Oracle Introduces Newest Version of Insbridge Rating, Underwriting System

Oracle announces the availability of Oracle Insurance Insbridge Rating and Underwriting 4.6, an enterprise-wide rating engine for product management, premium calculation, and underwriting rules management. The release is designed to make it easier for insurers to use ISO standards and incorporate them into their rating environments to accelerate time-to-market.

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

“ISO rates can provide a jump-start on creating new products because insurersdon't need to enter loss costs, deductibles, and other data from scratch,” says Karlyn Carnahan, a principal with Novarica. “Yet every insurer wants to keep the 'secret sauce' that makes their products unique. This leads to property and casualty insurers spending significant amounts of time and money to maintain and customize ISO rates; every time a new update is issued, the insurer has to comb through the circulars and find out where the deviations are. The ability to automatically compare and customize ISO content to an insurer's specific business needs can greatly accelerate time to market and result in significant savings.”

Using the ISO ERC Accelerator, insurers can import ISO ERC into Insbridge. Variables such as input and table variables are automatically created, reducing the amount of manual work required. Insurers can use the ISO definitions or tailor them to meet their specific business needs.

Other new features include:

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

 “With this release, insurers can more seamlessly manage their ISO content,” says Srini Venkatasanthanam, vice president of insurance products for Oracle. “The application's flexibility also enables them to deviate from ISO and still accept regular ISO updates. The Import/Export 2.0 and Custom XML capabilities further improve the mapping process so insurers can maintain their competitive edge and have the flexibility to do rating their way.”