Real Time Transactions Among Agencies and Carriers on the Rise

According to the Real Time/Download Campaign, which is supported by independent agents, trade associations, carriers, and technology providers, less than a year after the launch of an industry-wide campaign to improve the efficiency of communications between independent agents and carriers, several leading national and regional carriers are reporting that their real-time rating and policy inquiry transactions have doubled in 2007. 
 
The campaign doesn't advocate a specific technology but a workflow approach that frees up more time for agencies to sell, process, and service business. Most agents can leverage tools already contained in their agency management systems or comparative raters. 
 
At Chicago-based CNA, usage is up by some 10 percent to 15 percent a month. The carrier embarked on an aggressive implementation and communication program last year and continues to work with agents to drive increases. “Our system allows us to see when an agent has a problem using Real Time,” says Barbara Flanigan, CNA vice president of business insurance. “We can then pick up the phone and call to see if we can help.” 
 
Peerless Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets company based in Keene, N.H., set a goal to see its number of transactions double in 2007. “We achieved that,” says Dee Dee Forte, Peerless Insurance Agency interface manager. “We saw more than 300,000 real-time transactions by the end of the year.” 
 
At Westfield Insurance usage more than doubled. “We saw a 105 percent increase from January 1, 2007, through the end of year,” says Steve Copley from the Westfield, Ohio-based organization. “It’s been a desktop-by-desktop endeavor. One of our objectives for 2008 is to educate our field marketing staff so they better understand the benefits of Real Time and can help move agents and brokers forward.” 
 
“These preliminary numbers indicate we’re making inroads industry-wide to help agents, brokers, vendors and carriers improve workflows by using Real Time and Download,” says Lisa Parry Becker, Real Time/Download Campaign co-chair, vice president of sales and marketing at William B. Parry Agency in Langhorne, Pa., and a director of ASCnet, the Applied Systems user group. 
 
“The investments of time and money made by so many in our industry are clearly making a difference in how we run our organizations, serve our customers and position the Independent Agency System for continued success and growth,” adds co-chair Martha Williamson, assistant vice president of automation and workflow training for Old National Insurance in Danville, Ill., and past president of AMS Users’ Group, 
 
The Real Time/Download Campaign is led by industry groups and sponsored financially by ACT/IIABA; AUGIE/ACORD; AMS Services; AMS Users’ Group; Applied Systems; Artizan Internet Services; ASCnet; ChoicePoint; Chubb; Computer Sciences Corporation; EMC Insurance; FSC Insurance Solutions; Grange Insurance; IVANS; Liberty Mutual Agency Markets; MetLife Auto & Home; PIA of N.Y., N.J., Conn. & N.H.; Strategic Insurance Software; UPAC Insurance Finance; and Westfield Group.