Core systems

STAMFORD, Conn.--The Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin recently unveiled two new software applications to help insurers prepare for impending capital standards for variable annuity products.

The relationship between regulatory requirements and data standards is the subject of a new report from ACORD, N.Y.-based insurance industry data standards association. "ACORD Strategic Analysis: The Impact of Standards on the U.S. Regulatory Landscape," available through ACORD's Web site, www.acord.org

SIMSBURY, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., for the third consecutive year, is the No. 1 seller of variable life insurance, posting a year-over-year sales increase of more than 28 percent in 2004.

London--New research by independent market analysts Datamonitor, and leading outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group has found that the average deal size in the $600bn global IT and BPO services sector is shrinking. Based on figures from Datamonitor's "IT Services Contracts Tracker," the average size of contracts announced by IT and BPO services vendors in the first quarter of 2005 fell 18% to $68.9m compared to the year ago period. This means that average deal size has now declined for three consecutive quarters.

WINDSOR, Conn.--The head of LIMRA International, a financial services research and consulting association, is urging the life insurance industry to help American households bridge the wide gap between the amount of life insurance they own and the amount they believe they need for adequate family financial protection.

Internet security is a major concern for independent agents, with 80% saying they're most worried about viruses and worms, and 42% saying it's their second-biggest worry. That's according to a new survey released by IVANS Inc., Old Greenwich, Conn.

Firstlogic Inc, a La Crosse, Wis.-based provider of data quality and commercial mail automation software, has introduced IQ Assurance, a set programs, methodologies, and strategic consulting services that assist a company's initial foray into data quality and offer practices that can be can used as a part of an enterprisewide program.

Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based provider of software and outsourcing solutions to more than 2,000 insurance customers, has formed a strategic alliance with Lombardi Software, an Austin, Texas-based provider of the business process management (BPM) software called TeamWorks. The goal of the alliance is provide a BPM solution specifically designed for the insurance industry.

Novato, Calif.--Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. will provide identity theft restoration services nationally, offering customers access to a personal counselor who can help identify-theft victims with the legal and logistical burden of putting their lives back together.These services represent one of the first major programs by an insurer to deliver these services as part of an insurance policy. The enhancement comes at no additional cost, and with no deductible, to Fireman's Fund policyholders who have Prestige Home Premier with Added Measure coverage. This service became available effective March 30.

As independent agents identify the best ways to download files from carriers, a controversy is brewing that pits the established value-added agency download technology against emerging alternatives.Over the past couple years, many property/casualty insurers have used download technology developed jointly by Old Greenwich, Conn.-based IVANS Inc. and Applied Systems, a University Park, Ill.-based agency management system vendor.

The recent disclosure that criminals illegally obtained personal information from ChoicePoint Inc. is prompting the company to take action to improve the security of its insurance databases.Although no insurance-related information was stolen, ChoicePoint executives say, the Alpharetta, Ga.-based company intends to establish new auditing procedures and implement other measures to ensure that a similar policy breach will not occur for databases that house insurance information.

The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking News magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by electronic mail to Stephen.Dwyer thomsonmedia.com Adaptis

Maybe it's because so many companies have focused most of their attention on complying with Sarbanes-Oxley this past year, but a significant portion of health insurers and health care providers will not meet the security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by the April 20 deadline.Only 30% of payers and 18% of providers said they were already compliant with the HIPAA security regulations in a survey released in February by Phoenix Health Systems, a Montgomery Village, Md.-based consulting firm to hospitals.

CHICAGO--Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) Consumer Markets Division, as part of its ongoing effort to meet the growing demands of consumer-directed health care, announced today that it is offering two new Health Savings Account (HSA) compatible health plans: the BlueEdge Individual HSA and the BlueEdge Individual HSA 5000.

WESTBORO, Mass.---Ascential Software Corporation, an enterprise data integration provider, today announced that CNP Assurances, the leading personal insurance company in France, has standardized on Ascential DataStage, a core component of Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite, to reduce infrastructure costs, optimize the company's IT system, and achieve a single view of customer portfolios in real time.

WAUSAU, Wis--Midsized companies now have better access to expanded umbrella capacity since Wausau Insurance is more than doubling its in-house individual account coverage limits up to $25 million --the amount typically sought for such programs.

ORANGE, Calif.-- CalSurance, a national insurance sales, service and support organization comprising many diverse and specialized programs, today announced that it has enhanced its specialized errors and omissions program for broker-dealers with 75 or fewer registered representatives. Recently CalSurance and Quanta Specialty Lines Insurance Company teamed up to offer this program.The program enhancement now provides each broker-dealer with its own policy limits without sharing a master policy aggregate with other broker-dealers in the program.

WAUSAU, Wis.--Wausau Signature Agency has increased its focus on employee benefits by forming a Group Benefits Division in the upper Midwest states.

CAMBRIDGE, England--Autonomy Corporation plc, a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise, today announced that Autonomy has been awarded a contract by Norwich Union Life, the largest provider of life, pensions and long-term financial services in the UK.

WASHINGTON, March 17--With health benefit costs still rising at double-digit rates, more employers are adopting health management and consumer-directed health care programs to help control costs. And some employers keep increases remarkably low by getting employees involved in health care decision making. These are among the major findings in the 10th annual survey of large employers conducted by Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health.