Data and information management

Advances in catastrophe modeling technology are enabling carriers to take a more microscopic approach to assessing underwriting risks and predicting losses.History does repeat itself. Between 1989 and 1999, insured losses from hurricanes that struck the United States, when adjusted for inflation, totaled $45.7 billion, according to Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), New York.

In a world where even the smallest insurance company can advertise its wares to a global audience, some new and not-so-new compliance issues arise.Compliance specialists play far too limited a role in the development of insurers' Internet strategies, says Gary Hernandez, an insurance regulatory specialist with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, a San Francisco-based law firm.

Can the insurance industry learn lessons from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire?

Integrate systems. Simplify the business process. Improve the profit. That's what commercial agents need from their insurers.But they aren't getting that kind of support, particularly for small commercial coverages that generate 10% or less in commission, says Donald E. Martin, founder and former chief executive officer of Cal- Surance in Orange, Calif., one of the nation's 50 largest agents and brokers and now founder of EPolicy.com.

Insurers that haven't started to integrate their diverse internal systems yet are facing what may be a slow and expensive process, says Brad Murphy, chief executive officer of DigitalEsp, an electronic commerce consulting company based in Raleigh, N.C."The insurance industry has not been an early adopter of new technology. Insurers have been early or late followers, acquiring technology slowly, only where needs are clearly documented," he says. As a result, insurers are filled with old, large systems that can be expensive to replace with integrated technology.