American Family Insurance is hoping to reduce the risks presented by teen drivers, who disproportionately account for driving fatalities. While young drivers make up around one-tenth of the population of countries, they account for more than a quarter of drivers killed on roads, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States ranks second on the number of deaths and injuries caused by driving.

A decade of acquisitions has transformed Towergate Partnership into Europe’s largest independently owned insurance intermediary. That path to growth, however, has brought with it a medley of legacy technology, with Towergate Underwriting – the organization’s underwriting division – amassing some 30 different administration systems. As its data was all over the place, it could not get a clear view of how well the organization was actually doing. It was time to consolidate.

The insurance industry has often been criticized for being too legacy burdened to take advantage of new technology, but this is proving far from true. Insurance companies have embraced the latest technological advancements in mobility and elsewhere and have made more strides in streamlining the workflow process than many other sectors. This is critically important now as insurance companies need to add value to the customer experience while charging less than their competitors. Tapping into the Microsoft Insurance Value Chain has been a key strategy for firms to reduce costs and IT complexity and enable straight-through business processes. So what waits around the next bend and what are the critical next steps for insurers facing an increasingly competitive landscape?

“Max,” a business consultant and software engineer was recently flown to Nevada to upgrade one of his clients’ databases. Shortly before he completed the job, he fell violently ill and had to go to a hospital. He recovered, finished the job and then left Nevada, which is when his real problems started. The hospital kept calling him and sending him bills, which he would have only been too happy to pay, but each time the hospital called or faxed or emailed him, the amount he owed them changed. The amount he owed would go up and then down and then up again without reason, as far as Max could tell. Eventually, he paid the hospital what they told him was the entire amount he owed, but he still got letters telling him that he owed them money, that he hadn’t paid the entire amount.

The AAA brand is known for providing millions of Americans peace of mind when traveling down the road. The AAA Life Insurance Company, whose products provide security along the road of life, is turning to a Web-based illustration system to boost sales through the creation of a more streamlined and automated process.

For nearly four decades AAA Life Insurance Company has been offering life insurance related products to AAA members and non-members alike. Customers can purchase AAA insurance through a few touch points. They can do it the old-fashioned way by sitting down with an agent to discuss their needs face-to-face. The transaction can be done online or through a telephone conversation with a licensed professional. In addition, some selected insurance coverage may be purchased through the mail.

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As Hawaii-based insurer DTRIC expands its commercial lines in the second half of the year, it is doing so with a newly built service-oriented architecture-based policy administration system that allows it to pick and choose features from its existing legacy technology.

DTRIC established itself in Hawaii in 1992 at a time when many insurers began pulling out of Hawaii following Hurricane Iniki, the state’s costliest hurricane ever. Soon after, DTRIC stepped in to replace a major insurer who canceled the group automobile program for the state’s largest public employee union...

It has been a couple of years since Texas-based Barnard Donegan Insurance moved to a .NET-based agency management system. In that time, the firm has added offices, replaced a paper-shuffle with document imaging, and saved as much as an hour and a half each day in the reduction of repetitive entry tasks.

“It has really helped us to expand some,” says Martin Morris, Barnard Donegan operations manager, about the AMS 360 system from Bothell, WA-based AMS Services that the firm adopted in an effort to improve efficiency. “We’ve expanded our coverage area and added locations.”

The insurance industry is under increasing short-term pressure. It faces growing competition from non-traditional competitors and must satisfy an investing public, increasingly aware of the ever-expanding number of investment options. In step with these pressures, the industry has evolved to develop products that are more complex and offer more aggressive returns.

Insurance companies often say they have a distribution strategy, but what they often really have is a compensation strategy. Many believe as long as they get the compensation right, everything else will fall into place. In some instances, that may work. But Springfield, Mass.-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) wants to better understand who its distribution partners are, how they relate to each other, and what role they play in a sale. In order to do this and support a larger modernization initiative, MassMutual is entirely revamping its IT infrastructure with the help of many vendors including SAP.

In the highly competitive world of mortgage services, companies can gain a keen competitive advantage among lenders, other partners, and prospective property buyers simply by making it easier to do business. That’s one of two big reasons why First Canadian Title (FCT), a major provider of real estate title insurance, decided to implement a Web portal based on the latest technology from Microsoft and systems integrator Avanade.

IN NEED OF A BETTER AGGREGATE VIEW OF HIS OWN HOLDINGS, AN ENTREPRENEUR BUILT ONE.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” Hemingway’s rebuttal: “Yes, they have more money.”

Chris Snyder learned how the rich are different after he sold Loan Pricing Corporation to Reuters for $50 million.

“I had money to worry about for the first time in my life,” he recalled. “When you cash out of a company, you become your own trust fund baby.” He went to see several private bankers and came away underwhelmed. They all sounded the same with recommendations of a mix of stocks, bonds and a few miscellaneous investments.