Auto-Owners Insurance: Accenture Duck Creek Insurance Policy Software

Needing to replace an older mainframe system Auto Owners Insurance turned to Accenture Duck Creek . Although skeptical that a non-mainframe system would be powerful enough for its needs, after an Accenture proof-of-concept test, the insurer chose Accenture as their solution provider.

The Auto-Owners Insurance Group ranks among the largest in the nation, with over 4.1 million active personal, commercial and life policies. The company had been using an older mainframe policy system that was hindering its efforts to develop new products quickly and to offer Web-enabled functionality.

After the company expressed skepticism that a non-mainframe solution could handle its data intensive needs, Accenture offered to build a proof-of-concept for the company to test the capabilities of the Accenture Duck Creek insurance solution. Auto-Owners was impressed and moved foreward with Accenture.

Moving forward into production, Auto-Owners has discovered a number of benefits of the Accenture Duck Creek solution, including the ability to quickly develop new rate plans, incorporate rate changes and expand to new states. It is also identifying opportunities to expand its underwriting rules and implement segmentation and the scoring of policies.

Auto-Owners had been using a customer information control system (CICS) mainframe-based, third-party rating engine with its in-house policy administration systems. Although the third-party rating engine had served Auto-Owners well in the past, the insurer realized that it was hindering the move toward more Web-oriented services and the ability to more quickly introduce new products to market, make rate changes and easily expand into new states.

Given the company’s familiarity with the mainframe environment, its first inclination was to find a new mainframe-based rating engine. The company focused its search and evaluation efforts on mainframe solutions, finding only one worth consideration. The proof-of-concept revealed deficiencies, so Auto-Owners abandoned the offering.

However, during the proof-of-concept process, the company ran the test in both mainframe and server environments. It discovered that the response was just as good or better from the latter, broadening the company’s search to include server-based solutions. Accenture Duck Creek’s solution was tested.

While the size of the rate tables, the volume of rate data and the complexity of rating presented challenges, Accenture Duck Creek had Auto-Owners’ rates up-and-running successfully in just two weeks. Auto-Owners was impressed with this early success and decided to move forward with Accenture Duck Creek for a more extensive proof-of-concept, also successful.

Accenture Duck Creek provided one week of training, giving Auto-Owners staff a good base of knowledge to accelerate the development of their own expertise on the system.

In order for its actuarial and programming staff to gain the desired knowledge, proficiency and self-sufficiency, Auto-Owners understood the need to work through the learning curve with the Accenture Duck Creek staff.

Auto-Owners began production with Accenture Duck Creek rating for personal automobile, commercial automobile, personal property, personal umbrella and commercial umbrella insurance in several states.

Benefits that Auto-Owners has attributed to the Accenture Duck Creek system include:

• The ability to more quickly develop new rate plans, incorporate rate changes and expand to new states.
  
  
• Enhanced ease-of-use.
  
  
• Potential for underwriting rules and scoring of policies.
  
  
• Provision for today’s rating needs and the ability to meet those needs into the foreseeable future.
  
  
• A Web services technology infrastructure.
  
  

Not only is Auto-Owners Insurance an Accenture Duck Creek client, but it is also an active participant on Accenture Duck Creek’s Customer Advisory Board, helping Accenture Duck Creek to determine the strategic plans for the platform.

The Accenture Duck Creek solution is in production for both batch and online rating, with a plan in place to expand its use to include more states and more lines of business. Auto-Owners is also evaluating the system’s potential use in other functional areas—for example, as a rules-engine for underwriting.

Additionally, Auto-Owners is working on the internal development of a Web-based system for new business and endorsements for their agencies. This system will also integrate with and expand the use of the Accenture Duck Creek system.