry, and what lies ahead? Insurance Networking News asked Mark Gorman, strategic research advisor, insurance, for Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc.INN: Do some insurers fear being left behind by competitors this year?

Motorists Insurance Group found some help with debris removal-literally and figuratively. As a result, the Columbus, Ohio-based life, auto, property and casualty company has prevented the loss of millions of dollars in overpaid claims while creating a confident, upbeat crew of adjusters.It all began four years ago, when Motorists executives sat down for a presentation by Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB), an MDA company with offices in New Berlin, Wis., and other North American cities. At the time, MSB had been providing Motorists with software for estimating property claims for about four years but was just launching an analytics consulting service to help carriers understand how claims are really paid.

What do agents want from their agency management systems? In its "Agency Technology Survey-Executive Summary," ACORD Corp.'s ACORD User Group Information Exchange (AUGIE) set out to answer this question and reveal other agency technology needs."The survey shows that many agents are frustrated with the process of having to go from Web site to Web site to get quotes-a process some liken to the situation 15 or 20 years ago, when we moved within our agencies from one company-provided terminal to the next," says Lisa Leach Goth, vice president of New Bethlehem, Pa.-based Charles P. Leach Agency and chair of the survey working group. She sees the survey findings as encouragement for carriers to support more uniform processes that work through the agent's own system.

Not so long ago, discussions of IT security tended to focus on the need to install firewalls; to tunnel via private networks; to employ encryption keys and digital certificates; to surround servers with multiple layers of access; and to install firewalls, sandboxes and "demilitarized zones" to snag hackers.Those tools and methods remain critical, but many in the IT community are recognizing the importance of addressing physical as well as digital vulnerabilities.

MASSMUTUAL UPGRADES PRODUCT MACHINE SOFTWAREThe disability income insurance area of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual), Springfield, Mass., upgraded to version 3.1 of Product Machine, a set of tools designed to enable users to build, design and publish products.

Records and information are at the core of every transaction undertaken by any organization. Any inadequacy in this area - including noncompliance with regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - can threaten an organization's ability to conduct business.Still, many organizations lack effective policies and procedures for systematic control of recorded information and, as a result, risk legal liability and extensive penalties for non-compliance with record-keeping regulations.

Hartford, Conn. - The surety business has recovered from a slump that began with the 2001 recession, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting Inc. "The combined ratio climbed more than 40 points and stayed there for the next three years," says Mark Jablonowski, an analyst at Conning, which has headquarters in Hartford. "While the recession and tightening credit resulted in skyrocketing losses, the property-casualty underwriting cycle also contributed to the problem." Those views are examined in a study called "The Surety Market: Taking Care of Business." It's Conning's first analysis of the surety segment, a business the company says has iinfluence well beyond its size because of its importance to construction and regulatory compliance. According to the study, a huge increase in losses during the 2001 to 2003 period wasn't just from claims reported but also from claims that developed badly and a falloff in recoveries and other claims mitigation, says Stephan Christiansen, Conning director of research. The situation turned round in 2004 and 2005, Christiansen observes, adding that 2006 showed continued improvement and the future looks good, too. Capacity is returning to the market but with a renewed appreciation for underwriting discipline, says Christiansen. "That new-found discipline, along with attention to automation and technology [that is]driving cost control," he says, "lead us to a positive forecast for the surety line over the next few years, with premium growing at least as fast as GDP." Source: Conning Research and Consulting Inc.

Washington - America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) has collaborated with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a checklist insurers can use to prepare contingency plans for a flu pandemic.

Rochester, N.Y. – Many Americans are satisfied with how their personal health information is used, but a substantial number express reservations about the confidentiality and security of their health data, a new survey shows.

Washington, D.C. – America needs a public-private partnership to protect families from a devastating, massive hurricane or earthquake, the head of a coalition that includes insurers said in testimony this week before Congress. Such catastrophes have dulled the industry’s appetite for insuring against such events, said another witness, a representative of an agents’ and brokers’ association.

Washington - The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has asked its members to challenge the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s recent endorsement of optional federal charters for insurers.

Phoenix, Ariz. - Insurance industry groups have banded together to create eight data initiatives and a central data repository to combat fraud, according to the keynote speaker at an industrywide meeting here of property/casualty claims and special investigations executives.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Symetra Financial has appointed Tommie Brooks as vice president and chief actuary. He will assume leadership of the Actuarial Division from Margaret Meister, who is relinquishing the post but continues to serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

San Francisco - Woodruff-Sawyer & Co., an independent insurance brokerage based here, has acquired Northwest Benefit Planning in Portland, Ore.

Unitrin Direct insurance cos., subsidiaries of Chicago-based Unitrin Inc., are offering a $50 discount in 17 states for customers who use Esignature, an service that lets customers sign policy documents online."One of our main goals at Unitrin Direct is to continually seek new ways to provide a terrific value on outstanding car insurance coverage," says Unitrin Direct President Scott Carter. "With Esignature, consumers not only save money instantly, they do it with the knowledge that they have a trusted company behind them that prioritizes customer service."

Branchville, N.J. – Selective Insurance Co. of America, a Branchville, N.J.-based subsidiary of Selective Insurance Group Inc., appointed three information technology services (ITS) managers.