Executive Tech Forum Looks at Y2K, Internet Issues
Two of the hottest issues in the insurance industry, the Year 2000 computer bug and customer service on the Internet, were topics at the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) Executive Technology Forum this past weekend. The program, attended by more than 75 industry executives, kicked off IIAA's 103rd Annual Convention and Trade Show at Boston's Marriott Copley and Hynes Convention Center.
Year 2000
Industry leaders discussed the two technology hot-button issues in separate panels during the forum. In a video statement to the gathering, IVANS president, chairman and CEO Dan Carmichael clarified the Year 2000 issue, saying, "The Y2K problem has a Darwinian component — only the compliant will survive."
Other executives on the Y2K panel — IBM Y2K Initiative Vice President Michael Byrnes, Jennifer Cooperman of the N.Y. Department of Insurance and American Insurance Consultants President Steve Anderson — focused on challenges still ahead for the insurance industry, particularly the lack of contingency plans and the challenge of reaching the small business community.
Anderson outlined the challenge for agents. An agent's role "is to communicate to clients about their coverages," he said. "Can they rely on their insurance in lieu of taking action? We have a responsibility to help them avoid and transfer risk. Most of the time that's through insurance, but that probably won't work this time."
Internet Customer Service
The new IIAA Future One Personal Insurance Policyholder Study served as introduction to the second panel, which focused on customer service on the Internet. The study identified areas where the Internet can expedite and improve customer service by improving speed and accuracy of transactions and reducing costs. But the immediate benefit of the Internet is improved communication between companies, agents and the consumer.
"Technology has come far enough that information need not be proprietary, but can be moved seamlessly between agency, company and client," said Lance Cornell, vice president of property and casualty marketing with Seattle-based SAFECO. SAFECO was awarded IIAA's Internet Achievement Award this year.
Cornell was joined on the panel by Wally Gardner, Chubb worldwide sales manager and National Grange's Larry Howard. The panelists affirmed that, despite consumer claims that most do not plan to use the Internet to purchase insurance products in the near future, companies are moving forward with initiatives to move components of their business to the Internet.