IVANS Says Carriers Seek To Spend More On Technology

NU Online News Service, Jan. 19, 3:54 p.m. EST

Faced with the continuation of a soft market in 2010, 93 percent of insurance carriers surveyed are increasing their investment in automation technologies to improve operational efficiency, according to a recent survey.

Stamford, Conn.-based IVANS Inc., which conducted the survey, said that adoption of technologies that streamline transactions between insurance carriers and agents will continue to grow in 2010, as carriers look for ways to maintain profitability in a sluggish economy.

"Insurance carriers are shoring up operations and focusing on investments that help them do more with less," said Clare DeNicola, president and chief executive officer of IVANS.

"In large part, property and casualty insurance carriers reasonably weathered the economic turmoil of 2009 because they stuck to their core businesses. The industry will continue to be under intense financial scrutiny, and most likely, greater regulatory scrutiny, so the markets will look to carriers to make strategic investments that build on existing strengths versus breaking completely new ground," Ms. DeNicola advised.

The survey was conducted electronically from Dec. 29 to Jan. 10, representing responses from 68 insurance carrier contacts from across the United States.

Property and casualty insurance carriers in 2010 plan to invest more resources within existing lines of business (cited by 82 percent of survey respondents) versus diversifying their product portfolio across lines of business (41 percent of respondents).

In addition, respondents are focusing on keeping their existing customers satisfied. Seventy-four percent of carriers are investing in tools that help them better understand and respond to their customers.

While 41 percent of carriers who participated in IVANS survey are expecting to increase their technology budget for 2010, carriers also noted the following top three challenges to achieving their business objectives:

o Competing priorities: 91 percent of respondents.

o Lack of staff: 78 percent.

o Need to update technology infrastructure: 67 percent.

Ms. DeNicola said, "Like most organizations, carriers are working with finite resources and want to invest in projects that will have the greatest impact on their business. Carriers realize they need to make technology investments to generate operational leverage and efficiency."

IVANS said it will host a one-hour webinar for carriers on Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. EST to discuss Carrier Automation Trends for 2010. Registration is available at the events section on IVANS Web site at ivans.com/events.

A full summary of the survey is available by contacting Cecile Locurto at (203) 698-7218 or Cecile.Locurto@ivans.com.