Insure+ Solutions Improves Time-to-Market and Business Integration For Insurance

Competitive Pressures

Increasing competitiveness in the insurance market, and a proliferation of channels, face companies with major challenges at a time when they are also trying to focus on reducing their operating costs. Customers are increasingly looking for new products, which they want to compare and purchase through the Internet rather than from traditional agents.

Insurance companies have to develop and deploy new products more quickly, and potentially launch them over new channels, in order to maximise market opportunities and combat competitive threats. However, the traditional product development and deployment process can inhibit both the number of products which can be launched and the timescales in which companies can realistically launch them. This is compounded by the need to make the same products available through multiple channels.

In addition, the need to offer customer service and support over many channels has caused IT environments to become more complex. Products need to be deployed over many different systems to support these channels, and this complexity increases significantly the timescales, skills and costs involved in launching and maintaining products.What many companies want is to integrate all their systems within an overall IT infrastructure - but one that is robust, industry-proven and both easy and quick to implement.

Comprehensive Solution

SSP is an established provider of administration systems to the insurance industry. Among its portfolio is Insure+ Solutions which satisfies the administration requirements of small/medium size general insurance companies by providing a single integrated application that combines enhanced end-user productivity with hardware performance advantages. All the essential core functions of the insurance company are brought together through this integration. Details of transactions are entered online only once, validated and recorded within the underlying relational database, and made available throughout the organisation, resulting in enhanced end-user productivity and improved customer service. Insure+ Solutions also provides comprehensive real-time management information throughout the company to increase control of the business.

Maximum Flexibility

Insure+ Solutions can be both a component of a solution or a solution in its own right; its role is defined purely by the needs of the customer. Insure+ Solutions was designed by SSP to provide users with maximum flexibility - insurance companies can take advantage of the base system functions while ensuring that its own unique requirements, to do with their products, underwriting procedures and management needs, are also satisfied.

Insure+ Solutions delivers a powerful and flexible development capability for insurance products, based on a market leading product development tool set, which can speed up the process considerably. It also provides high levels of capability in both Intranet and Internet deployment, and integration with other systems. This includes iConnection, a comprehensive middleware component, which allows customers to enable I+ transactions for Internet and intranet applications. In addition, it provides full-cycle EDI support, allowing electronic exchange between insurance companies and remote intermediary systems.

Insure+ Solutions places an equal functional emphasis on both the client and the intermediary, by providing support for companies that act as wholesalers to inter-mediaries and agents, and for companies that wish to deal with clients directly. Complete details of the intermediary relationship are recorded, including rates of commission and payment terms.

Insure+ Solutions is also very client-centric. Users can view all the policies and claims for a client and agent, using the Insure+ Solutions inquiry facility, and accounting information and processing can be handled at the client level.

The full underwriting life cycle is supported by Insure+ Solutions, including sophisticated processing for out-of-sequence endorsements, and automatic and manual renewals which are catered for with the claims history being incorporated in the renewal process. The claims sub-system of Insure+ Solutions is linked to the

underwriting system to provide confirmation of cover at the time of claim registration.

The reinsurance system of Insure+ Solutions meets all types of facultative and treaty cover needs. Proportional and non-proportional treaty cessions are automatically handled during underwriting and claims, and both risk accumulation and coinsurance are also available.

Full cash and debtor accounting is provided, with excellent protection against unauthorised use. Facilities are included for automatic marrying of receipts and payments to pre-set user defined tolerances; for unallocated cash, for journals and for multiple bank accounts. A comprehensive suite of financial reconcilia-tion programs and table-driven audit facilities are included.

Finally, a major strength of Insure+ Solutions is its inherent breadth of management information that is automatically available as a by-product of the integrated single-system operational environment. This provides greater control of the business.

Technical Features

• Insure+ Solutions core functionality is written in RPG4/ILE RPG
• It runs on an IBM AS/400 or iSeries platform
• Insure+ Solutions contains its own dedicated development environment, CREATE+
• Connectivity and Web deployment are provided by the middleware component "iConnection".

Business Benefits

FOR THE INSURER

• The ability to develop, deploy and service new products rapidly
• The ability to use all channels to market
• Increased management effectiveness as a result of the availability of comprehensive, company-wide, real-time management information based on the single, integrated system
• Supply chain integration through modern (e.g. XML) connectivity
• Access to SSP expertise.

FOR THE INSURER'S CUSTOMERS

• Greater choice in insurance products
• More access channels to insurance services
• Faster resolution of queries, as full transaction history is more readily available online.

View our Insure+ Solutions brochure