Big Brokers Develop Web On Their Own

While independent agents and mid-size brokers generally seek professional assistance with development of their Internet services, the three major global insurance brokerages are going it alone, developing their Web capabilities internally.

Although some of them might have started out using off-the-shelf software, New York-based Marsh, Chicago-based Aon, and Willis in London have been developing their own products since the 1980s, said Frank X. Sentner, director of technology for the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in Washington. He said that while smaller agencies and brokerages generally hire outside firms to customize an existing product, the big-three brokers hired their own people to create their own unique systems.

Their reasoning for going this route, he suggested, is in part simply the fact that they have the ability and resources to do so. However, it is also the feeling that due to the uniqueness of their business, it made more sense to develop their own programming than to go to the outside, he added.

“There is a level of complexity that made [standard agency management systems] insufficient to the task,” Mr. Sentner noted.

Part of the reality deals with the fact that while most brokers and large agencies look to agency management system vendors to help provide customer service and technical support, the big-three brokers are more interested in developing risk management features for their systems.

Another advantage the mega-brokers have, Mr. Sentner observed, is that when it comes to support from the insurance companies, they have the pull to get things done to benefit them. While smaller concerns emphasize technology that clients can use to help report policy changes, losses or billing information, the large brokers want their clients to have risk management tools to quantify and mitigate against risks, he said.

However, where each is going and how high-profile the firms technology strives to be differs from one broker to the next.

Aon provides its clients with GAMS (Global Accounts Management System), so local offices and clients can get answers to their risk management concerns on a worldwide basis, said Jim Dickinson, the firms senior business analyst and team leader for U.S. sales.

Among some of the capabilities of GAMS for clients is access to account claim information within an individual country, identification of who is handling the account, as well as the ability to view and print copies of certificates of insurance.

As the brokerage looks to the future, Mr. Dickinson said, Aon envisions a “more robust” online product for customers. Future enhancements would include greater access to information for more clients, policy service details, certificates that clients can access and e-mail to their customers, and access to premium payment schedules.

Aon is not developing software programs to be marketed to others, but has assisted some clients who requested help in building a system similar to the firms, said Mr. Dickinson.

“This is an exciting time for us, developing products [our clients] want, and as long at theyre happy, we are happy,” Mr. Dickinson remarked on the state of Aons progress.

Meanwhile, over at Marsh, more than 600 clients in 22 countries are using Marshs STAR program to help with their risk management programs, said Robert Petrie, practice manager for Marsh Risk Technologies.

Essentially, the STAR system allows risk managers in large corporate settings to collect data from their multinational counterparts and communicate with a myriad of carriers without worrying about changing formats or losing control of the information.

Among the systems many attributes is a multilingual system that converts data into the user's primary language and currency. It also allows risk managers to pull information together to help make decisions on risk retention and the ultimate cost allocation associated with risk coverage.

Marsh's risk technologies division is working with ACORD and major carriers to integrate claims data and make the system more accessible to mid-size companies by lowering the price.

The system is also becoming more specialized in its application. Risk managers can now start to review claims from class-action lawsuits and medical malpractice decisions to apportion responsibility of payment among carriers going back over a number of years. Companies can also develop settlement strategies based on the apportionment of financial responsibility, he said.

Users of STAR, Mr. Petrie explained, do not need to be customers of Marsh Brokerage services to take advantage of the program.

As for Willis, Dan Prince, director of communications, said the broker does assist customers with their technology needs when help is requested, but does not actively market proprietary software solution products. He said the broker relies upon its “client advocate,” program where an individual broker learns an account totally and “fashions a plan to help achieve their business goals,” which could include technological support.

“Delivery of service is absolutely one of our hallmarks,” Mr. Prince declared.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, June 10, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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Big Brokers Develop Web On Their Own

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