National Underwriter - December 19, 2011

IN SUCH AN eventful year, with dozens of compel- ling stories as strong contenders, determining the Top 10 of 2011 was no easy task. But, after a lot of labor—and internal debate—we feel the final list we’ve put together successfully captures the essential news of the past 12 months. Of the hundred or so specific insurance lines we’ve written about since January, two really stood out in 2011: One is a major component of the commercial business, and it had a rough year with some worrisome trends. The other line is relatively new to the scene, but it made a strong bid this year to situate itself as a key part of any risk-management portfolio. Speaking of risk managers, one concept that helps elevate their position in the corporate hierarchy continues to catch on in board rooms and C-suites across the nation. And as it has been for the past decade—and likely will be for at least the next 10 years—technology was a critical coverage area all year, as vendors introduced powerful new products—and early adopters in the insurance field embraced them. Another old, reliable source of stories was the nation’s capital, with industry-impacting events seeming to emerge from Washington by the hour.

Agents & Technology: 2011 Proves a Watershed Year for Adopting New Tools Learning to embrace the cloud
9

MOBILE APPS from indie agents. Real-time process- ing—not only of personal-lines business, but also of midsize commercial accounts. Social media as a marketing essential. Cloud computing. The past 12 months saw a number of game-changing tech trends that are rapidly altering how agents and brokers do business.

Though these latest tools have hardly achieved 100-percent penetration, they have become the norm for a growing roster of producers. Real-time technology use, for example, is definitely on the rise— and for agents competing for personal business against direct carriers, such instant quoting capability is a do-or-die issue.

A recent survey released by the Real Time/
Download Campaign said that of the 3,100
insurance agents and brokers surveyed, the
number of agents using real-time tech is up six
points to 63 percent of agency-management-
system users for personal lines. Stu Durland,
the Real Time/Download campaign’s co-
chair, calls this an encouraging sign—and
one “critical to the future viability of the
independent agency system.”
On the commercial side of the real-time
captive agents have had mobile apps
for a few years now, 2011 saw Main
Street producers starting to create their
own to offer better customer service
to their clients—who now expect to
be able to execute routine financial
transactions on their smartphones.

issue, the
LexisNexis Insurance Exchange, which
aims to simplify submissions of midmarket
commercial-lines risks to multiple carriers,
gained some real traction in 2011. The
Exchange, backed by the Council of Insurance
Agents & Brokers and Marketcore, saw the
number of weekly submissions increase to
an average of 1,000 per week and more than
2,000 individual users.

And while the large carriers and their

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS
J DATA STAR: At One-Year Anniversary,
Strong Optimism But Slow Uptake
for LexisNexis Insurance Exchange
(Nov. 7)
J AGENTS LOOK to the Cloud for
Flexibility, Cost Savings (Nov. 14)
J NEXT BIG HURDLE: Real-Time
Processing for Midmarket Commercial
(May 23/30)
J AGENTS IN APPS: Main Street
Producers Begin to Embrace Mobile
Solutions (Aug. 1)