Oracle announces the availability of Oracle Insurance InsbridgeRating and Underwriting 4.6, an enterprise-wide rating engine forproduct management, premium calculation, and underwriting rulesmanagement. The release is designed to make it easier for insurersto use ISO standards and incorporate them into their ratingenvironments to accelerate time-to-market.

The latest release extends the product's capabilities to supportISO Electronic Rating Content (ERC), which includes complete andcurrent rating data and rules for all major ISO lines in theUnitedStates.

“ISO rates can provide a jump-start on creating new productsbecause insurersdon't need to enter loss costs, deductibles, andother data from scratch,” says Karlyn Carnahan, a principal withNovarica. “Yet every insurer wants to keep the 'secret sauce' thatmakes their products unique. This leads to property and casualtyinsurers spending significant amounts of time and money to maintainand customize ISO rates; every time a new update is issued, theinsurer has to comb through the circulars and find out where thedeviations are. The ability to automatically compare and customizeISO content to an insurer's specific business needs can greatlyaccelerate time to market and result in significant savings.”

Using the ISO ERC Accelerator, insurers can import ISO ERC intoInsbridge. Variables such as input and table variables areautomatically created, reducing the amount of manual work required.Insurers can use the ISO definitions or tailor them to meet theirspecific business needs.

Other new features include:

• Import/Export 2.0 – Helps reduce production downtime for a newrating release. Insurers can export rating data into a “sandbox”environment where actuaries, underwriters, and business analystscan make changes to a product line, collaborate, and test theimpact of the new rates, import them into the live environment, andput them into production.
• Advanced Math Functionality – Enables actuaries, underwritersand rate analysts to create even the most complex rating algorithmsto help make an insurer's offerings more competitive. The newfunctionality provides a user-friendly environment for ratemodeling and testing.
• Custom XML Mapping Screen – Designed to improve data accuracyby enabling users to define and store custom XML templates in acentral location. Insurers can improve productivity by enablingusers to reuse the custom XML templates saved in the library foruse in mapping from multiple systems such as legacy systems orother rating engines.

“With this release, insurers can more seamlessly managetheir ISO content,” says Srini Venkatasanthanam, vice president ofinsurance products for Oracle. “The application's flexibility alsoenables them to deviate from ISO and still accept regular ISOupdates. The Import/Export 2.0 and Custom XML capabilities furtherimprove the mapping process so insurers can maintain theircompetitive edge and have the flexibility to do rating theirway.”