Core systems

The White House on the evening of July 2, in a blog posting from Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the President, announced it will suspend for one year reporting requirements in 2014 for larger employers to demonstrate compliance with a mandate to offer employees health insurance coverage, and not enforce financial penalties for larger employers that fail to comply until 2015, one year later than authorized in the Affordable Care Act.

The largest U.S. life insurer is proposing an alternative to the Fed that it feels is more appropriate for insurers deemed systemically important financial institutions.

Insurance QuickPass designed to digitize insurance policies in an app for drivers.

Allstate, Lincoln National and 14 others receive updates.

Business management and accounting solution designed to manage RSA’s Group Reinsurance portfolio.

Increasingly sophisticated user expectations drive tech market, Celent says, as insurers look for ways to differentiate commoditized products.

Declining U.S. property rates and reinsurers' desire to maintain their market positions is spilling over into other classes, according to a report from Willis Re.

Financial service firms plan to increase IT operational budgets by a modest 2.1 percent this year, while about 45 percent are increasing headcount, according to a Computer Economics IT study.

Progressive has been licensing UBI intellectual property since December 2012.

Maximizing IT’s value requires realistic expectations and transparency, as well as planning and decision making that are aligned with business goals, according to PwC.

The specialty insurer can now use location parameters, policy type, limits and other attributes to deliver rich, contact-sensitive information to underwriters.

Talon designed to help the reinsurer target and price new markets.

Agent and consumer portals, business intelligence and core systems revamps are top priorities, as personal lines insurers concentrate on growth, expense reduction and improving underwriting results, Novarica says.

Berkshire to pay $285 million for variable annuities business, as The Hartford continues to divest in an attempt to focus on property/casualty operations.

Since the option to buy commercial insurance materialized online, the segment has become more open to the new channel as it prioritizes price and convenience, according to Novarica research.

Aite Group research recommends smaller insurers leverage new technologies to eliminate disadvantages of scale; describes opportunities to cut losses and 10 startups offering applications to address those opportunities.

New data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau ranks the 15 places in the United States with the most vehicle thefts.

P&C impairments see significant drop from the 34 reported for 2011; however, auto writers and risk retention groups continued to struggle, according to recent A.M. Best report.

State Farm, AAA and Allstate also included in the top 100 of Temkin's 2013 Trust Ratings.

New York Senator calls for FEMA to penalize insurers leaving the region.