ISO Chief: It’s ‘Haves’ Vs. ‘Have-Nots’ in Insurance Technology Race for Survival

November 14, 2006

  • November 14, 2006 at 9:24 am
    Joe Agent says:
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    Sounds to me like Mr. Coyne has no need for people in our service industry, other tha programmers and actuaries.

  • November 14, 2006 at 10:40 am
    Rick says:
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    Joe,

    Remember that Frank is speaking to an audience attending ISOTech……emphasis on \”tech\”.

    Also understand, that every issue, problem and scenario identified in Frank\’s speech has a solution via an ISO product or service……or by one of the ISO subsidiaries.

    ISO is the mother-of-all sources for insurance products (and many of them are very good)……but effective January 1, 1997 ISO also became a \”For Profit\” corporation. They are also very good at producing a profit.

  • November 14, 2006 at 12:48 pm
    Joe Citizen says:
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    Hope their data modeling is more accurate than their press releases. Didn\’t even spell the company name right.

  • November 14, 2006 at 1:19 am
    AZCitizen says:
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    JCitizen

    The editorial responsibility of this site is not the subject of the article – but the staff behind The Insurance Journal – You\’ll see more errors on this site than any other – Constant poor output – they need an editorial staff – or at least to use SPELL CHECK !

  • November 14, 2006 at 1:56 am
    Cal says:
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    If a \”junior underwiriter\” only needs to key in a few shreds of data to get an answer, then why would there even exist a \”senior underwriter?\”

  • November 15, 2006 at 9:17 am
    Bob says:
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    Why do you have a problem with this? Is this not what \”business\” is about? Frank (Mr. Coyne…my opinion) has turned ISO from being a \”rate maker/stat agent\” to being a very succesful/profitable supplier of information to the insuring community which is critical to the survival of most companies. If you don\’t pay attention…you won\’t be one of the survivers, WAKE UP…it\’s all about \”actionable data\” that day-to-day executives need and can can turn their companies on a dime (and get nine cents change) when the data tells them to. The CAT companies (ie:ICAT) has proven this. (By the way, I don\’t even knoaw if ICAT is an ISO affiliated company).

    Also, stop being concerned about \”spell check\” and focus on your business issues.

    PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!

  • November 15, 2006 at 9:39 am
    stat guy says:
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    You are so correct. ISO is just like all our other vendors who promise the moon, just to get their foot in the door so they can make money. Never mind that the \”solution\” is only good for them, not necessarily for you. I have a dim view of all \”techies\” who promise new, but can\’t actually promise \”improved\”. the concentration in the industry on the technical side assumes that technology will solve all the problems; it can, but it also creates a lot of unintended problems; better technology does not necessarily translate into a better results.

  • November 15, 2006 at 10:30 am
    Age old problem says:
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    Sounds like the age old problem of the techies and number crunchers telling us what we can have to work with rather than asking what we need and making it easier for experienced people to deal with. Hasen\’t changed in many years!

  • November 15, 2006 at 10:49 am
    Seth says:
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    Y\’all are obviously in the insurance industry and I\’m not so maybe I\’m missing something but I think you\’re missing Frank\’s point.
    What\’s at the root of insurance? Probabilities and predictions. What\’s the best strategy? Improve accuracy by data analysis. The \”haves\” will use the best tools and models available and get better at it and force the \”have nots\” out of business.
    The ISO CEO makes a sound argument. Whether he\’s prophetic or not remains to be seen. But I wouldn\’t bet against him, he\’s got the data analysis and prediction tools to back up his claim!

  • November 16, 2006 at 7:29 am
    stat guy says:
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    I don\’t doubt that predictive modeling is useful. What I doubt is that it makes any sense to invest in technology that only delivers new technology. Old fashioned responsible underwriting and claims analysis cannot be understated. Too often we get the sale of technology but don\’t have people with the skills to make any use it or who can\’t make any sense of the information they assemble. What good does it do for a claims associate to run a claimsearch match report if they can\’t interpret what is means? So a prior claim was found from 1993? who interprets it? Using tools to move faster, does not necessarily make one more efficient, that\’s my argument. Why spend millions on thin-client, when even ISO relies on a mainframe at the end of the data stream?

  • November 20, 2006 at 10:38 am
    LLCJ says:
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    By definition, predictive modelling analyses underwriting and claims history.

    These models tell underwriters which risks are riskier, (i.e. should be charged more).

    Technology is not the issue. Insurance is all about minimizing risk. If you don\’t know where not to look, (i.e. which risks to avoid or price higher), then you will not survive.

    Agents\’ anecdotal information is not sufficient anymore.

  • November 20, 2006 at 11:33 am
    Underwriter says:
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    To witness success take a look at Progressive as the leader in this new approach but also see that State Farm, Safeco and others recognize the soundness of this approach, at the expense of paring down staff, of course. But it works!
    I for one just hope I can escape the axe before if falls at my company. Recently embarked on a multi-variable auto program.
    Purpose is to broaden our appetite and eventually eliminate staff. Just a few U/W types would remain.



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