Security risk

Overall IT spending among U.S. insurers in 2005 will be $28.8 billion, accounting for a little less than 3% of total net written premiums, and will grow to $42 billion by 2010, according to reports from Boston-based Celent LLC.How are IT departments going to manage that spending? What software will they buy? Which software should they toss or keep? What kind of return are they getting? Insurance executives want to know answers to these questions in their own companies.

When Mike Koscielny joined AAA of Michigan four years ago, the Dearborn-based auto club was entering expansion mode. It was acquiring AAA clubs in Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin-and planned to grow in other nearby states.As a result, senior managers were considering how to accommodate the increase in business, says Koscielny, director of regional underwriting operations. Joking over lunch at Brainstorm's Business Process Management Conference in Chicago in April, he tells Insurance Networking News: "We thought we might have to add on to our building just to house the extra employees we'd need to meet our growth targets."

STUDY SHOWS POOR USABILITY OF WEB HOME PAGESAccording to a recent study by Oak Park, Ill.-based Vox Inc., home page usability of many insurance companies isn't up to snuff. The study analyzed the positioning of key customer and user elements, such as insurance quote and "find an agent" functions. Each company was given a rating based on a set of usability and benchmark criteria. One exception to the overall findings is 21st Century Insurance Co., Woodland Hills, Calif., which recently redesigned its home page. The study, conducted in the first quarter, reviewed content and where it was positioned on the page, comparing 12 insurance providers: State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, Geico, American Family, Liberty, 21st Century, Country Financial, AIG, Nationwide, AAA Chicago and USAA.

WEB-BASED POLICY PROCESSINGAgent X Press, a suite of processing capabilities, is designed to enable small insurers to support their agents and MGAs with Web-based policy processing. The suite from Wyncote, Pa.-based IDP Inc. is available to new and existing clients of IDP's VISION 21 policy management system. Agent X Press' functionality includes online policy inquiry for billing and claims information; and quoting, application submission and issuance. Agents enter a customer's name or unique identification data, such as policy number. They can then obtain the status of a bill or a claim, or obtain an accurate quote, within seconds, according to IDP. Subsequent to providing a quote, Agent X Press will permit the agent to electronically submit the application to further speed the process.

The Data Warehousing Institute based in Seattle came to the conclusion in its August 2005 report, "Strategies and Technologies for Deploying Business Intelligence," that 66% of organizations in different industries are trying to transform business intelligence (BI) from a departmental solution to an enterprise one. Only 17% of organizations have completed the task, while the remaining 17% will continue to deploy BI departmentally. This data shows that BI has a ways to go until it reaches maturity in most organizations.Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Life Insurance Co. seems to have the maturity factor under control. It has implemented an enterprise server equipped with BI features.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Nearly two-thirds of security executives believe they have no way to prevent a data breach, according to research by the Ponemon Institute, an Elk Rapids, Mich.-based privacy and information management research firm. What's more, most respondents believe their organizations lack the accountability and resources necessary to enforce data security policy compliance.The survey report – "National Survey on the Detection and Prevention of Data Breaches" – was sponsored by Palo Alto, Calif.-based PortAuthority Technologies Inc. and examines the responses of 853 randomly selected, U.S.-based information security professionals to questions related to data protection and prevention within their organizations.

Charlotte, N.C. - Montgomery Mutual Insurance Co., a Charlotte, N.C.-based member of Liberty Mutual Group, Boston, implemented the Commercial IQ SmartRisk underwriting and pricing system for business owners' policies developed by Liberty Mutual Agency Markets' strategic business unit.After a pilot launch in Maryland yielded a 100% increase in policy issuance, Liberty Mutual made Commercial IQ SmartRisk available to appointed agents for BOP coverage in Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and will be available to Virginia appointed agents this fall.

Washington - Senior technical and management professionals from a number of insurance companies--Prudential, The Hartford, AIG and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota--are among the presenters at Rules Technology Summit, a new event at the 2006 International Business Rules Forum, November 5-9 in Washington.The Rules Technology Summit is aimed at technical audiences including IT architects and IS professionals whose goals are to take advantage of the business rules approach to build agile applications with the flexibility to accommodate frequently changing business conditions.

Boston - Dozens of new insurance activities, such as 'green' building credits and incentives for investing in renewable energy, are emerging to tackle the causes of climate change and rising weather-related losses in the U.S. and globally, according to a new report issued this week by the Boston-based Ceres investor coalition. But the report also states that more insurance companies need to be offering similar services to minimize losses and make the most of business opportunities related to climate change.

Washington, D.C. - As the country approaches the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next week, the American Insurance Association (AIA) and ProtectingAmerica.org were at odds as to how best to proceed with a national catastrophe agenda.

Needham, Mass. - In the wake of 2005--the worst year on record for insured catastrophe damage in the United States with losses estimated at $56.8 billion--the federal government, insurance carriers, and the general public are coming to a point of convergence about the need to rethink catastrophe management beyond the much publicized issues around hurricanes, according to new research from TowerGroup.In a report titled "Property and Casualty Insurance: Convergence in Catastrophe," the research and advisory firm finds that without a concerted effort by all parties to support a holistic solution to catastrophe management, the dire predictions of insolvency in the insurance sector and general economic upheaval across the United States may come to fruition.

New York - Guy Carpenter & Company Inc., a global risk and reinsurance specialist and part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos. has published a report, titled, "Nanotechnology: The Plastics of the 21st Century?," which provides an overview of the emerging science, its potential benefits for the global economy, and associated risks and implications for the insurance industry.A team of technology, environmental and casualty specialty professionals from Guy Carpenter and Dr. Robert Blaunstein, national director of loss control and underwriting manager for American Safety Insurance Co., prepared the report.

Kansas City, Mo. - The Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission added another state to its growing list of members, as Massachusetts became the 28th state to sign the Interstate Compact. Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation into law today that allows Massachusetts to become a member of the Commission.Currently, 28 states have joined the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission. The compacting states are Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Armonk, N.Y. - Just a little over two weeks ago, Insurance Networking News reported IBM's acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Webify Solutions, which brought the total of IBM acquisitions to three in less than 15 months (See "IBM Sets SOA Sail"). Now IBM is adding another acquisition to the list.IBM and FileNet Corp. entered into a definitive agreement for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM to acquire FileNet, a publicly held company headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $1.6 billion, or $35 per share. The acquisition is subject to FileNet shareholder approval, regulatory reviews and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Washington - Former Sen. John Breaux hopes policy makers, health care experts and the American public will tune into and participate in a new blog on the Ceasefire on Health Care Web site, www.ceasefireonhealthcare.org.The Ceasefire on Health Care campaign's goal is finding bipartisan "common ground" agreements leading to market based, incremental change to the nation's health care system. The online forum is designed to supplement the Ceasefire podcast series and engage its participants in lively discussion about pressing health care reform trends and issues.

Lawrenceville, Ill. - UnitedHealthcare's Golden Rule Insurance Co. is offering its HSA customers a selection of mutual fund investment options as well as a debit card and online account management and bill paying services through Salt Lake City-based Exante Bank.Golden Rule helped pave the way for HSAs when it introduced a medical savings account more than a decade ago. More than 41% of the Lawrenceville, Ill.-based insurer's customers currently are covered by health insurance plans that include health savings accounts. As of June 30, 2006, these customers had accumulated more than $170 million in their health savings accounts; the average account balance exceeded $2,400.

Chicago - Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans has created a database of claims information (with no personal identifiers) from 79 million lives. Called Blue Health Intelligence (BHI), this resource is designed to help to improve health care quality through sharing critical health information initially with employers, and in the future, with consumers and providers.The secure, HIPAA-compliant database is significantly larger than existing healthcare databases, which may strengthen the movement to greater health care transparency by ultimately providing unmatched detail about health care trends and best practices.

WHITEHILL ACQUIRES INSYSTEMSMoncton, New Brunswick-based Whitehill Technologies Inc. purchased InSystems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Register, Dayton, Ohio, Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined company's critical mass will be nearly 1,000 customers strong, including several hundred insurance companies and more than half of the world's largest law firms, according to Paul McSpurren, president and CEO of Whitehill Technologies. Current InSystems customers should expect business to continue without interruption, according to the companies.

August - the heart of hurricane season.The hurricanes during August 2005 changed the insurance industry. In fact, with experts predicting a number of storms in 2006, carriers are taking action-developing tools and programs-to help their customers through natural disasters, especially hurricanes.

Today's consumer is king. With the ability to find an alternative solution for virtually any purchase in a few clicks on the Internet, consumers clearly have the upper hand. They are demanding more personalized products and services that meet their specific needs, and the ability to conduct business through any channel they choose-in person, online or by phone-without sacrificing service.As a consumer, these requirements are perfectly logical. As a business, they aren't that easy to fulfill in an environment where sales processes differ from channel to channel, and where customer data is historical, generally fragmented, and not always relevant.