A study of European insurance policy holders by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc. revealed an overarching reluctance to manage their accounts online. Given many of the major carriers’ desire to drive more customers to the Internet for routine sales and service interactions, the data points to an uphill battle.

In 2006, Auto Club Group (ACG) found that its document composition capabilities were highly inflexible and, faced with a legacy environment, it could not manipulate its print stream-at least without contracting additional workers.The Dearborn, Mich.-based company was unable to deal with spikes in mailings, which occurred when it had to send bulk materials to a large credit union, for example. And yet, employees and equipment often sat idle during lighter mailing periods.

Identity theft, long the bane of IT departments, is also providing insurance companies with opportunities to offer a new kind of coverage and score some marketing points at the same time.Carriers are hiring third-party services to restore policyholders' stolen identities. In general, here's how it works: The victim calls the insurer to report the ID theft. After establishing the validity of the claim, the carrier transfers the caller to the vendor's call center. The third-party vendor swings into action, drawing upon relationships with credit rating agencies and other institutions to refurbish the victim's credit. Meanwhile, the insurer can track the case until closure.

BANKS SHOULD SET SIGHTS ON RELATIONSTo entice customers to buy more financial products and services, financial services companies need to focus on improving their relationship strategies, according to Gartner Inc., a research firm headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

ISTREAM TO INCLUDE NEW FUNCTIONALITYWhitehill Technologies Inc., Moncton, New Brunswick, announced new functionality in the IStream document automation suite, including IStream Publisher and IStream Document Manager. The IStream suite is designed to enable business users to create 'model documents' that control the language, layout and look of complex files, such as policies and contracts. IStream can be used to create and control virtually any kind of insurance document, from contracts to welcome kits to group booklets. New functionality includes add-ins for Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader, letting users create complex documents in a familiar, easy-to-use, interactive environment. As data or standard wordings change, users can automatically update their documents to reflect those changes. Leveraging industry-standard applications gives insurers the power to create and update documents easily as part of their normal processes.

XL GLOBAL TO USE INTERCEPT TO MANAGE PROCESSESStamford, Conn.-based XL Global Services Inc., a part of the XL Capital Ltd. group of companies, will use Intercept Studio, a flagship product from Baltimore-based AVIcode, to manage business processes worldwide.

U.S. CONSUMERS WANT CONTROL OF E-HEALTH RECORDSAmericans show a strong interest in controlling their own electronic medical records, according to a national survey released at a health IT conference.

ARCOT SYSTEMS AND ADOBE WORK ON DIGITAL SIGNINGSunnyvale, Calif.-based Arcot Systems Inc. has collaborated with San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe Systems Inc. to create a new option for digital signing in Adobe Acrobat software and Adobe Reader software using "Roaming Digital IDs."

PURE CHOOSES ONESHIELD FOR POLICY ADMIN SYSTEMPrivilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), a startup with headquarters in Plantation, Fla., has selected software from Westborough, Mass.-based OneShield Inc. to support administration of new insurance products. PURE deployed OneShield's Dragon platform to manage the end-to-end policy administration of PURE High Net Worth Insurance personal lines product offerings.

Ithaca, N.Y. - Contrary to what many people think, the large majority of call centers serving United States' customers – service centers in remote locations that handle telephone and web-based inquiries – are operated in the U.S., not in India and other overseas locations. This is one of the findings revealed in "The Global Call Center Report: International Perspectives on Management and Employment."Some of the study's key findings:

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. - The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a provider of vendor-neutral certifications for technology professionals, announced that five more companies in the printing and document imaging business are supporting development of a professional certification for the industry’s technicians.

Minneapolis - As part of the association's Executive Education Program, the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) will present the 3rd Annual CIO Roundtable program on Tuesday, June 5. This exclusive, "by invitation only" event will feature expert educational sessions sponsored by IASA associate member companies, including: AT&T, Document Sciences, Duck Creek Technologies and OnBase Insurance Solutions by Hyland Software. Admittance to the CIO Roundtable is complimentary to any qualifying chief information officer registered to attend the 2007 IASA Annual Educational Conference & Business Show, June 3-6 in Minneapolis.

Malvern, Pa. – Members of the CPCU Society (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation) now have access to an online tutorial that offers fundamental information about captives, the association reports. In its CPCU Society's May CPCU eJournal monthly electronic publication, "Captive Insurance Industry-What is it? Where is it? Why is it Important?," the association attempts to explain the mysteries of the captive insurance industry in plain English, starting with the history of captive insurance, the differences between captive insurance companies and traditional insurance companies, and the future market for captive insurance. The issue was written by Dennis Childs, CPCU, ARM, AMIM, ARe, RPLU, ASLI, MSIM. Childs is currently assistant vice president, commercial lines, product development, for Ohio Casualty Group. He received his CPCU in 1986 and has 35 years of experience in the insurance business in various underwriting and marketing roles with national carriers. Childs holds a B.A. degree from Transylvania University, and an M.B.A. from Boston University, with a specialization in insurance company management. Childs says that captive insurance companies have several definitions, but for the purposes of this article, he uses the following, from Kathryn Westover of the International Risk Management Institute: "A captive insurance company is a company that is wholly owned and controlled by its insureds; its primary purpose is to insure the risks of its owners, the primary beneficiaries of its underwriting profits are its insureds.” Beginning with the history of the captive insurance industry-with the first captive formed in Bermuda in 1963-Childs explains the multiple reasons behind the formation and subsequent growth of the captive insurance industry. He says the primary reason for the increase in popularity of this form of insurance was "the failure of the traditional insurance companies to meet the needs of an ever-growing and complex business unit." Childs also explains where the more popular captive domiciles are located and why captive insurance companies are important to the insurance industry and to commerce in general. Some current market status facts that Childs presents include the following:* There are 4,355 captive insurance companies worldwide.* Bermuda is the leading captive location of domicile, with 1,400 captives.* Currently 65 percent of Fortune 500 companies utilize a captive to meet at least one or more of their insurance needs.· Tillinghast estimates that the captive market now has $30 billion in annual premiums, and $130 million in assets worldwide. Childs concludes with some comments on what the future may hold in this area of insurance, saying "to meet the needs of corporate risk management for innovative and unique solutions to individual risk management, the need for captive insurance solutions will continue." The CPCU Society is headquartered in Malvern, Pa. Source: CPCU Society

VOIP RECORDING PORTFOLIO EXPANDED BY CTI GROUP INC.CTI Group Inc., Indianapolis, a provider of VoIP call recording communications, has expanded its VoIP call recording portfolio to include SmartRecord Cards and Recording-enabled SIP Trunks.

CHUBB GOES TO SEA AS WELL AS TO WEB

Back in August, INN reported on a Forrester Research Inc. study that predicted insurance companies will gradually move away from geographic and product silos, focusing more on cross-domain business processes.The report predicted insurance companies will identify processes that can be implemented with common systems and configured for local needs and this trend will increase the use of business process outsourcing (BPO) as carriers outsource nondifferentiated processes.

Outsourcing provides the personnel and technology Swiss Re needs to keep growing commercial insurance lines at a blistering pace.Take the example of staffing at the century-and-a-half-old company, which has U.S. headquarters in Armonk, N.Y. With operations in 30 countries, Swiss Re would face a nearly insurmountable task trying to locate, hire and train employees for every office.

Patrick Snowball, executive director of Aviva UK, flew down to Mumbai, India in February to accept an award from the Indian software industry. But India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) wasn't lauding the insurance giant for the jobs it was moving to outsourcing firms on the subcontinent. Instead, Aviva was recognized for taking jobs back.The previous month, Aviva transferred 1,600 employees in Bangalore from an outsourcing vendor, 24/7 Customer, to Aviva Global Services. It was the first move of its kind and size in the Indian business processing outsourcing industry, NASSCOM said.

Hartford, Conn. and Indianapolis - Two insurers—Travelers and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield—announced online tools for their customers. Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers announced new technology launches: Umbrella Wired and OSHA Recordkeeping, as a new component of e-CARMA.Umbrella Wired online software program is designed to simplify the rate, quote and bind process for agents who offer small commercial umbrella liability policies.

Warren, N.J. - C-level executives and risk managers may not always see eye-to-eye when it comes to the risks associated with international expansion, according to the 2007 Chubb International Risk Survey. More C-level executives (43%) noted that international risks pose a greater threat to their companies than domestic risks, compared to only 16% of risk manager respondents. There are also differences in the types of risks that C-level executives and risk managers are most concerned about when it comes to the companies' multinational exposures. The survey reports 24% of risk managers cited natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and earthquakes as the top threat posed by a company's overseas business operations or the business it conducts abroad, and 24% of C-level executives found terrorism to be the top threat. "The findings illustrate the importance of an emerging trend toward closer collaboration between an organization's risk manager and its most senior executives," said Kathleen Ellis, senior vice president, Chubb & Son, and worldwide manager of the Multinational Risk Group for Chubb Commercial Insurance, Warren, N.J. "To effectively allocate resources, organizations need a clear, agreed-upon big picture of global risk-one that's built on many perspectives. Companies that don't take this holistic approach could find themselves unexpectedly self-insuring losses that occur outside the United States and Canada." Professional liability evolving internationally Respondents' perspectives also differed on international trends in professional liability. More than half of C-level executives (59%) believe that employment practices liability is becoming a more serious source of risk outside the United States and Canada, while most (55%) risk managers say directors and officers liability is becoming a more serious source of risk. "These differing viewpoints on employment liability practices and D&O liability are intriguing, and we are keeping an eye of both issues-especially D&O liability," said Evan Rosenberg, a senior vice president at Chubb & Son and global specialty lines manager for Chubb Specialty Insurance. "There have already been more than a few significant D&O liability lawsuits in Europe. In addition, as more countries develop their own insurance marketplace, more of them could make D&O insurance compulsory or require the purchase of a locally admitted D&O policy to comply with local admitted laws. "Companies also need to recognize that some corporate governance trends start outside the United States. For instance, many European countries are taking a more aggressive position on disclosure than their counterparts in the United States on the global warming issue," said Rosenberg. According to Chubb's survey, only one in four companies (25%) is studying the impact of global warming on their business. "We have seen numerous shareholder proposals in the proxy statements of U.S. companies with respect to global warming; however, we have not seen a lot of disclosure from U.S. companies about what they are doing or their position with respect to global warming." Global growth continues "The ability to identify and successfully address emerging international exposures becomes increasingly critical as companies continue to become more global in nature," said Ellis. Of total survey respondents, 67% indicated that their company is likely to expand its operations outside the United States and Canada in 2007, and 86 % anticipated that revenue from these operations is likely to increase over the next five years. Respondents planned on growing their businesses through a variety of ways, including the introduction of new products (72%), an increase in employee headcount (66%), opening a plant or an office (62%) and the acquisition of another company (47%). Overall, survey respondents identified the following as the top threats to their overseas business operations or the business they conduct abroad: terrorism (18%), natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and earthquakes (17%), political instability (13%) and supply-chain failure (13%). In addition, the survey reported that the economic and political forces expected to have the greatest impact on a company in 2007 include increased competition (23%), rising fuel costs (15%) and the devaluation of the dollar (14%). "Today's multinational companies face diverse exposures to risk, and this makes it critical to develop enterprise-wide risk management programs," said Ellis. "Corporate executives and risk managers must look at all the risks to their business, domestic and international and whether they are insurable or not, if they wish to more fully protect their business operations." The 2007 Chubb International Risk Survey was conducted jointly in March 2007 by Opinion Research Corporation, a worldwide research firm in Princeton, NJ, and the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies in Warren, NJ. The Internet survey queried chief executive, operating and financial officers as well as risk managers at 242 U.S. companies. Summaries of the major report findings can be found on Chubb's Web site at http://www.chubb.com/corporate/chubb6893.pdf. Source: Chubb