News & press releases

18 April 2012
Underwriting engines: the new strategic imperative in life and disability business

 

New report from SelectX says that underwriting rules engines often fail to deliver their true potential

Given profound shifts in consumer behaviour, the power of technology and the demands of regulation, the industry faces challenging times including new ways of transacting business. Underwriting engines address what often seem the competing goals of operational performance, sound risk selection and regulatory compliance. But getting the best from an engine is usually not as easy as it may appear, and many companies fall short of realising the full benefits.

 

Peter Maynard, Director at SelectX, says: “Engines are fast becoming an essential part of the modern new business process. They fit perfectly with the need to control acquisition costs, generate data for regulatory compliance and business insight, and to streamline the new business process for superior service.

 

“But from our worldwide survey of insurers it is clear that engines are not delivering their full potential. Companies need to have a clearer vision of their future, set realistic objectives and follow through with a post-implementation maintenance programme.

 

“We believe underwriting engines are vital tools enabling players to stay in the game.”

 

Underwriting engines: the new strategic imperative in life and disability business, a major new report written by SelectX and Hank George Inc, examines in detail the whole subject Partly based on a worldwide survey of life and disability insurers, it deals with business imperatives, strategy, distribution issues, technology, business analytics and the critical success factors for implementation and operation.

 

Information for editors

 

SelectX Ltd is a management consultancy that specialises in the new business/underwriting and claims processes in life and disability insurance. Founded in 2003, it advises insurers, reinsurers and other stakeholders on how to streamline processes while at the same time maintaining effective risk management. SelectX has extensive experience in reshaping new business processes, including the development of optimised underwriting engines. The firm is also the foremost independent supplier of underwriting and claims manuals.

Hank George, the principal of Hank George Inc, has been involved in life and morbidity risk underwriting for almost 40 years. His US firm specialises in underwriter education, resources for risk appraisal and consulting. He runs two life underwriting study groups with 60 member companies, and conducts surveys on underwriting topics domestically and internationally.

Having authored/co-authored five books and written over 400 articles and papers, Hank is a regular author on underwriting matters for publications around the world.

 

26 September 2011
Life and disability claims: strategies for a technology-enabled world

 

A new report Life and disability claims: strategies for a technology-enabled world produced jointly by Karin Lloyd and SelectX takes a fresh, strategic look at the claims process in today’s fast-changing world – in which technology is transforming life for consumers and the businesses that serve them.


Karin Lloyd says: “We feel that the claims function needs to be reinvented. Insurers are dealing with increasingly demanding consumers who are much better informed and thus more powerful than in the past. By combining the power of technology in business and healthcare with the ‘connectedness’ of modern society – via the Web and ever more sophisticated mobile phones – there is the opportunity to process claims more quickly and conveniently, and to raise levels of service to those found in other industries.”


Building on, and going far beyond, a survey of 120 insurers in key markets worldwide, the report examines in detail:

  • The current landscape for life and disability claims processing
  • Technology trends in the business and consumer environments, and the power conferred upon users
  • The case for investing in technology
  • How technology has revolutionised the underwriting process
  • The potential for new customer service propositions
  • The importance of data in risk and portfolio management.

 

It concludes that smart application of technology to the claims process can address many of the issues challenging insurers, including costs, speed and quality of service, brand enhancement, regulatory compliance and the need for data for deeper understanding of their business.


Susie Cour-Palais of SelectX says: “There is so much more insurers could do in terms of speed of service, consistency in claim handling, and collection and analysis of data. Our report should be the impetus for new, innovative strategies that give real competitive advantage – and deliver real benefits to customers.”

 
For more information or to purchase a copy of the report, contact:


Karin Lloyd:

telephone +44 (0)20 8408 0478 or 07900 915433

email karin@karinlloyd.com

 
Gary Bundock

telephone +44 (0)1462 703436 or 07990 505329

email susie@selectx.co.uk

 

Information for editors


Karin Lloyd is a claims specialist with a reputation for innovative thinking, technical excellence and the ability to apply her skills with common sense in a commercial environment. She has run her own successful consultancy since August 2006, prior to which she was a senior member of Swiss Re’s global underwriting and claims team.


SelectX Ltd is a management consultancy firm that specialises in improving risk management and its associated processes. It works mainly in optimisation of new business via efficient e-processes, underwriting engines and tele-interviewing, and in creating underwriting and claims manuals and related tools.

 

1 January 2011
SelectX and NMG Join Forces

On January 1 2011, SelectX joined NMG Group to form NMG SelectX. NMG is an international strategy consulting group with offices in Australia, Asia, Europe and Canada with clients in the risk and wealth management industries all over the world.

Although NMG SelectX will continue to be based in the UK, our client proposition and focus is now truly global, and the union with NMG will enable our proposition to be delivered across many more markets and financial institutions.

Susie Cour-Palais, founding director of SelectX, says "This is a really exciting development for us. The tie-up with NMG increases our reach but also, backed by NMG’s skills and experience, enables us to deliver a stronger proposition to our clients."


For more information about NMG, click here



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