AAIS Launches Underwriting Platform for Commercial Output Program

WHEATON, Ill., Dec. 11 -- The American Association of Insurance Services issued the following news release:

A national insurance advisory organization and a leading provider of insurance product software announced today that they have created a new online platform for underwriting and rating policies.

The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) and FJA-US, Inc. (http://fja-us.com/) have teamed up to develop the AAIS Underwriting Platform--"UP," a cloud-based, centrally maintained rating engine and product module.

UP is based on FJA's "Product Machine," a comprehensive platform used by companies in more than 30 countries for modeling, configuring, deploying, and distributing insurance products.

UP will be first deployed to support the AAIS Commercial Output Program (http://www.aaisonline.com/AAISFrame/ProductsFrame/InlandMarineFrame/tabid/142/ArticleID/62/Commercial-Output.aspx) (COP), a leading industry program developed to insure property exposures of large commercial, industrial, and institutional risks. More than 100 insurers, including some of the largest carriers in the U.S., are affiliated with AAIS for use of the COP.

In all, AAIS maintains programs of policy forms, manual rules, and rating information for more than 25 lines of personal, commercial, farm, and inland marine insurance. More than 700 property/casualty insurers use one or more AAIS programs. In the coming months and years, AAIS will be adapting UP to support all of its programs.

"As a cloud-based, centrally maintained platform, UP can save insurers thousands of dollars in IT costs," says Truman Esmond, AAIS vice president of customer engagement.

"At the same time," Esmond adds, "companies that use UP will retain the flexibility to accept or postpone updates to the COP and future underlying programs, and to customize those programs."

"UP is going to be a big help for COP companies," says Robert Guevara, AAIS vice president of inland marine and the principal developer of the COP.

"Now," Guevara says, "when we introduce updates, the process of adopting them will be very seamless. As soon as an option becomes available in a state, it'll be available online."

Among the many benefits of the AAIS Underwriting Platform are:

* The ability to input information from any location through the application's web interface or established proprietary methods;

* The ability to upload location data for each risk;

* Automatic listing of all forms, including state-specific forms, relevant to writing a risk, saving underwriters the effort of looking them up;

* Automatic flagging of gaps in information or errors in underwriting logic;

* Automatic provision of default limits, which can be manually overridden, for coverage extensions and supplemental coverages;

* Incorporation of the COP's unique and flexible deficiency point rating system; and

* The ability to download data for import into company systems once a quote is complete.

"The AAIS team provided a great wealth of knowledge in specifying and helping to provide feedback for development of the applicatiion," says Marc Dutton, managing director of FJA-US, INc.

"The team continuously helped by providing input on usability and features for the front-end application to ensure the product would fit their client needs," Dutton adds. "AAIS was easy to work with, receptive to our feedback, and continued to foster a partnership between FJA and AAIS."

The Underwriting Platform is described in detail in an article (http://www.aaisonline.com/Portals/0/AAISDocuments/Viewpoint/Online%20Articles/2013_Fall_UP.pdf) in the latest edition of AAIS's Viewpoint magazine, available online.

For information on affiliating with AAIS for use of the COP or Underwriting Platform, contact Rick Maka, AAIS director of marketing and strategic alliances, at [email protected], or by calling 800-5564-2247, ext. 217.

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