The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America recently presented a Best Practices Award of Excellence to Applied Systems, Inc., marking the first time a vendor has received the prestigious award recognizing companies for outstanding advocacy of Best Practices philosophies.

Applied Systems Chairman and CEO James P. Kellner accepted the award during the 2007 Big “I” National Legislative Conference & Convention held recently in Washington, D.C. Other recipients are Central Insurance Companies, EMC Insurance Companies and Travelers.  The Big “I” recognized recipients for imaginative, outstanding and unique contributions in advocating Best Practices philosophies that enhance the independent agency system.

“Applied Systems consistently promotes the importance of agency value and advocates for its customers to strive for and attain Best Practices standards,” said Madelyn Flannagan, Big “I” vice president of education and research. Flannagan cited Applied Systems’ contributions as a Council for Best Practices participant and the company’s ongoing “staunch support” of Best Practices philosophies.

“We are gratified that the Best Practices program appreciates our commitment to advancing agency performance and value,” Kellner said. “We respect this important program’s mission, and we are delighted to continue our active support as we encourage our customers to improve performance for their own success as well as the strength of the independent agent and broker community.”  

Applied Systems, Inc., develops and supports insurance agency management systems and provides services for accounting, customer, policy, claims management, and all related agency functions. More than 126,000 users in 11,000 agencies of every size and complexity level use Applied Systems technology and services. The company leads the industry in agency-carrier real-time and batch communication solutions. Applied Systems automates insurance transactions at every distribution level from consumer through carrier, providing technical support and professional services to maximize customers’ return on investment. www.appliedsystems.com

The Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees. Members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. www.independentagent.com