NEWs & TRENDs
Policy Admin Flourishes with a Plethora of Players,
The global economy may still be
fighting to regain solid footing after
the precipitous financial crisis of
2008, but in the insurance policy
administration systems market,
business is very much alive and
flourishing.
But Can They
All Survive?
BY ARA C. TREMBLy
According to numerous industry
analyst sources, there are nearly 60
vendor companies offering policy
administration systems in the U.S.
alone. With policy administration
implementations being a major
project for any P&C insurer,
however, it is perhaps surprising
that there are so many companies
actively selling and servicing such
products. Why do we have so many
vendors, and can those companies
hope to survive in the long term?
For answers to these and other
questions about the continually
active policy administration market,
we consulted several noted industry
analysts to get their views.
How did it get so large?
First, we must ask why and how the P&C policy
administration market has grown so large over the
last few years. According to Chad Hersh, principal in
the insurance practice at Novarica, there are multiple
factors that have created this situation. “First, unlike
in the Life/Annuities market, there has been a ton of
innovation in the P&C policy administration space,
dating back to the early days of such products,”
he explains. “With carriers starting to adopt these
solutions in earnest starting in 2004-5, the modern
solutions have really begun to mature and have client
bases that can act as references.”
These products, he continues, support a broad set
of insurance products, a mix of personal, commercial,
and specialty lines functionality, and much more.
“Further, many solutions have added, are adding,
or have partnered for billing, claims and other
functionality. These factors have driven adoption up
to a strong but very much sustainable level. That, in
turn, has created a “keep up with the Joneses” need
to offer functionality offered by competitors.”
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