Customer experience

PPS SOFTWARE SUITESkywire Software, a Frisco, Texas-based provider of software products for the insurance industry, announced the availability of a reporting tool for PPS, its policy production system for managing general agencies and wholesalers.

VALUATION SOLUTION REDUCED CLAIMS SETTLEMENT CYCLEPlymouth Rock Assurance Corp., Boston, selected San Diego-based Mitchell International Inc.'s, Total Logic Valuation as the company's total loss valuation solution to deliver a customer-centric loss claims process.

Most companies today understand that customer communications are integral to successful customer relationship management programs. Many of these communications are initiated from field organizations. Letters, proposals, quotations and marketing materials are often created, assembled and delivered to customers from branch offices.Historically, technological limitations have prevented companies from effectively controlling the content and integration of these communications with mainstream fulfillment processes. This has led to higher costs, poorer communications and reduced customer satisfaction.

Westlake Village, Calif. - Policy retention is critical to the financial success of auto insurance carriers, and a customer's experience with their provider is the most important element—outweighing brand image—in generating policy renewals, according to the "J.D. Power and Associates 2007 National Auto Insurance Study."The study measures customer satisfaction with auto insurance carriers across five factors. In order of importance, they are: interaction, policy offerings, billing and payment, price and claims.

New York – Two life insurers recently appointed a number of executives. ACE Life Insurance Co., a business of Bermuda-based ACE Ltd., named Jim Gibbs as vice president and chief underwriting officer and Bruce Horton as vice president and chief marketing officer. Gibbs joins ACE from Optimum Reinsurance Co., Dallas, where he was senior vice president, underwriting. His previous experience includes positions at SCOR Life US Re, Dallas, and Munich American Reinsurance, Atlanta. He is a past president of the Southeastern Home Office Underwriters Association, and he has been a speaker at many industry gatherings, addressing both underwriting and actuarial groups on various topics.

Chicago – A new study evaluates the home pages and usability of 14 major auto insurance providers’ Web sites to examine customer expectations and discover where companies succeed or fail in attracting and retaining customers.

Armonk, N.Y. - U.S. consumers want insurance companies to more effectively communicate new products and services available to them, provide customized policies to better meet their needs and bring their customer experience up to par with other industries, according to an IBM study of more than 3,000 P&C insurance policyholders. Yet, despite boasting one of the largest demographics of loyal and satisfied customers of any industry, few insurance companies are looking for new and innovative ways to connect with their customers to enhance their experience and drive organic growth.

Stamford, Conn. – A rapidly shifting, increasingly consumer-centric insurance market is no safe harbor for health insurers, a new research note from Gartner, Inc. contends.

Washington—Eight more insurance companies have signed on as sponsors of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents’ (PIA) agent branding program, Local Agents Serving Main Street America.

Worchester, Mass. - The Hanover Insurance Group Inc., a regional property/casualty company based in Worchester, Mass., is offering Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) bonds through the company’s online point-of-sale system, BONDirect. The federal government’s ERISA bonds protect employee benefit plans against losses caused by fraud and dishonesty committed by employee trustees.

Toronto-based kanetix, Canada's online insurance marketplace, compared the average lowest auto insurance premium quoted at www.kanetix.ca in Q2 2007 with the average lowest premium quoted from the same period in 2006, and found that the average lowest price had decreased by almost 17%.

El Segundo, Calif. - To remain competitive in the life and annuity industry, insurers should exploit technology to create more innovative products and introduce them faster, according to insurance industry analysts speaking at Computer Sciences Corp.’s Life and Annuity Users’ Forum.

Washington— The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) is reiterating its opposition to the National Insurance Act of 2007.

In the wake of insurers increasing their efforts to utilize the Internet to broaden their accessibility, streamline efficiency and reduce time and costs, two insurers have recently ramped up their online customer service capabilities.

Richmond, Va. - Markel International Ltd., the company's London-based operation, will enter the Asian market with marine and professional liability products, the company reports. Markel Vice Chairman Steven Markel told INN that the push in Asia is in conjunction with its operations as a syndicate of Lloyd's of London.

If you think your contact center (what used to be your call center before e-mail and Web chat were added to the customer service mix) doesn't do much for sales, you might have a look at a new study from Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. The Daly City, Calif., maker of contact center software recently surveyed 500 consumers in the United States, and found that almost half placed more importance on customer service than product quality, price or the vendor's reputation when it came to loyalty. A full 40% said they'd stopped doing business with a company solely because of a bad contact center experience.Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting, a West Orange, N.J., company that specializes in helping clients build contact centers, says the centers should be playing a more significant role than just keeping customers happy and loyal-especially for insurance carriers.

SC BLUES WINS CALL CENTER TECH AWARDBlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C., took top honors in the "Best Use of Technology" category during the 3rd Annual Call Center Excellence Awards held recently in Las Vegas.

FEE REDUCTION FOR INSURANCE SERVICESThe Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation's (DTCC) Insurance Services New York business reports its first fee reduction in history, reflecting growing usage of its services. Insurance Services has automated linkages and data exchange between carriers and their broker/dealer, bank and other distributor partners who market insurance products.

What do insurance, consumer goods, retail and manufacturing companies have in common? Each relies on a complex value chain of partners engaged in collaborative business processes in order to develop relationships and deliver goods or services to customers. This is true for B2B insurance companies such as Health Net Inc., Woodland Hills, Calif., and Delta Dental Plans Assoc., Oak Brook, Ill., consumer-focused organizations such as Galveston, Texas-based American National Insurance Co. (ANICO), which offers a broad line of insurance products and services, including life insurance, annuities, health, property/casualty and credit insurance and Service Masters' American Home Shield (AHS), or American Insurance Group Inc. (AIG), which serves commercial, institutional and individual customers.Whether providing individual policies direct to consumers or a range of portfolio products to commercial or business customers on behalf of employee members, insurance companies operate within complex, process-driven environments.

The relationship between IT and the business within insurance companies is a subject insurance professionals will talk about until the cows come home. How do the two work together? Who are the forward thinkers? How does IT know what the business needs and vice versa? These questions plague both sides. CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wis., may have figured it out. In fact, this epiphany helped win the company Insurance Networking News' 2007 INNovator of the Year award for its ability to successfully combine the efforts of IT and the business to create a specialized claims processing solution, Claims Express."We're (business and IT) part of the same team," says Tom Gosnell, CIO at CUNA Mutual. "I think it's that close working relationship that helps best position us to be able to share ideas with the business and vice versa and to be able to come up with the right solution across the board."