Slow and Steady.It's the insurance industry's version of the tortoise tortoise (tôr`təs), common name for a terrestrial turtle, especially one of the family Testudinidae. Tortoises inhabit warm regions of all continents except Australia. and the hare. While start-up online aggregators have zoomed into the insurance e-commerce space on the information superhighway, traditional carriers have slowly and deliberately paved their own road--brick by brick. They've done so by investing millions of dollars in technology and focusing on customer service, rather than sales. Insurance sales online have yet to take off, comprising less than 1% of all insurance sales in 2000. Analysts predict online sales will rise to about 2% of the total by 2004. This month's cover feature ("Revenge of the Bricks," page 27) tells how bricks-and-mortar insurers are racing against aggregators for premium dollars by giving customers what they want, What they want is around-the-clock access to their accounts, the ability to file and track claims online, an online search function for agents and brokers, and other customer-friendly conveniences. Carriers have much to gain from providing these online services, namely customer loyalty and billions of dollars in savings from improved efficiency. Bricks-and-mortar insurers did not rush to go online. Instead, they waited in the wings, learning from the successes and mistakes of hundreds of dot-com companies An organization that offers its services exclusively on the Internet, either via the user's Web browser or a client program that must be installed in the user's computer. Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Google and eBay are examples of dot-com companies. , many of which have since fallen out of favor with Wall Street investors. "The dot-com craze got brought back down to earth, but many of the technologies are here to stay and are changing the way companies are engaging in their processes," said Dick Roby, director of the insurance group at TowerGroup. Minnesota Life The Minnesota Life Insurance Company was founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1880 as a mutual insurance company. It was originally organized as a mutual because a general distrust of stockholder-owned businesses prevailed at that time and there was a shortage of people willing to buy Insurance Co., for example, allows participants in its 401(k) plans and variable universal life contracts to transfer assets among funds and change allocations online. AIG AIG addressee indicator group (US DoD) AIG American International Group, Inc AiG Answers in Genesis (religious group in defense of Scripture) AIG Artificial Intelligence Group AIG Australian Industry Group Claim Services lets small-business owners file workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. and property/casualty claims online. And Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. United of Wisconsin enrollees can check their claims status, view deductible and out-of-pocket amounts, and download claims forms on the Web. The race for online supremacy has not been won, but traditional carriers have closed the gap by focusing on customer relationships. DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. T. HILGEN |
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