Technology and insurance news and information

CT Insurance Services (at www.ctinsuranceadvantage.com) has released CT PINacle Xchange, a Web-based application that streamlines the producer contracting and compliance process by automating workflow among the insurance carrier, its distributors, and state departments of insurance. The suite of services can speed time to market, increase premium income opportunities, reduce operational costs, and minimize market conduct exposure.

After capturing producer information during the initial contracting process, the data can be used to populate licensing and appointment transactions and update company back-end databases. Debra Freitag, general manager of CT Insurance Services, claims a three-year operational savings of over $2 million will not be unusual. Carriers can realize significant savings by eliminatinginefficiencies in the producer contracting and compliance process, she said.

CLAIMS
ISO connects claims database with bodily injury system
Combined product gives faster, more accurate information

Claims departments are getting an additional boost from ISO (www.iso.com), as the information leader is electronically connecting its all-claims database, ISO ClaimSearch, with its bodily injury management system, Claims Outcome Advisor. The connection will eliminate redundant data entry, meaning speedier access to accurate information for the claims department.

ISO vice president Lee Fogle said, Were helping our clients meet this challenge by providing an electronic interface between two of the most powerful data resources in the insurance industry.

Claims Outcome Advisor provides information on approximately 13,000 medical conditions and 14,000 occupations to assist adjusters in managing complex medical, legal, and occupational issues. ClaimSearch is the ISO database that contains information on 256 million bodily injury, property, and vehicle claims nationwide.

FORMS
Choices offers ACORD forms in PDF

Choices Software has introduced PDF versions of all the latest ACORD forms, downloadable from the companys Web site (www.acrobatforms.com). For $99 per year, a single user can access any form, which can be saved, printed, faxed, or e-mailed; users who have the full version of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Approval can fill out the forms on screen. The latter is available on the site for $35.

UNDERWRITING
Crystal ball for catastrophes
Disaster-prediction system to revolutionize coverage

Con-Am Computing (www. con-am.com) has unveiled the Predictorator, what the company describes as a total-catastrophe prediction system designed to allow carriers to better underwrite various forms of catastrophe coverage by predicting events with 98 percent accuracy.

According to company founder April Zimmer, using a series of algorithmsshe refused to give detailsthe Predictorator predicts catastrophes of any sort, including weather-related phenomena and natural disasters, to within minutes of occurrence.

The software is available only on an ASP basis, because it runs on a series of parallel-processing computers most carriers cant afford. We picked up a group of Cray AFJ-3s last year, before the government banned the sale of the machines as munitions, Zimmer explained. Weve got more than 600 petaflops of processing power just working on the flash-flood equations.

Carriers access the Predictorator through a standard Web interface (although Zimmer strongly recommends Internet Explorer 6); Con-Am hopes to have a version available for public use by the end of the year, so consumers can prepare for disasters by buying appropriate coverage.

As Zimmer put it: Lets just say that if I lived in Superior, Neb., Id want to make sure I had hail coverage on April 23. At least by 2:45 in the afternoon.

PRODUCT ILLUSTRATION
Integrated products mean easier calculations

Insurance Technologies (www.insurancetechnologies.com) has integrated its point-of-sale management software with Computer Sciences Corporations (www.csc.com) Visual Product Modeling System, which allows carriers to share common calculations between administration and illustration systems.

The integration provides a seamless environment between administration and illustration systems, said Cliff Chaney, vice president of business development for IT.

XML
ACORD working to expand XML in insurance
Annuities and actuarial data potentially next on the list

ACORD (www.acord.org) is making strides in the XMLification of the industry with two new working arrangements designed to spread the use of XML in the insurance industry.

First, its working with NAVA (the National Association for Variable Annuities, at www. navanet.org) to develop XML-based standards for the annuity industry. NAVAs technology committee will coordinate and develop requirements and priorities for annuity standards, and will make the information available to ACORD for inclusion in its standards-setting processes. The result will be an open, public-domain standard available to members and non-members alike.

Second, the Society of Actuaries (www.soa.org), looking to get into the XML game, has designed a method of using XML to represent tabular data and is hoping to have it considered for an ACORD standard to exchange mortality tables, rate files, and other insurance-related data.

ACORDs Life Standards subcommittee will consider the request, and Jacques Rioux, an actuarial science professor at Drake University, will chair a newly created tabular data working group for the organization.

TRADE SHOWS
TechDEC sessions to help carriers cut costs, manage change

At the second annual TechDEC conference (www.tech-dec.com), being held Sept. 12-14 in Orlando, sessions planned for the estimated 200 CEO, CIO, IT managers, and other executives will include an important address about commercial policy processingarguably the heart of your technology. Keeping it running and connected to the rest of your operation is crucial. Whether youre looking to choose the right vendor, manage a relationship, implement a new system, or simply calculate the ROI of your plans, the session will tell attendees how to get the information they need.

And in a panel discussion called The Changing Roles of the CEO/CFO/CIO Leadership Team, speakers will discuss how technology has become closely tied to an insurers success or failure. That means a carriers technology is no longer just a problem for ITits a business and financial decision as well. How has the technology decisions process changed in the last few years, and where might it go? Your future depends on the answer.

(TechDEC is put on by The National Underwriter Company, parent company of Technology Decisions.)

REINSURANCE
Online reinsurance tries Asian market
inreon opens office, seeks business in Hong Kong

Online reinsurance platform inreon (www.inreon.com) entered the Asian market by opening an office in Hong Kong and signing up new members for its trading platform. Inreon hopes to increase the volume of reinsurance business conducted online by adding top reinsurers.

The region is expected to remain one of the fastest growing insurance markets in the world, and we believe we have a significant role to play in that growth, said Kaj Ahlmann, executive chairman and CEO of inreon. Asias non-life reinsurance premiums are estimated to be approximately $10 billion.

Initially, inreon will focus on North Asia, but will expand into other major markets quickly. Inreon was started as a joint venture between Munich Re and Swiss Re, the two largest reinsurers in the world.