Jevco Insurance Company. Broker Portal Case Study

Transcription

1 Jevco Insurance Company Broker Portal Case Study May 20, 2009

2 Table of Contents Executive Overview...3 Octello Case Study...4 Jevco Insurance Company Broker Portal Case Study...5 Company profile...5 Business situation...6 Technical situation...6 Solution...7 Benefits...8 Products implemented during the case study...8 OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 2

3 Executive Overview Jevco Insurance, a regional specialty insurer based in Quebec and a member of the Kingsway Financial Services Inc. insurance group of companies, was seeing diminished business acquisition and retention due to an inefficient, manual process for quoting and processing policies. Their extensive broker network, more than 2400 countrywide, was unhappy with the turnaround times, in some cases up to 8 weeks, and level of service Jevco was able to provide the broker s clients. As a result, much of Jevco s targeted market was being placed with competitor insurers. Jevco realized that their legacy system, while capable of capturing and processing data and producing their required reports was incapable of properly service a large broker network in a real-time point of sale environment and required extensive user training, 1 to 4 weeks, on its use and support. The manual processes required to service the broker network were increasing costs for both the insurer and the broker. In addition, the necessity to rectify the situation in a short timeframe was essential to ensure that business acquisition levels were maintained and even increased. The timeframe concerns were compounded with the realization that an in-house build solution would take 3 to 5 years and buy solutions would take between 18 and 24 months. Jevco was introduced to a system initiative, the RapidSure Point of Sale Portal solution that had been instituted at their parent company, Kingsway Financial Services. The company evaluated competing solutions and recognized that the RapidSure Point of Sale Portal solution was capable of efficiently and effectively servicing their broker network and clients, reducing their costs, and, most importantly, was capable of being implemented in the necessary time frames. The implementation of the RapidSure Point of Sale Portal solution was accomplished in a short timeframe. The system was in user acceptance testing in 6 months and was rolled out to the broker community on a pilot basis 3 months later. The implementation process was a very interactive process where Jevco was able review and modify the system to satisfy their requirements. These changes were incorporated quickly and efficiently, often with turnaround times of less than a week. Jevco found the implementation process worked very well, the impact on their day-to-day business processing requirements was minimal due to effective utilization of the users through the system requirements gathering, and testing phases of the project. After implementation Jevco has found that turnaround times for policy quotes are immediate, for quotes requiring no underwriter intervention and within hours if intervention is required, compared to the previous 4 to 8 week turnaround. In addition, brokers are capable of printing application and billing documents at the time of sale with policy documents mailed to the client within 24 hours. Based on Broker feedback, the RapidSure point of sale portal has become the preferred system for placing new business. Training time on the new system requires 3 hours, compared to the previous 1 to 4 week requirement. The reduction of manual processes has resulted in reduced data processing entry requirements, and costs, and allowed Jevco to ramp up for new business and seasonal increases with no additional costs or staffing requirements. As an added benefit of the RapidSure technology and products, Jevco has been able to introduce and take to market new lines of business in under 4 weeks. The right solution applied correctly has ultimately benefitted the insured. The RapidSure products have enabled Jevco to provide better and timelier services to their brokers, who in turn are better able to service their customers. Improved procedures and automation have achieved these results while lowering operating costs and times savings for both Jevco and the Brokers. OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 3

4 Octello Case Study Branch Head Office Address 7045 Edwards Blvd., Suite 404 City, state, ZIP Code Mississauga, Ontario, L5S 1X2 Phone number Web site address Contact name Title Greg Thornton President Phone number address Solution group Solution offering Project name or title I.T. Professional Services RapidSure by Harcase Software Ltd. Jevco Broker Portal Customer profile Customer name Division JEVCO Insurance Company Head Office Address 5250, Décarie Blvd Suite 100 City, state, ZIP Code Montréal, Québec H3X 2H9 Phone number (514) Fax number (514) Web site address Contact name Title Bryan Harper Director of IS Phone number (514) address Industry Annual Net DWP Property and Casualty Insurance $205 M OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 4

5 Jevco Insurance Company Broker Portal Case Study Case Study for Jevco Insurance Company Company profile Established in 1980, JEVCO has always distinguished itself in the specialized markets of recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, ATV and snowmobiles. Over the years, JEVCO has continually added to its offering in order to provide a broader range of products to the more than 2400 insurance brokers served across Canada. In 1997, JEVCO was acquired by Kingsway Financial Services, a large financial group that includes two companies in Canada and nine in the US, all of which are in the insurance field. Forever attentive to its brokers, JEVCO has, for the past year now, provided standard home and automotive insurance, while continuing to offer solutions for those clients who are harder to insure. Furthermore, JEVCO now offers, commercial automobile insurance and garage owner insurance (Québec only). Personal Lines JEVCO has built on its expertise and is now positioned to provide a broad range of insurance products to protect their client s property: Motor Home Automobile Residence Motorcycle Snowmobiles All terrain vehicles Commercial Lines JEVCO offers a complete range of insurance products, personalized service, competitive premiums as well as various guarantees that will meet their client s needs as they are adapted to their own business sector: Property, business interruption, crime and public liability Equipment breakdown Umbrella Directors and officers liability, non-profit organization executives Hole-in-one insurance Surety Contractor s Bonds Misc. Bonds OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 5

6 Business situation Jevco is a regional specialty insurer dependent on its network of independent insurance brokers across the country. The company realized it had fallen behind its competitors in servicing its broker network. While other insurance companies were automating their links with the brokers, Jevco was using a manual process of phone and fax. These processes resulted in poor service for the insured with additional costs for both the brokers and insurer. Jevco management identified the key business problems to be solved as: 1. Business was being lost to competitors offering better broker services 2. Backlog 4 to 8 weeks for writing new business put significant stress on their business relationships with the brokers 3. Increases in new business offset by need to increase staff due to extensive manual processes 4. Underwriting department focused on moving paper not underwriting 5. The current business model would not remain viable in the near future Technical situation The I.T. setup at Jevco was typical for insurers of this size being a mixture of long standing manual processes with a legacy system capable of processing the necessary data and reports but inflexible to business changes. The real challenge for Jevco was to decide where to get the most effect for IT dollar invested. A solution was required that could be implemented quickly and cost effectively. The key decision indicators were refined down to the following: 1. Build or Buy a. Build could be 3 to 5 years with a high risk factor b. Buy was being quoted at 18 to 24 months 2. Speed of Delivery a. Not just the initial system, but how long to implement new features was of key importance b. Products must be delivered on time for broker confidence in the system 3. Training a. Any new system must be intuitive and provide ease of training for a large dispersed broker network b. System learning curve must be low for easy broker adoption 4. Broker Experience a. The reason for implementing a new system must not be compromised by the other considerations. b. The broker network must not only approve of the new system but prefer it. With these criteria in mind, Jevco was introduced to a system initiative instituted at their parent company, Kingsway Financial Services. The company evaluated competing solutions and chose the RapidSure Point of Sale Portal solution from Harcase Software Ltd. OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 6

7 Solution The RapidSure Point of Sale Portal solution was the choice to address the business problems and satisfy the key decision criteria at Jevco. The implementation has been a huge success with Jevco and the brokers are extremely satisfied with the results. The key decision indicators used in selecting RapidSure were addressed as follows: Build or Buy The long time and risk to build was too high, but the lead times being quoted for buy were still unacceptable. RapidSure provided the solution using a J2EE base system that is rapidly customized and configured to meet requirements. RapidSure was in user acceptance test at 6 months and in pilot at 9 months. Speed of Delivery Training Jevco people working on the project have only so much time to devote to system specs as they have core business to do. RapidSure implemented changes and had them in test in 1 week The legacy system required 4 days of training and 2 weeks of support for users to be effective. This was unacceptable for brokers pressed for personnel and time. Training had to be quick and the users productive as soon as possible for adoption of the system. RapidSure users trained and fully productive in 3 hours Broker Experience The goal of the new system was to catch up to competitors offerings and put broker business within a new business model. Only wide based broker acceptance of the new system would make the project a success. RapidSure Broker Portal is now the preferred choice for the broker network The project team was comprised of employees from Jevco, Kingsway Financial and the RapidSure team. Jevco provided the business analysis, testing, training and rollout, Kingsway the technical development including interfacing to the legacy system, and RapidSure with project management, development, and implementation resources. Jevco rated the processes as working very well and the RapidSure team as client focused and quick to adopt requirement changes. A phased approach was used for the implementation methodology. Jevco agreed with the RapidSure philosophy that it is better to implement projects by functional subsystems and get things into production quickly. No longer are long term multi-year projects acceptable. This thinking played a large part in the selection of RapidSure as a system built using the latest technologies and designed to integrate with other systems in true service oriented architecture. OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 7

8 Benefits The RapidSure Broker Point of Sale Portal implemented at Jevco is known as Jevcom. Jevco has satisfied all of their key decision points and now enjoys the benefits of the new Broker Portal. Post implementation analysis with Jevco reveals a wide range of benefits across the company. New Policy Business 1. Jevco can now turn around an application quote immediately, if no underwriter referral is required, and in hours if it is required 2. Application and billing information can be printed by broker at point of sale. 3. New lines of business have been added in less than 4 weeks. 4. Policy documents are mailed within 24 hours of binding. Broker Experience 1. Broker feedback extremely positive with Jevcom, now the preferred system for new business 2. Broker staff trained in 3 hours. Learned in the morning; used in the afternoon. Jevco Experience 1. Underwriters are now focused on managing book of business instead of working on a policy by policy basis 2. Clerical staff now trained in 1 days versus 3 weeks on legacy system 3. With 40% of business now through portal, data entry requirements down with easy ramp up for new business and seasonal increases. The right solution applied correctly has ultimately benefitted the insured. The RapidSure products have enabled Jevco to provide better and timelier services to their brokers, who in turn are better able to service their customers. Improved procedures and automation have achieved these results while lowering operating costs and times savings for both Jevco and the Brokers. Products implemented during the case study RapidSure Point of Sale Portal The enterprise RapidSure Point of Sale Portal drives new business acquisition and efficiencies by providing an optimized portal technology that supports insurance business transactions. Point of Sale Portal is designed and delivered on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using standard web-based technologies and industry-defined design patterns that support high volume insurance transaction processing. The RapidSure Point of Sale Portal is an effective new business and renewal submission and clearing solution. With full Underwriting referral and workflow driven processing, the solution provides an efficient mechanism for dealing with producer enquiries and concerns when transacting business. Integrated with carrier systems via industry standard data exchange protocols the solution provides a cost effective means for carriers to capture and retain business. OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 8

9 RapidSure Product Configurator RapidSure Product Configurator manages the definition of insurance products by providing a component based architecture facilitating the ease of creating and maintaining new and existing product lines. Built to support the complexities of insurance products, Product Configurator delivers the tools necessary to define business rules, product components and user interactions RapidSure Business Integration Platform - CSIO Interface The Business Integration Platform provides a valuable API communication hub that allows carriers to develop a single source data interface to and from their Brokers. The utilization of industry standard CSIO and ACORD XML protocols ensures the ease of integration with existing broker management systems. OCTELLO INC. MAY 2009 PAGE 9