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Kansas City, Mo. - The top three reasons consumers filed formal complaints against their insurance companies in 2005 were delays, denials and unsatisfactory settlement offers, according to data collected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).Following these claims handling issues, consumers complained most about policy cancellations and premiums/insurance rating issues. That complaint pattern has remained relatively consistent during the past four years. A total of 199,639 complaints were filed by consumers in 2005, a 22.5% decrease from 2004.

Costa Mesa - NADAguides.com, the N.A.D.A. Appraisal Guides vehicle information Web site, and Geico, the Washington, D.C.-based private passenger auto insurer, have formed a partnership, whereby Geico becomes the exclusive provider of automotive insurance for millions of NADAguides.com consumers looking to insure their new or used car, truck, van or SUV online at www.nadaguides.com.In turn, visitors to Geico.com are now able to access NADAguides.com vehicle pricing and specification information. NADAguides.com links are available at Geico.com within the automotive, motorcycle, boats and manufactured housing sections and the marketing partner section of the Geico Web site.

Framingham, Mass. - A recent survey of 802 consumers carrying health insurance, conducted by IDC's Health Industry Insights, reveals one in three respondents (33%) cite medical information being made accessible on the Internet as a primary reason for feeling less comfortable about sharing information with primary care physicians (PCPs).Nearly half of respondents (47%) who are uncomfortable sharing information with PCPs also indicated "wanting control over who accesses their personal health information" as a reason, while 14% do not trust the health plan to adequately protect personal health information.

Atlanta - The Professional Insurance Marketing Association (PIMA), Fort Worth, Texas, selected Online Insight Inc., as its bronze medal winner for the company's end-to-end sales solution for a major healthcare client. The award was distributed as part of PIMA's Marketing Methods Competition.

Columbus, Ohio - Customers of Nationwide can now monitor their damaged vehicle repairs online through Nationwide AutoWatch--an Internet-based software tool. AutoWatch is currently being piloted in multiple states and may be rolled out as an optional service in the coming months."The Web site enables customers to log on 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to monitor their vehicle at different points during the repair process at participating Nationwide/Allied Insurance Blue Ribbon Repair Shops," says Terry Fortner, Nationwide associate vice president of claims.

Richmond, Va. - Genworth Financial Inc. has named Samuel D. Marsico senior vice president and chief risk officer (CRO). Marsico previously was CRO of the company's mortgage insurance business, where he helped support international expansion of mortgage insurance operations.Marsico will oversee more than 150 professionals dedicated to risk management across Genworth. He brings more than 25 years of experience to his new role. Prior to joining Genworth in 1997, Marsico held leadership positions in areas including audit for Price Waterhouse and finance at the General Electric Company. He replaces Mark W. Griffin, who became Genworth's chief investment officer in October 2005.

Chicago - InsuranceNoodle Inc. has received U.S. Patent Office notification that the patent application claims relating to innovations for its "Methods and Apparatus for Selecting an Insurance Carrier for an Online Insurance Policy Purchase" have been allowed for issuance within the next few months."We are extremely excited the Patent Office has made this decision after four years of extensive application review," says InsuranceNoodle CEO Kathryn Emmerson. "This approval--as well as the fact that more than 2,500 agencies across the country are active NoodleNetwork partners--supports and validates our proprietary, Web-based technology platform and its capability to provide fast, efficient online quoting from multiple carriers for a variety of commercial products."

Washington, D.C. - The Federal Emergency Management Association's National Flood Insurance Program has launched a Web site to provide educational materials and other new content to insurance agents.

London -- Companies that outsource their IT systems are increasing their potential vulnerability to security breaches causing possible long term damage to their business, according to London-based insurer ACE European Group Ltd. (ACE).ACE has uncovered a lack of awareness among many European businesses of the increasing risks that outsourcing poses to their networks. ACE is also aware that there is a degree of uncertainty among many businesses, both as to the level of protection given to their computer systems and the cover provided by their existing insurance policies.

Cupertino, Calif. - Software security provider Symantec announced today that it completed its acquisition of Houston-based BindView Development Corp., a provider of agent-less IT security compliance software.

Hartford, Conn. - The dominant position of large market leaders, the effects of burgeoning technology and a robust, competitive pricing environment will cause dozens of insurers to exit the personal P & C industry over the next few years, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting Inc., a Hartford, Conn. provider of public and proprietary research as well as consulting services to the financial services industry.

New York -- Guy Carpenter & Company Inc., a global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos., has published U.S. Reinsurance Renewals at January 1, 2006.This annual review of pricing, retentions and limits, capacity and terms and conditions covers the property, casualty, marine and offshore energy, accident and health and life and annuity lines of business.

Stamford, Conn.- Following a period of cost cutting and reactive spending, insurance organizations with more than $1 billion in revenue will be even more cautious when making their IT spending decisions in 2006, according to Gartner Consulting's Worldwide IT Benchmark Service.

Boston - A winter storm model for the U.S. that captures the effects of wind, precipitation, and freezing temperatures on insured properties should help insurance companies assess winter storm risk, according to AIR Worldwide Corp. (AIR), a Boston-based member of the ISO family of companies.

Newark, Calif. -- Risk Management Solutions (RMS) recently performed a number of analyses for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to assess the absolute risk of terrorism and quantify how the terms of the December 2005 renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) would shift the relative share of the risk from the government to the insurance industry.RMS analysis shows that while TRIA provides solvency protection in extreme events, it is not an insurance industry subsidy. Based on the new TRIA terms, over 90% of the RMS modeled average annual loss would be retained by the industry. If an attack occurred, there is also less than a 10% chance that it would cause the industry deductible to be reached, since only the most extreme, low-probability attacks will cause losses in excess of $30 billion. For example, the 2001 World Trade Center attacks resulted in approximately $32.5 billion of insured losses. Were an event of this magnitude to occur today, it would thus produce only a minimal TRIA recovery for the insurance industry.

Indianapolis - At least six states are likely to advance rate modernization initiatives this year, a legislative preview prepared by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) reveals.

Los Angeles - A testament to its commitment to successful client relationships, Transamerica Retirement Services has received six "Best in Class" ratings from the Chatham Partners' 2005 Client Satisfaction Analysis.Transamerica received "Best in Class" ratings in the following areas: timeliness of contributions, distributions and loans, accuracy of contributions, overall satisfaction with processing of employee transactions, accuracy of participant statements, clarity of participant statements, and courtesy and professionalism of SponsorConnect personnel.

This year may be the year of consolidation and legacy renewal when it comes to insurance carriers' IT spending, according to industry analysts. And IT budgets will increase slightly over 2005, although there may be trimming back in some areas.The wild card will be the impact caused by Katrina and other hurricanes that wrought such devastation in New Orleans, Florida and other locales in the Southeast.

Listening to an insurance executive talk about replacing an old mainframe-based administration system is a lot like listening to a farmer talk about getting rid of an old tractor.It still pulls a heavy load, but competing farms-especially the larger ones-are bringing in faster models with advanced features that enable them to produce higher yields more efficiently. But these new tractors cost a lot of money and change the way work is done on the farm. How can a farmer afford the new equipment, learn how to use it, modify the work processes, and get all the crops sown and harvested on nature's strict schedule?

In our conservative, risk-based marketplace, change is often described as an oxymoron. But thanks to free enterprise, keeping up with change is not only necessary, it's critical to your success. Perhaps the greatest change has taken place in technology, not only because of automation and the Internet, but because it's finally being recognized for what it is: a critical ingredient to successful business operations.Perhaps Mike Byam put it best during a recent Insurance Networking News Virtual Trade Show session. The vice president of e-business & technology transformation at The Hartford's Financial Services Group said: "The line is becoming blurred between IT and the business. At some point, IT won't be the focus of the discussion. The focus will be one of several elements comprising successful business strategies."