INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCENEWS, INSIGHTS,INNOVATIONS.

CNA Web Site Improves Small Commercial Business Offering

CNA has developed a faster way for agents to write small commercial business policies online with its agent Web site CNA Central (www.cnacentral.com). The advancements of this site, created with agent feedback, allow agents to quote and request issuance for the full portfolio of CNA small commercial coveragesBAPP, package, workers comp, commercial auto, and umbrellaas well as international, management, and professional liability coverages.

CNA Central offers easy access to policy and claims information, co-branded sales materials, agency management reports, and direct bill service. Our focus is on great underwriting, responsiveness to market shifts, and accurate identification of risks, all of which are built into CNA Central capabilities, says Barbara Flanigan, assistant vice president, CNA Small Business. She attributes CNAs position as one of the few carriers that deliver an online package application to constant feedback from loyal agents. Weve listened to our agents every step along the way. CNA may not have been the first in the Web-enabled application game, but we definitely are the strongest when it comes to listening to our agents and delivering the applications and ease-of-use features they want, she asserts.

CNA Central has a reputation among its users of being effective in terms of quoting, processing, and endorsement speed, according to Flanigan.

Bankers Online Portal Enhances Productivity for Captive Agents
Bankers Life and Casualty Companys captive sales force of nearly 4,000 agents has access to a new online portal the carrier hopes will streamline business and research tasks. The Bankers Sales Productivity Network (BSPN) was de-signed by the carrier with input from agents. It also was field tested to determine maximum usability. A research and development phase and testing program with more than 700 agents in 11 branch sales offices helped Bankers develop a user-friendly system, according to Paula Smith, vice president of sales technology.

Agents can use the system to conduct business, including tracking sales commissions, generating reports such as pending applications, accessing marketing and advertising materials, and reviewing product information such as policy and rider availability. The system replaces a previous portal and offers more function, information, faster access, and simpler navigation, says Smith.

Updates already are planned. Smith notes future releases will include more in-depth claims histories and the ability to view specific details of a policyholders long-term-care insurance policy. In its initial release, BSPN delivers an online information medium far superior to what we had, and we will continue to enhance its features, adds Scott Perry, COO and executive vice president.

WHOS USING WHAT

Genworth Financial, Inc., has licensed AdminServers policy administration system, strengthening the companys growing technology platform. The AdminServer system complements current Genworth capabilities aligned to support the expansion of the companys distribution and retirement income product sales.

Columbia Insurance Group, a multiline provider of property/casualty insurance solutions, has implemented the Insurance Content Management system from AcroSoft Corporation. Columbia completed the installation within its personal lines underwriting department to organize and manage documents, reduce paperwork, increase operational efficiency, reduce policy-issuance time frames, and integrate the underwriting departments operational processes.

Selective Insurance has installed SeaPass Solutions Gateway technology for its business owners package and workers compensation lines of business.

The Accident Compensation Corporation, the state body responsible for administering New Zealands accident compensation scheme, has purchased the Claims Manager solution from FINEOS. The contract will include licenses, services, and committed support over a five-year period.

Germantown Mutual Insurance Company, an insurer offering personal and commercial insurance, and life insurer Cooperativa de Seguros de Vida de Puerto Rico, each have purchased the ImageRight document management system. This includes the desktop and advanced workflow, outgoing fax, and e-mail capabilities; e-mail claims and underwriting processing receiver; advanced archive utility module; keyword lookup/ index module; software developers toolkit; database updates package; and the FastTRACK implementation program. The Lawyers Protector Plan, Brown & Brown Inc.s legal malpractice insurance program, also has purchased the ImageRight document management system. The wholesaler of professional liability policies for lawyers is using the ImageRight system to scan in automatically all incoming applications and forms sent to its fax and e-mail servers.

Atlantic Blue Cross Care, a Canadian health insurance provider, has launched the first phase of its new Web-based enrollment application, using the Unifi product from DWL, providers of customer data integration solutions. The Java-based application for developing real-time transactional business services enables Atlantic to integrate the application with its back-end systems to deliver inquiries and update transactions for group and policy administrators and customer service representatives.

U.K. life insurer Norwich Union Life has signed a consulting services contract with IBM. The two-and-a-half-year contract with Norwich Union, a unit of Aviva Plc, differed from many large-scale computer contracts IBM wins in that it is purely for business consulting.

Standard Insurance Company has selected CGI to build a new policy administration system for its employee benefits division. The technology, known as FlexInsure, combines all aspects of policy administration into a single system. FlexInsure reduces manual data entry and integrates billing and contract management from multiple systems, thereby providing easier access to data for increasing functionality.