Digital distribution

The world record for the largest game of Chinese Whispers, also known as the telephone game or Pass It Down, was set by entertainer Mac King, Jan. 6, 2004, and involved 614 people.While it's safe to say King didn't pass on a message about ways to sell long-term care insurance, carriers and agents may be able to relate to the game of Chinese Whispers. Clear and efficient communication among the two groups can become difficult. And adding communication among agents and consumers can muddy the water even more.

CAT CLAIMSCustard Insurance Adjusters, a Norcross, Ga., independent loss adjusting company, contracted with Marshall and Swift/Boeckh (MSB), New Berlin, Wis., for MSB's IntegriClaim tool for field estimating and for its IntegriClaim Administrator, which provides a paperless, Web-enabled work environment, for use in Custard's catastrophe and home office claims divisions. The technology package will send claims seamlessly from the carrier to independent adjusters.

The rapid proliferation of enterprise content, such as electronic documents, audiovisual files, instant messaging (IM), recorded phone conversations and e-mail, is having significant impact on the global insurance industry.Insurers now face severe penalties if they are unable to produce legally viable records of business conversations and transactions. Additionally, globalization, the dispersion of data and strict compliance regulations are key drivers of this emerging industry mindset.

Hartford, Conn., October 23, 2006 – To help agents speed up the decision process and provide quotes for eligible small business customers, Travelers Select Accounts division of Hartford, Conn.-based St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. has introduced TravelersExpress for Master Pac.TravelersExpress is an approach to processing new small commercial policy applicants because risk evaluation and pricing are delivered to the agent up front during the submission process. It will be available initially to agents in Illinois, Utah and Nevada and rolled out nationally in 2007.

Pearl River, N.Y. - To eliminate redundant information requests, the ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) is promoting a new questionnaire form, available online, that lets independent agencies organize data commonly requested by carriers.The form, Agency Questionnaire (ACORD 812), was developed after agents and brokers expressed concern that too much time is spent filling out multiple questionnaires, according to AUGIE leaders. "Every carrier seems to ask agencies the same questions every year," says Jo Ann Litwin, who chaired the AUGIE working group that addressed the problem. "The questions are generally valid, but many are also redundant--from year to year and carrier to carrier."

New York - New York Life Insurance Co. has launched a Web site called www.nylcareersforwomen.com to provide information about careers in life insurance for women at all stages of professional development.The site offers details on opportunities in sales and field management. A questionnaire on the site helps readers assess their interest in a sales career. In addition, the site provides information about working for New

Los Angeles - Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. introduces its new Mobile Catastrophe Command Center bus, which is designed to help its customers immediately after a catastrophe that may strike anywhere in the contiguous United States."The new Farmers Mobile Command Center bus was chosen as the catastrophe center-point for handling claims and servicing our customers," explains Frank Soldano, state executive, Farmers Insurance Group, Kansas. "The bus is equipped with the most state-of-the-art equipment available anywhere in the United States. It will enable Farmers claims representatives to offer claims help to our customers immediately following a catastrophe," Soldano said.

New York and Saint Paul, Minn. – Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife) and Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc. renewed their agreement to offer Synchrony absence management services.Synchrony combines group disability insurance and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration from MetLife with workers compensation insurance and claim administration services from Travelers to deliver one, integrated approach that can help companies better manage employee absences whether due to occupational or non-occupational events and assist employees in returning to work as soon as medically appropriate. First offered by the two companies in 1998, Synchrony programs currently cover more than 180,000 employees.

Media, Pa. - A network of insurance and financial Web sites is creating an online national directory of business insurance agents, a move that observers are calling another ripple in a movement to expand insurance distribution on the Internet.

Darien, Ill.-based Insure.com Inc.'s Web site has been named a "best site" for life insurance quotes by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.The citation came in a special report called "The Best List" that appears in the November 2006 issue.

Two celebrated anti-aging experts are joining Humana Inc. in what the company calls a multi-media campaign to turn passive healthcare users into active healthcare consumers.

Jersey City, N.J. - ISO, a Jersey City, N.J., provider of data, analytics and decision-support solutions, is extending its product set and focus to the healthcare industry with its plans to acquire the assets of Urix, a Cheshire, Conn., provider of healthcare analytics and employer reporting solutions. Terms were not disclosed. The Urix product set includes Web-based business solutions that enable health insurers, national brokerage firms and large employers to derive strategies to improve the quality of health care while lowering the cost of delivery. Urix is a developer of Web-based healthcare analytic solutions that are scalable and cost-effective, the companies report. ISO entered the healthcare sector in 2004 with the purchase of Boston-based DxCG, a company widely recognized as a world leader in predictive modeling software solutions. ISO will form a single company containing the Urix and DxCG assets doing business under the Urix brand name. Urix CEO John Farrell will serve as president of the combined entity; Michael Coyne will serve as COO. "With so many synergies between the Urix business intelligence solutions and DxCG predictive modeling capabilities, it makes sense to combine our assets and approach the market with a unified set of solutions," said Michael Coyne, head of DxCG. "Our teams will create new and, in many cases, unique solutions by working together closely," continued Coyne. ISO's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Frank Coyne, cited ISO's plans to combine Urix and ISO's DxCG unit as "an excellent opportunity for ISO to expand its presence in the healthcare business intelligence market by leveraging complementary strengths in both companies' product lines. We expect the new entity to lead the market with a host of solutions designed to improve the quality and efficiency of our nation's healthcare system," said ISO's CEO. Source: ISO

Mountain View, Calif. - eHealth Inc., the parent company of eHealthInsurance Services Inc., spent $50 million developing an electronic platform to sell health insurance through the Internet. The company’s business model? Serve the growing market of uninsured and underinsured consumers with online tools and ultimate health insurance products. The Mountain View, Calif., company, plans to raise $47.1 million in an initial public offering next week. In its prospectus the market for private health insurance brokering is a mess, stating that except for large companies buying insurance in bulk, finding medical coverage is time-consuming, paper-wasting, complicated and expensive. Most individuals, families and small businesses who buy their own medical coverage find insurers using local agents who serve a single community, offering insurance from a small handful or even a single insurance carrier. Through its Web site, eHealth has sold health insurance electronically to 325,000 consumers, and points to this statistic: More than 40% of those customers were uninsured before finding the site. That means the company thinks its site, which offers 5,000 health insurance products through 150 insurers, including Aetna and UnitedHealth, can tap into an underserved and fragmented corner of the estimated $658 billion market for private medical insurance. About 17 million Americans, including self-employed people, buy their own medical insurance (as opposed to electing coverage through an employer's plan), and the company said that number is growing. A rising number of small businesses have stopped offering medical benefits to employees, forcing these people to buy their own coverage or risk life without insurance, the company said. The U.S. Census estimates 46 million Americans are uninsured, and the company said many of these people have jobs, make decent salaries and would buy their own coverage if only they could find an affordable plan. That's where eHealth's business model comes in. eHealth's site offers online rate quoting and information, health plan comparisons, and online applications linking consumers with insurers. The variety of policy offerings and efficient brokering process in theory would help consumers find cheaper coverage. As a broker, eHealth offers insurers new market opportunities, access to electronic data about consumers and simplified policy processing, which reduces costs. The company takes a percentage off the insurers' premiums. In 2005, eHealth booked $41.8 million in revenue, almost all from brokerage commissions, compared with $9.3 million in 2001. For the six months ending June 30, 2006, eHealth reported net income of $2.7 million, compared with a net loss of $209,000 for the same period a year ago. The company, led by Chief Executive Gary L. Lauer, has lost money most quarters since its 1997 founding as it sinks money into technology and marketing through direct mail, television and radio. But it hopes that by harnessing the Internet, it can grab a large share of a huge and largely untapped market. The company plans to sell 5 million shares at $10 to $12 apiece, giving the deal a proposed market cap of $271 million, and is reportedly using joint-lead managing underwriters such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. The stock will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol "EHTH." Source: Associated Press, MSN Money, Red Herring

Worcester, Mass. - The Hanover Insurance Group Inc., reports that it has enhanced its homeowners quoting and issuance process, making it easier for its agent partners to do business. The 150-year old Worcester, Mass., company, which sells property and casualty products and services to individuals, families and businesses through a network of independent agents, reports that it has implemented distinct and separate quote and issuance processes and introduced screens that are easier to read and navigate. The simplified homeowners screens were recently piloted with in Connecticut and Virginia, and include homes, condominiums and tenants policies. Other improvements include helpful links for cross selling allow agents to easily offer additional policies such as second home, auto or umbrella and improved navigation and "help" icon efficiently answers agent questions. Hanover also provides a link to the Marshall & Swift/Boeckh Replacement Cost Estimator, to help foster agent/customer discussions about the adequacy of their coverage. The enhancements, which were made based on direct feedback from agent partners, should cut the time it takes to quote a policy by 30% and reduce the number of accounts referred to an underwriter, reports the company. "We believe these enhancements, as well as planned future enhancements, will deliver additional growth opportunities for independent agents," says Marita Zuraitis, president of The Hanover's property and casualty companies. The improvements in agent services comes on the heels of last year's launch of Connections Auto product, which has driven private passenger automobile new business growth of more than 150%, reports the company. Source: PRNewswire

The stats have arrived- survey results from insurers and researchers have one thing in common: Baby boomers are not prepared for retirement, and therefore insurers could be missing out on business. Some companies are stepping up, using technology to capture this pending market.Allstate's 2006 Retirement Reality Check survey reveals that 40% of Americans admit they are not saving seriously for retirement. One unexpected finding, according to the survey, is that Generation X respondents (those born from 1965 to 1978) are more likely than their elders to describe themselves as financially independent-73% of gen-Xers compared with 67% of baby boomers.

YOUNG INDEPENDENT AGENTS WANT MORE TECHNOLOGYYoung independent insurance agents identify technology to help them more easily write business and service customers as the second most important thing-after competitive rates-carriers can offer an independent insurance agency. Drive Insurance Group of Mayfield Village, Ohio-based Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. discovered this while conducting a survey of more than 750 young (40 years of age or younger or those who have been in the industry less than 10 years) independent agents. The majority of young independent insurance agents (79%) say technology has been significant in helping them grow their business. Other results from the survey showed 11% have an interactive Web site where customers can quote, buy and contact them. Thirty-four percent have a static Web site where people can learn more about their agency and the services they provide, and 40% don't have a Web site at all.

VOICE SELF-SERVICE AND CUSTOMER INTERACTION MANAGEMENTThe customer interaction management software suite from Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc., headquartered in Daly City, Calif., enables SAP solutions to integrate with voice self-service functionality from Genesys' Voice Platform. The integration of voice self-service with the back and mid-office is designed to simplify access to SAP solutions and make them available to a larger set of users across the organization.

In the highly competitive European insurance marketplace, Paris-based Groupama Insurance Co. Ltd. has built a reputation on the personal touch and close relationships it develops and maintains with customers. However, the carrier, which has been in business for more than a century, needed more efficient ways to work with its growing roster of customers. For decades, Groupama relied on customer support and contacts provided through its network of agencies. As business grew, the carrier sought to better capture and provide information in a more consistent and automated fashion, while still retaining the important relationships that had been built between agents and customers.Through business growth and mergers, Groupama became a leading mutual insurance company in France, with eight million customers and annual revenue of close to 13 billion Euros. The company now has more than 26,000 employees across France alone, as well as an additional 4,000 across nine other countries.

BUSINESS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR ATLANTICNew York-based Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co. chose MFX to provide business software development, maintenance and enhancement services from MFX's data center facility in Roanoke, Va. MFX hired the application support staff previously supporting Atlantic Mutual's proprietary business software applications. The new team will support Atlantic Mutual, as well as gain knowledge and exposure to MFX's proprietary products including WriteNow, ClaimsAssure and RiskVault. Atlantic Mutual's proprietary business software applications will continue to be owned by Atlantic Mutual.

Mayfield Village, Ohio - The Drive Group of Progressive Insurance Cos.'s Web site (www.driveinsurance.com) received a "Standard of Excellence" WebAward in the insurance category from the Web Marketing Association (WMA).The WMA judged more than 2,300 Web sites from 35 countries that were entered into the 2006 competition. Each site was assigned three or more judges from a panel of independent Internet experts and evaluated on seven criteria including: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use.