BEDFORD, Mass., April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/-- Are commercial carriers experiencing both pressures and opportunities created by new technologies, abundant data and higher customer expectations? The infusion of technology and how we deploy it are changing business models on a daily basis. What urgent needs are driving industry shifts and responses? And how well-equipped are carriers to handle these changes? FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of collaborative underwriting systems for global insurance carriers, today revealed highlights from a survey about top organizational goals for commercial lines insurers, addressing these insurance front office questions and more.
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To explore the evolving priorities and needs of underwriting organizations, FirstBest queried attendees of the NAMIC Commercial Lines Conference last month. FirstBest received 64 survey responses from executive leadership, underwriting, product management, and marketing professionals with business management responsibilities. The respondents represent more than 40 commercial P&C carriers.
With each question, respondents were asked to select up to three of the possible responses offered. Findings included:
Accuracy, underwriting quality and increased responsiveness ranked highest when carriers were asked "What will most help you grow and differentiate your company?"
- Make more accurate decisions; optimize underwriting quality (64%)
- Increase responsiveness and speed application process (61%)
- Make it easier for agents and brokers to work with us (47%)
With specific focus on underwriting, FirstBest asked "Where are your top underwriting priorities today?" The most common priorities related to the areas of improving loss ratio, quality and revenue growth.
- Increase efficiency and turnaround (55%)
- Improve loss ratio with greater quality (53%)
- Grow revenue with new and existing agents (42%)
Acknowledging market challenges, FirstBest asked carriers, "What prevents your company from being more nimble in the marketplace?" Fifty two percent of carriers indicated they are most challenged by "time and expense required to update inflexible systems," while 38% indicated "the need to balance consistency with flexibility," closely followed by 36% indicating "lack of data access and analysis tools." As anticipated, 25% indicated organizational inertia and resistance to change are holding them back.
"Carriers tell us that in order to profitably grow their business they need both speed and quality in the underwriting. This survey showed that many are held back by inflexible legacy systems that limit access to data and analytical tools," stated John Belizaire, Co-Founder and CEO, FirstBest Systems. "That's why many are deploying modern, configurable underwriting systems that enable faster responses, ready access to data, and better decisions while responding rapidly to market changes."
About FirstBest
FirstBest® Systems is the leading provider of insurance software solutions that help global insurance companies improve underwriting profitability, scale their business and achieve high service levels with agents, across the enterprise. The patented and proven FirstBest Front Office Suite has processed more than $9 billion in quotes and includes modular underwriting workstation, mobile underwriting, agent portal, and agency upload applications. Global companies such as XL Group plc, a global insurance and reinsurance company and OneBeacon, and other leading carriers such as IWIF, ICW Group Insurance Companies and others rely on FirstBest to improve underwriting efficiencies and quality, institutionalize knowledge and best practices, and empower everyone in the process to rapidly quote, collaborate, issue, and bind business on a single real-time platform from anywhere. To learn more, call +1-781-863-6000.
FirstBest is a registered trademark of FirstBest Systems, Inc. FirstBest Front Office Suite, FirstBest UMS, Underwriting Management System, FirstBest Agent and FirstBest AppReader are trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc.
SOURCE FirstBest Systems
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