Insurers Put New Products To The Test - Implementation

Product: CL1X
Companies: INSTEC, Mayfare Software Solutions
Web sites: www.instec-corp.com
www.mayfaresoftware.net

P&C insurance software pro-viders INSTEC and Mayfare Software Solutions jointly have developed a new commercial lines solution known as CL1X (pronounced: clicks), an out-of-the-box solution for enterprisewide, end-to-end commercial lines processing for all 50 states.

First Nonprofit Insurance Company (FNP), a Chicago-based specialty insurer serving the 501c3 nonprofit social service organization sector, was chosen to beta test CL1X and went live with the product on May 1. Chris Finkley, underwriting and technology services manager for FNP, says his company has been growing at a significant rate42 percent in 2002. One of Finkleys charges as technology manager was to help the company grow without adding more staff. The efficient way is to get the system to do as much of the input as you can, he says. Prior to CL1X, we were having to rekey a lot of information. What the CL1X product provided us was the ability to interface everything that was rated without anyone else having to touch it.

Finkley found it interesting to work with two different vendors on the project. The dialogue always included the three of us, so we made sure everyone was aware of what was going on, he says. Both of the software vendors have been very responsive to try to help us solve any issues weve had. I think this is going to benefit both [vendors] in the long run.

FNP has been working with INSTEC for a while to change the FNP rating program to a Windows-based package from a DOS-based package. In the meantime, Mayfare has been working to convert its information system to a Windows-based product. The trick was, how do we efficiently enter the information one time and get it where it needs to go, says Finkley. Our CFO, Rich Dacey, had commented to [both vendors] one time that if [INSTEC and Mayfare] could do this, theyd make a ton of money.

Finkley believes once all the new program kinks are worked out, FNP will be able to speed up its entire business process. Well be able to book our premiums more quickly, he says. [CL1X] will allow executive management to have an accurate snapshot of the company based on whatever has been entered, as opposed to when the accounting month has been closed. This gives us a much better information base with which to make corporate decisions.

FNP is pleased with the solution thus far, Finkley says. As with any new technology, it doesnt come without its ups and downs, but the fact we were able to get it in on time, turn it on, and have it workI was pretty amazed.

Randy Schuldt, INSTECs alliance manager, says, CL1X is the result of an outstanding collaborative effort between INSTEC and Mayfare. The marriage of our respective best-of-breed solutions brings the best of both our worlds together to deliver a single, fully integrated, enterprise-worthy commercial lines solution. Adds Mayfares executive vice president, Martin Lippiett: Our relationship with INSTEC goes beyond just the CL1X solution development and integration effort, and were transferring the benefits of our close partnership onto our mutual clients. CL1X support and ongoing product development will continue as a joint effort with shared vendor responsibilities. And, CL1X clients dont need to determine which vendor to call based on their questionthey will have one single contact point with our INSTEC/ Mayfare team sharing responsibility for maximum client satisfaction and implementation success.

Key features of the CL1X solution include its availability for major commercial lines and policy transactions in 50 states, with ongoing support of bureau and company-specific rates, rules, and forms. It allows for quick and easy addition of new states as an insurers business market expands and efficient system administration through shared use of reference tables by the INSTEC QuickSolver and Mayfare IS4W products. CL1X enables prompt billing, inclusion on reports, and all back-end functions as well as the elimination of duplicate data entrysaving cost while eliminating human processing errors.

The system allows insurers to reduce dependency on hard-copy files through the availability of coverage data and print images of policy forms from the IS4W Claims Management subsystem. The IS4W claims data also is available for determination of experience-rating factors with QuickSolver.