Issue 2008-36 -- September 23, 2008

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.




Claims

Virtual Claims Adjuster Goes Global.
Sept 15 2008 - Virtual Claims Adjuster, an innovative web based claims technology firm announced today that in addition to their strong presence in North America they have now secured a solid foothold on the international markets in Europe, Asia and now Australia.

Disaster Kleenup Canada Goes Green.
September 2008 - Disaster Kleenup Canada Ltd. (DKC), Canada's leading network of restoration professionals with locations in every major city from coast to coast, has taken major steps in becoming environmentally responsible.

Sudden surge in roofing costs affecting property claim estimates: MSB.
NEW BERLIN, WI - September 15, 2008 - Skyrocketing oil and gas prices are affecting more than driving habits this quarter. According to MSB, a leading resource for local building cost information, the average cost of roofing shingles spiked 17 percent since last quarter (see graph). The trend is continuing: in certain regions the company is seeing additional increases of as much as 9 percent since the end of July. As a result, MSB is issuing out-of-cycle building cost databases for its partial-loss claims estimating systems.

Innovative Claims Payment System Earns Progressive a Spot on the InformationWeek 500.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - September 15, 2008 - An automated system that makes it faster and easier for repair shops to receive payments from Progressive earned the car insurance company a spot on the InformationWeek 500 for the ninth year in a row. The InformationWeek 500, published by InformationWeek magazine, is a list of the nation's top 500 largest and most innovative users of information technology.

Distribution

New kasina study shows: Firms Can Optimize Sales With Smarter Segmentation Strategies.
New York, (September 10, 2008) - Using more sophisticated segmentation strategies will enhance asset manager profitability, according to a new study by kasina, a leading asset management consulting firm. The study, Service by Segmentation: Matching Service to Advisors, examines ways that firms can use existing data to sell and market more efficiently.

Marketing and the Market Place

J.D. Power and Associates Reports: The Average Auto Insurance Company Fails to Capture 98 out of Every 100 Shoppers.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 16 September 2008—On average, auto insurance companies quote and successfully sign only 2 percent of all auto insurance shoppers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Insurance Escaped Shopper StudySM released today.

Managing Relationships and Customer Service

NCMIC Group, Inc. Extends its Relationship with SunGard, Selects SunGard's iWorks Premium Billing Solution.
Atlanta, GA - Sep 17, 2008 - NCMIC Group, Inc. has selected SunGard's iWorks Premium Billing Solution, an enterprise-wide billing system for the property and casualty industry, to help with its billing and collection of premiums and to help increase efficiency and reduce costs through system automation. The rules- based system offers the flexibility to change payment plans and fee structures, as well as XML-based system-to-system integration.

Reference and Statistics

Individual Annuity Sales Grow in Second Quarter of 2008: LIMRA.
WINDSOR, Conn., Sept. 3, 2008 - U.S. individual annuity sales improved four percent to reach $68.4 billion in the second quarter of 2008, according to LIMRA. Sales for the first half of 2008 were up seven percent over first half of 2007, reaching $131.9 billion.

MIB Life Index Reports North American Life Insurance Activity Off 1.9% in August.
Braintree, MA. – (September 9, 2008) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was down -1.9% in August year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. Year-to-date (YTD) U.S. and Canadian application activity was off -1.6% compared to the same period last year. August's activity was off -1.0% when compared to July 2008. U.S. application activity was off -2.0% in August year-over-year, all ages combined.

eBusiness and Technology

Capturing the Strategic Value of IT: A Review of IT Investment Evaluation Methods: Report Published by Celent.
In a new report, Capturing the Strategic Value of IT: A Review of IT Investment Evaluation Methods, Celent examines various IT investment evaluation methodologies and the rationale behind them. Traditional methodologies are reviewed and Celent concludes with practical advice on how those involved in the IT decision making process can select the methodologies most appropriate for their situation.

EMC, IBM and Microsoft Jointly Create First Web Services Interface Specification for Greater Interoperability of Enterprise Content Management Systems.
HOPKINTON, Mass., ARMONK, N.Y., and REDMOND, Wash., - 10 Sep 2008: EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft Corp. Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced a jointly developed specification which uses Web Services and Web 2.0 interfaces to enable applications to interoperate with multiple Enterprise Content Management (ECM) repositoriesby different vendors. The companies intend to submit the Content Management Interoperability Services specificationto OASIS (Organization for the Advancementof Structured Information Standards) for advancement through its rigorous standards development process.

Gartner Says Users Are Becoming Increasingly Confused About the Issues and Solutions Surrounding Green IT.
STAMFORD, Conn., September 11, 2008 - IT users are unsure of the implications of green IT and where to invest their technology budgets, according to Gartner Inc. Gartner analyst said this confusion will continue for some years to come in what is a rapidly changing segment of the industry.

Gomez Adds Cross-Browser Testing for New Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 Beta Browsers.
Lexington, Massachusetts, September 4, 2008 - Gomez, Inc., a leading provider of web application experience management services, today announced the availability of cross-browser testing for Google's new browser, Chrome, and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) 8 beta 2.

Consumer Information

IIHS: Put off driver licensure to save lives.
ARLINGTON, VA - Most US states allow driving at age 16, 16�, or somewhere in between. A new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report focuses on the costs in terms of lives of allowing licensure sooner rather than later. The message is that licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers. The same conclusion has been reached in other countries. Teens in Great Britain and most Australian states can't get their licenses until they turn 17, for example. In most EU countries it's 18. The Institute's new report is being released at the annual meeting of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

ICBC launches online service to better protect used car buyers.
VANCOUVER, Sept. 18 - ICBC has launched a free online service to allow customers to look up a vehicle's status, helping them to make informed buying decisions when purchasing used vehicles. All vehicles in North America are assigned a status to describe the general state of the vehicle and whether it qualifies to be on the road.

Business of Insurance

Adaptation is key to managing coastal flood risk: Lloyd's.
Without adaptation, insurance losses from coastal flooding for high-risk properties could double by 2030, according to a new report published today by Lloyd's and Risk Management Solutions.

from Doug:

After a summer when hardly two days strung together without at least a shower if not a good rain, these two weeks of almost constant sunshine are a real anomaly. We enjoyed a Sunday heritage visit to London Ontario, to St. Paul's Cathedral. The stained glass windows and embroidered wall-coverings are fabulous - well worth a visit if you are in London sometime.


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