Policy adminstration

A year ago, faced with stiff pressures to reduce costs and increase production, Penn National Insurance began searching for a robust solution to handle its document management functions for its different business lines."It wouldn't become our enterprise solution overnight, of course," says Timothy Caskey, senior systems analyst for the Harrisburg, Pa.-based insurer. "But ultimately it would become our print engine-the document composition and printing tool for the company."

VERIO ALIGNS WITH ARSENAL TO PROVIDE EXPANDED DATA PROTECTIONVerio Inc., an Englewood, Colo.-based managed hosting provider, has expanded its data protection and managed storage service offerings through a partnership with Arsenal Digital Solutions, Cary, N.C. Verio's managed storage and data protection services include remote data backup and restore; data center backup and restore; managed storage area network solutions; and database backup.

WEALTH RISK MANAGEMENTThe Chubb Group of Insurance Cos., Warren, N.J., has selected New York-based Risk Control Strategies to support its new Signature Suite offering of luxury personal risk management services. Signature Suite is designed to help identify potential threats and help affluent individuals protect their families and wealth. Risk Control Strategies will provide Chubb's high-net-worth and family office customers with a complimentary personal risk assessment. Risk Control Strategies will also offer Chubb's clients an array of services including cyber crime investigations, identity theft prevention and response, and premise security strategy and implementation.

Atlanta - The use of credit information in underwriting and rating Florida homeowners and auto insurance policies is now threatened by yesterday's approval of a rule governing insurers' use of credit-based insurance scores, according to the American Insurance Association (AIA)."While the legislature passed a law in 2003, specifically authorizing the use of credit information for insurance underwriting and rating, today's administrative action by the Florida Cabinet may effectively ban insurers' use of credit information," said Cecil L. Pearce, AIA vice president, Southeast Region.

Blue Bell, Pa. - As ID fraud, privacy and compliance with security-related regulations continue to shake the mind set of how financial institutions think about securing their business operations, experts at Unisys Corp. foresee the following five trends that will help banks and insurers rebuild eroding customer trust, and maintain a competitive edge in 2006 and beyond:1. Coordinated, "industrialized" fraud attacks will continue to rise causing more government intervention and pushing financial institutions to work together on common standards to fight increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals.

Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., is customizing its approach to the technology sector with the formation of a Technology Practice Group, which will leverage The Hartford's existing line of technology insurance products to serve both current and future players in the growing market. The new group will be headquartered at the company's home office in Hartford, Conn. It will be staffed by a team of underwriters located throughout the country, as well as legal, claim, product and risk management professionals, the group provides the tools, support and know-how to help agents protect their technology clients from a wide range of rapidly-changing business risks.

Framingham, Mass.– Financial Insights, an IDC company, has released its annual report identifying the Top 10 IT initiatives that will have key strategic importance for insurance organizations worldwide in 2006.The report, titled "Top 10 Strategic Initiatives for 2006: Insurance Industry Must Pick Up The Pace," describes these initiatives, examines why they will have an impact in 2006 and explains why they should be on the minds of business and technology executives at insurance companies and vendors serving the industry. Namely, the top 10 strategic initiatives for insurance are the following:

Milwaukee - CIGNA HealthCare will begin offering a debit card to holders of its flexible spending accounts (FSA). The card will be provided by MBI Benefits Inc., an affiliate of Metavante Corp."As a leading provider of FSAs, we chose MBI based on its ability to tailor a debit card product with proven technology that best provides our customers with electronic access to FSA funds," says Jake Biscoglio, head of product development, consumer products, CIGNA HealthCare. "This relationship with Metavante Healthcare Payments opens the door to exploring more healthcare payment services options for our consumers."

Competitive pressures will force insurance companies to get serious about rationalizing the number of operational systems they support, notes a report issued by research and advisory firm Financial Insights, a Framingham, Mass., IDC company. The focus on rationalizing operational systems is one of the top 10 IT initiatives that will have key strategic importance for insurance organizations worldwide in 2006, according to the firm.

Simsbury, Conn. - While a last will and testament is one of the most vital legal documents that can help protect a family's assets, almost 58% of adults do not have a will, according to recent research by legal publisher Martindale- Hubbell.To address this need, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is offering EstateGuidance, a new online will preparation service that makes it easy and affordable for Americans to prepare a will. EstateGuidance can be purchased by new customers of The Hartford's group basic and supplemental life policies covering more than 1,000 employees or members.

Framingham, Mass. - Companies ranging from regionals to multinationals will spend 2006 wringing more efficiency from their data storage infrastructures and holding down costs through information lifecycle management (ILM) rather than improving security, according to the "2006 Storage Budget Survey" released by GlassHouse Technologies, a provider of enterprise storages services.Despite a rash of high-profile security failures in 2005, nearly 100 companies in every size category--with storage budgets from less than $10 million to $150 million and above --ranked improving their storage infrastructure usage as either their first or second concern.

Pittsburgh - A full 90% of carriers have adopted some form of Web Services within their information technology architecture, and 58% of those have adopted the industry-specific ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) XML standards as part of their Web Services initiatives.These are the results of a recent survey of top insurance carriers conducted by SEEC Inc., a provider of business component software for the insurance and financial services industries.

Cleveland - Medical Mutual of Ohio's financial investigations unit reclaimed $5.4 million in fraudulent claims in 2005, the largest amount in company history.Calling it perhaps the costliest of all crimes, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimates more than $100 million is lost each and every day to health insurance fraud.

Framingham, Mass. - A recent survey of 802 consumers carrying health insurance, conducted by IDC's Health Industry Insights, reveals one in three respondents (33%) cite medical information being made accessible on the Internet as a primary reason for feeling less comfortable about sharing information with primary care physicians (PCPs).Nearly half of respondents (47%) who are uncomfortable sharing information with PCPs also indicated "wanting control over who accesses their personal health information" as a reason, while 14% do not trust the health plan to adequately protect personal health information.

Columbus, Ohio - Customers of Nationwide can now monitor their damaged vehicle repairs online through Nationwide AutoWatch--an Internet-based software tool. AutoWatch is currently being piloted in multiple states and may be rolled out as an optional service in the coming months."The Web site enables customers to log on 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to monitor their vehicle at different points during the repair process at participating Nationwide/Allied Insurance Blue Ribbon Repair Shops," says Terry Fortner, Nationwide associate vice president of claims.

Chicago - InsuranceNoodle Inc. has received U.S. Patent Office notification that the patent application claims relating to innovations for its "Methods and Apparatus for Selecting an Insurance Carrier for an Online Insurance Policy Purchase" have been allowed for issuance within the next few months."We are extremely excited the Patent Office has made this decision after four years of extensive application review," says InsuranceNoodle CEO Kathryn Emmerson. "This approval--as well as the fact that more than 2,500 agencies across the country are active NoodleNetwork partners--supports and validates our proprietary, Web-based technology platform and its capability to provide fast, efficient online quoting from multiple carriers for a variety of commercial products."

Washington, D.C. - The Federal Emergency Management Association's National Flood Insurance Program has launched a Web site to provide educational materials and other new content to insurance agents.

London -- Companies that outsource their IT systems are increasing their potential vulnerability to security breaches causing possible long term damage to their business, according to London-based insurer ACE European Group Ltd. (ACE).ACE has uncovered a lack of awareness among many European businesses of the increasing risks that outsourcing poses to their networks. ACE is also aware that there is a degree of uncertainty among many businesses, both as to the level of protection given to their computer systems and the cover provided by their existing insurance policies.

Cupertino, Calif. - Software security provider Symantec announced today that it completed its acquisition of Houston-based BindView Development Corp., a provider of agent-less IT security compliance software.

Hartford, Conn. - The dominant position of large market leaders, the effects of burgeoning technology and a robust, competitive pricing environment will cause dozens of insurers to exit the personal P & C industry over the next few years, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting Inc., a Hartford, Conn. provider of public and proprietary research as well as consulting services to the financial services industry.