Report includes 30 real-world examples from Commercial Insurers
October 15, 2010 (NEW YORK) – In a new sector report published recently, Business and Technology Trends: Commercial Lines Insurers, research and advisory firm Novarica looks at recent technology initiatives by commercial lines insurers and highlights top issues for 2010-2011.
“As of the first quarter of 2010, the commercial market continues to be very soft,” notes Karlyn Carnahan, a principal in Novarica’s insurance practice and lead author of the study. “Commercial is a particularly competitive line of business. It has experienced rate decreases every quarter since Q1 2004. While the magnitude of the price declines shrank during the economic crisis reflecting shrinking capital and reduced investment gains, the market remains soft despite deteriorating underwriting performance, higher cat losses, and costlier reinsurance.”
Novarica’s research finds that commercial lines insurers are focusing on four key areas in their technology strategies:
- Business Intelligence. Predictive analytics tools are becoming more popular for those who have sufficient data or smaller carriers with access to pooled data, but these depend on having a solid data infrastructure in place.
- Policy. Investments in core policy administration systems are key to operational flexibility in a rapidly changing marketplace. It’s easier to move into a profitable niche with increased speed-to-market and flexible product definitions.
- Claims. Carriers who are using modern systems are rapidly gaining competitive advantages by improved efficiencies in claims handling and improved data leading to better outcome management.
- Agent and Policyholder Portals. Extending functionality to the agents and the consumers continues to rise in importance. It’s less and less about differentiation and more and more just the price to pay to be in the game. Build with an eye toward reuse.
The report provides an overview of business trends and data, analyzes the players in the marketplace, and provides examples of over 30 recent technology initiatives by named commercial lines insurers. The report is available at Novarica’s website at http://www.novarica.com/report_commercial_lines_sector.
About Novarica
Novarica provides information, insights, and perspective on markets, operations, and technology to financial services and insurance executives. www.novarica.com.
