Project in Insurance Sector

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    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    Recent advances in information technology are changing the insurance business. Some

    of the changes are hidden away in the back office, invisible to the public. But dramatic

    changes are coming in the most visible part of insurance, its sales or distribution

    function. The technological advances place in the hands of insurance companies and

    agents the tools to bring new savings and better service to consumers. That opens the

    door to rapid shifts in the winners and losers in this highly competitive business.

    These developments challenge state insurance regulation as much as they challengeinsurance management. State regulation is based on small geographical jurisdictions.

    Insurance regulation is based on old definitions of the financial service being regulated.

    Information technology leads to the breaking down of familiar limitations, geographical

    and functional. It is beginning to do so already. The aspect of insurance regulation likely

    to be hit first by todays and tomorrows technological change is the licensing of

    insurance agents. It is perhaps the oldest kind of insurance regulation. If it is not

    modernized quickly, it will become a needless impediment to the implementation of the

    new technologies. It will not for long stand against changes so profound. But even a

    brief delay will harm the public and, ironically, the segments of the insurance industry it

    is presumed to be protecting. This report describes what is going on today in the

    intersecting areas of information technology and agent licensing and the unfortunate

    consequencesfor the public, the industry and the regulatory agenciesof applying to

    an emerging twenty first century business a regulatory structure carried forward nearly

    intact from the nineteenth.

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    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY :-

    Understand the basis of classification of insurance business and types ofinsurance products.

    Understand the basis of classification of insurers how they can beincorporated.

    Understand the functions performed by insurance companies,departments in an insurance company.

    Impact of Globalization on insurance and risk management business. Role of Government in regulating insurance sector and areas of

    regulation regarding investment of premiums.

    Familiarized with the legislations and enactments related to insurancebusiness in India.

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    Chapter 1

    INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN

    INSURANCE SECTOR

    1.1 INTRODUCTION

    Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used

    to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable

    transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and

    can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss.

    An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured is the person or entity buying

    the insurance. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged

    for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. Risk management, the

    practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and

    practice. The developments in IT are the working wonders in all the fields of activity. It

    has become possible to send and receive information almost instantaneously. If circulars

    do not reach the agents on time or doubts are not cleared quickly, or the agent does not

    have details of the new plans announced in the press, the agent may face awkward

    situation with the prospects. These problems can be totally avoided with the use of IT.

    Insures traditionally have been quickly to adapt latest advances in the technology.

    This is happening in the areas of IT as well. The extent of IT application will vary

    between insures. The information technology has always played a very important role in

    the operations of every life insurance company. In fact of all the business organizations in

    the service sector, the life insurance companies were the first to adopt

    MECHANIZATION as an inalienable part of their operation all over the world.

    This becomes necessary because of two important reasons namely:

    1. The nature of services to be rendered to the policyholders.

    2. The need to evaluate the liabilities under the policies in vogue at the time of valuation.

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    1.2EVOLUTION OF POLICY BOND

    The first service rendered by a life insurance company to the policyholder is the

    issue of policy bond. In the olden days, everypolicyholder was Narrative type. All the

    policyholder documents and conditions applicable had to be typed out separately. But the

    number of policy sold was limited: it was possible to continue that method. But as the

    business grew, it became humanly impossible to continue that method of preparation of

    policy bonds.

    The life insurance companies switched over to schedule type of the policy

    documents. Here the form of policy bond was standardized and as most of the condition

    and privileges were similar, pre- printed stationery was prepared. The only work left was

    to fill up the details of each individual policy, viz. policy number, plan and period of

    assurance, sum assured, mode of payments of premiums, installment premium, date of

    last payment of premium, date of maturity of the policy, age and whether admitted or not,

    name address of the policyholder, name of the nominee, etc. In order to complete the

    schedule of the policy bond with these particulars, addressograph machines were

    introduced.

    Policy particulars were embossed on Zinc or Aluminum plates and these plates

    were used to print the particulars in the schedule part of the pre- printed policy bonds.

    These plates were then used to print advance premium and default notices, premium

    receipts with counterfoils and final lapse intimations sent to the policyholders. The

    companies also had Unit Record Machines otherwise called Power Samas Machines

    which were operated using punch cards. These were parallel records in which policy

    particulars were punched in the prescribed fields.

    There were two types of cards, namely:

    1. Premium Master Cards Premium Master Cards were utilized to account for the

    premiums received and then for generating lists of lapsed policies.

    2. Valuation Cards Valuation Cards were prepared to be utilized for the valuation of

    Liabilities under the policies.

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    There was one-on-one correspondence between the adrema plates and premium

    master cards. With the advent of the micro processors, the addressograph machines along

    with the adremaplates and the unit record machines along with the premium master

    cards became redundant and went out of use. Both were replaced by a new kind of record

    called Policy Master for each policy, integrating both adrema plate and the premium

    master cards. Apart from the ease with which servicing of the policies could be rendered

    through micro processor operations, the speed with which the same can be undertaken.

    The speed was necessary because of the tremendous increase in the volume of the new

    business and much larger increase in the number of service operations.

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    1.3 IMPORTACE OF TECHNOLOGIES IN INSURANCE SECTOR

    Introduction of technology in the insurance sector has improved every aspect of the

    industry. Technologies play a major role in data management process of an insurance

    agency by providing flawless services from underwriting policies, producing documents

    to collating various ratings and data. The state-of the-art implementations offers

    instantaneous accurate information about different insurances to the clients. Insurance

    firms regularly spend a part of their yearly premiums on modern technology that aids in

    enhancing the overall performance of the organization. Insurance technologies help the

    insurance agents to immediately respond to the requirements of the customers and

    technology has managed to cut back the annual expenditure of the organizations.

    The basic purpose ofinsurance technologies is to reduce the paperwork of proposals

    and policies and address the customer services effectively in a shorter time than any other

    traditional methods. Information technology in insurance has made it easier for the

    customers too. Online availability of the insurance agencies allow the clients in dealing

    with application procedures, signing proposals and policies as well as in receiving quotes

    without even visiting the insurance office in person.

    The best part oftechnology in insurance is that it helps the firms in reducing the

    costs by eliminating the mail rooms, paper files as well as the data entry clerks. The

    elaborate underwriting, data processing and the rating take place online and the

    customers or brokers receive the emailed policy documents within no time. This online

    advantage, however, comes with a price. The system requires a substantial initial

    investment in its primary stages but the owner certainly gets his returns on investment

    over the years that come equipped with superior services and response timings.

    Various innovative technological applications allow the insurers to recognize the

    risks and opportunities easily. The modeling device examines the loss histories and

    compares them with the risk characteristics while it searches for correlations. Such

    insurance technologies help the insurance companies to charge higher prices for the

    higher-risk client base and lower prices for the safer opportunities.

    http://www.comtecglobal.com/insuranceproducts.htmhttp://www.comtecglobal.com/insuranceproducts.htmhttp://www.comtecglobal.com/insuranceproducts.htmhttp://www.comtecglobal.com/insuranceproducts.htm
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    There is a variety of insurance technologies available in the market. The hardware and

    the insurance software should be chosen depending on the business necessities of the

    insurance agencies. Different insurance management systems and comparative rating

    systems enable the firms to generate more revenues by decreasing the span of output and

    input procedures.

    Insurance technologies have made insurance services mobile with the availability of

    smart phones and such devices. Insurance companies use these devices to provide faster

    services like view policies, obtain quotes, and report claims through live chat application.

    Such improvements would have been impossible if there were no insurance technologies

    available within the industry.

    http://www.comtecglobal.com/http://www.comtecglobal.com/
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    1.4 NEED FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE

    INSURANCE SECTOR

    The rapid innovation in the field of information and communication technology has

    posed serious challenges for the insurance industry in India. The use and application of

    information technology in wide variety of insurers operations has now become strategic

    in the sense that it has direct impact on the productivity of resources, and a sweepening

    impact on reducing the case of various activities. With the arrival of private insurance

    players, the competition has become more intense and an important role is being played

    by the insurance sector. Even though the use of information technology is not new to the

    insurance sector, yet we may find tight compartmentalization regarding the use of

    information technology in various departments of the insurance companies including themajor players since last 50 years. The most visible of these departments are accounting,

    policy issue and servicing, claim processing, sales management etc.

    Therefore the imperative for all the insurers, especially LIC and GIC is to build up an

    efficient interface between the various departments and segments. This would reduce the

    paper work, improve efficiency of service delivery and provide competitive advantage to

    the insurance companies.

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    Chapter-2

    APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

    2.1 INTRODUCTION

    As awareness of quality service began growing among policyholders in India also,

    LIC of India had to think of many applications of information technology. Up gradation

    of technology was undertaken on a huge scale. All the 2050 branch offices, which were

    serving centers, were equipped with computer systems. Training of employees also was

    organized on a large scale. Several software packages for different servicing operations

    were introduced. A cash module was introduced, operating with, the cashier, while sitting

    at his desk, is enable to print and issue official receipts on the spot to the policyholders

    when they tender money towards premium, the entire operation take a few minutes.

    A new business module was introduced which enable even underwriting operations

    to be computerized. It brought a complete integration of all activities connected with the

    processing of policy documents Similarly, loans and surrender value module, policy

    revival module, claims module were also introduced. Now revival quotations, a policy

    quotations or maturity claims intimation letters are generated on the Computer. All these

    gave tremendous boost to the efficiency in rendering service to the policyholders Up

    gradation of technology also helped in another direction. Several reports which could be

    used as MIS get generated for use by managers at all levels. This helps management to

    review performance against prescribed indices and to take appropriate corrective actions

    where necessary. To bring out the revolutionary changes in communication to

    policyholders, several steps were taken.

    Inter-Voice Response Systems have been introduced which policyholders ascertain

    several types of information about their policy like policy status, premium position, loan

    amount, maturity / next survival benefit due , accumulation of bonus , etc. over

    telephones language in language of his choice. The policyholder can also get the

    information on fax. MAN is installed in several cities, which enables policyholders to pay

    premiums or get their status reports, revival, loan, surrender quotations in any of branches

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    offices convenient to them in the cities. Now, many of the cities with MAN are connected

    by WAN, which enables policyholders to pay premium anywhere in the country. E-mail

    connections have been established in many of the offices and internet connections has

    been given to all the divisional offices, all department in all the zonal offices and central

    offices.

    A website {www.licinda.com} was set up to give information on the Internet about

    the organization, products, service. The web pages has been made interactive with the

    features like online Premium Calculation, On-lineBonus Calculation, On-line

    Forms etc. The site includes features on Frequently Asked Questions by Non Resident

    Indians. The corporation has also set up interactive touch screen based multimedia

    Kiosks in prime location in the metros and major cities for dissemination of information

    on the product and services. The corporation has plans to redesign these kiosks to provide

    policy details and accept premium payments. All these applications have definitely

    brought a great amount of satisfaction to policyholders.

    The steps taken by LIC of India during the past 5 to 6 years are an indication of the

    importance role that information technology can play in ensuring a very high quality in

    the serving operations of a life insurance company. Several private life insurance

    companies are also utilizing the latest technology available including creating their own

    web sites. A few private web sites like Bima online also have been established

    Technology is the most important tool in another very important area of life insurance

    functions. It is valuation. The process by which the values of various polices of insurance

    existing at a point of time are obtained is called valuation of liabilities of an insurer was

    small, policy values used to be calculated for individuals policies. But when the number

    of policies runs into several lakh or crore, as a present it is extremely inconvenient to

    calculate the value of each contract separately. Methods have, therefore, been devised to

    collect data for each plan of insurance in a form suitable for valuation in groups having

    some common characteristic like age, duration or term to run to maturity and like.

    Grouping is done only if there is sufficient number of policies to make the group of a

    reasonable size. For a sufficient large life insurance organization, this work is possible

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    only through application of technology. It is a legal requirement today in our country for

    a life insurance company to conduct an actuarial valuation every year.

    This adds to importance of IT application. With increasing complexity of products

    both life insurance and pension entering the market, the field force, especially the agents

    needs a large support from the company represent. While discussing life insurance

    program with potential customers, agents need sophisticated information including

    benefits, comparisons, , needs and matching products , rates and impact on the

    customers budget , returns, etc,. Like in Japan, life insurance companies in India may

    also supply Palm Tops to their sales force.

    This will be possible only through extension of concepts of information

    technology. Market research is another area where information technology has a great

    role to play. Todays, the customer has become the center around the entire market

    revolves. The world is fast moving towards market driven economy. Organizations,

    which were merely based on sales concept, are eagerly aiming to convert themselves

    into marketing organizations. Life insurance companies which primarily deal with the

    financial needs of the people cannot ignore these realities.

    The life insurance has become very dynamic. The needs, aspirations, attitudes,

    buying behaviors, standards and quality of life are changing. The perceptions of what

    constitutes standards and quality of life are changing. The perceptions of what constitutes

    standard of life is also undergoing a metamorphosis. Different types of product are the

    need hour. The demand is more for flexible rather than packaged products especially

    in the service market. To certain its share and to improve it, there is no alternative for any

    life insurance company than to have a continuous market research. The company should

    know the demographic changes taking place in the society. They should know what is

    selling and where. They should know the pace of sales on the day to day basis.

    They should not only know the emerging customer profile but also the size of the

    market. All these need a scientific market survey and research either done in house or

    outsourced. A typical market survey report is appended which shows the enormity of the

    job. Without the support of technology, this will be an impossible task for the company.

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    2.2 IT APPLICATIONS IN FUNCTIONAL AREAS

    Even though the information technology has wide application in all the spheres of the

    insurance business, yet following are the most important ones in respective functional

    areas: Marketing The scope for use of Information Technology in marketing function is

    tremendous. It may start from the consumer acquaintance to an insurance product to

    claims settlement or further selling of new products or developing consumers for the

    products. Information technology can be integrated with almost all the Ps of marketing.

    It may help in formulation and implementation of various marketing strategies including

    pricing, promotion and customization strategies.

    Some of these areas are discussed below:

    a) Consumer Awareness:-The use of Information Technology may be path breaking for the insurance companies

    since conventionally the awareness of the insurance products in India is low. With the use

    of Internet the information about the products and pricing policies can be made available

    to the public in few seconds and much transparency in operations can be established.

    There are numerous websites available which can help the prospective customers to

    compare the insurance products of various issuers and decide the product suited to hisneeds. Also, the information about the new products changes in the existing ones and of

    course, the information on various discounts and incentives can be provided at a much

    faster rate and lower cost.

    b) Customer Services:-

    The insurance being a service needs high concerns in terms of services. Customer service

    requires maximum attention and should span the entire gamut of activities in the purchase

    of a product i.e. right from the dissemination of information, documentation to policy

    administration and claim settlement. The service quality standards of the new private

    insurance players have posed a threat to the-then giants viz. the LIC and GJC. The

    investments in the personnel and knowledge systems have helped private players

    companies build significant domain expertise.

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    The emerging areas of IT applications are:

    (1) Market Research

    (2) Consumers targeting and segmentation

    (3) Customizations of products

    (4) Easy procedures like premium payments, claims settlements, tracking of brokers and

    agents

    (5) Complaints management! grievance handling

    (6) Intermediary analysis Finance

    Information technology can be effectively used for internal management viz.

    Accounting, treasury management, financial performance reporting etc. and as well as in

    resource mobilization, portfolio management, investment planning etc.

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    2.3 IT APPLICATION IN HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

    Application of IT in Human Resource Management is obvious. It can be effectively

    utilized in:

    (1) Recruitment and selection,

    (2) Training,

    (3) Performance valuations etc. Research and Development R&D has been made an easy

    task with the increasing use of IT. Surveys and research on market potential, analysis of

    markets, tracking with international norms and developments are the profound areas of IT

    applications.

    (4) Appraisal,

    (5) Promotions, transfers and dismissals,

    (6) Impact of Technology on Insurers Any new adoption needs time to get acquainted

    with the users until they gain enough confidence & knowledge in that system.

    Recent studies reveal that consumers lack passion for insurance because of its

    complexity, but despite these push backs, a growing number of insurers are intrigued bythe significant cost saving & customer-retention benefits to be gained through online self-

    service. Although carriers think that by encouraging insurers to do transactions by online

    services, which would reduce operational costs vastly, they are very cynical of investing

    in web technology with dot-corn collapse.

    The trick lies in educating insurers about the concept and benefits of eservices in this

    sector. Driving client to initial online self-service experience into something more

    interactive by call services that would involve human interactions will certainly have agreater impact. This balanced approach is how most insurers are enabling online self-

    service that not only make sense for policyholders, but also provides support for

    intermediaries and agents.

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    The main challenge for any health companys website would be bringing all sections

    of people to view their site. They should show some positive incentives to bring

    customers to their websites. Online services have own advantages like accessibility of

    information 24/7, visualization of information, providing interactive plan finder tools,

    adding useful links to the websites, live chat technologies etc. An online activity helps to

    give necessary knowledge to consumers, which is very positive, because it implies that

    when people learn more they establish a deeper relationship and a broader dialogue with

    the carrier. Agents and brokers also enjoy the efficiencies that come with writing new

    businesses and servicing their customers on websites. About 55% to 60% of customers

    take booklets electronically.

    In order to enable efficient online self-service functions, companies typically have to

    update their legacy systems. Despite the current limits to online self-service, as the

    Internet continues to gain acceptance, customers probably will become more open for

    using it as a conduit for insurance services. In the past year, the portion of insurers

    offering customers service websites has been growing dramatically.

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    2.4 TECHNOLOGIES FOR INSURANCE

    There has never been a time when the effective use of information technology has

    been more crucial to the success of the insurance industry. The insurance markets are

    being revolutionized by technology at a high speed pace. IT and software solutions,

    allowing cross-border trade to become electronic and paperless, are increasingly on offer

    to importers, exporters, shipping companies and financial institutions.

    Following technological advancements can really enhance the performance of insurance

    companies.

    a) Database Management Systems:-The principles of tracking and measuring responses can pay off for the conventional

    insurance industry. To find more clients, insurer needs to consider many factors,

    including cash value, medium and competition. But the need to record and study the

    characteristics of persistency- the length of time we retain policies, customers and agents

    is most important in insurance companies. In order to find out profitable combinations of

    households or clients, products and agents, a database with five to ten years history is of

    immense importance. Such historical retention was prohibitively expensive in the past.

    But clear advantages of new PC (Personal computer) and RISC (Reduced Instruction

    Set Computing) technology gives companies power to keep tens of millions of policies

    on a device with thousands of bytes of data per policy/client/agent. Analyisng a 1O-year

    database is cost effective. Reviewing the database provides information on how many

    clients have actually migrated not just how many policies have lapsed or surrendered.

    Using database technology companies can get a comprehensive, performance, loyalty,

    and lost opportunity.

    b) Data Warehouse:-Data warehousing technology is based on integrating a number of information

    systems into a one stop shopping database to achieve vision of making company

    national in scope, but regional in focus. Traditionally, the sale of policies and the claim

    settlement are two separate areas for the insurance companies. Data warehousing allows

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    managing by profit levels with an integrated approach rather than by limiting losses. Data

    mining can be used as a means to control costs and increase revenue resulting in

    enormous earning for effective users.

    c) Decision Support Systems:-The path of business applications of computers, computer based information

    systems (CBIS), encompasses many stages including the very early applications like

    transactions processing systems (TPS) followed by the management information systems

    (MIS). The computer applications like decision support systems (DSS), expert systems

    (ES) and executive information systems (EIS) are still awaited in insurance business.

    Office automation (OAS) happens to be a continuously ongoing, dynamic process for any

    business. Such decision support systems will provide the insurance managers with a tool

    for customized products and services that are more in line with what customers want.

    d) Group Linking Software:-Group-linking software enables sharing of information arid partieular1v suits

    document heavy insurance business. Tracking of policy application shows how

    information that is input and accessed from a number of locations can increase efficiency.

    e) Imaging and Workflow Technologies:-The proposal forms may be scanned into an imaging system. Data may be extracted

    for update to computer and for automated underwriting workflow may be implemented.

    Mapping Insurers to meet different needs, such as identifying loss prone areas or

    geographic claim analysis, can use Mapping technology. It helps the insurer to analyse

    the extent of its network i.e. the insurer can determine whether it has too many or too few

    agency force in a particular area.

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    f) Call Centre Technology:-Good customer service is a crucial element for gaining, maintaining and retaining

    profitable customers. Call centre concept based on interactive voice response services

    (IVRS) is gaining importance in this aspect. Video Linking A video linking facility

    between two remote units of an insurance company or between an insurer and a broker

    allows underwriters at one place and brokers at other unit to discuss risk inherent in a

    proposal face to face.

    g) Cat Models:-Catastrophic models use data from the recent natural disasters that helps develop

    more predictions of insurers property exposures in future disasters. Using this data

    curious what-if scenarios of probable maximum loss (PML) using the best estimate

    available at an insurers exposures are tested. Finally an underwriting policy that limits

    the companys exposure to catastrophic losses is implemented. Intranet is the network

    connecting different offices of the same business to permit the internal data within the

    business.

    Extranet is a network allowing the business to communicate with business partners

    like suppliers, vendors, banners, regulations etc. on the electronic channel. Internet is a

    global network of many computer networks. Any user, who would like to exchange some

    information with other user at a remote location, can log into the computer of Internet

    provider via modem or an Internet access CPU (IAC). The Internet and online service

    providers are providing opportunities to create new forums that can be utilized by

    everyone worldwide. Insurers can browse through many useful sites on the Internet.

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    2.5 TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

    A host of tech accompanies the task of insurance fraud and abuse detection. An

    abusive solution to the problem requires a comprehensive approach enabled by a variety

    of technologies that addresses these technical challenges head-on. Some of these design

    issues include;

    a) Ongoing reassessment of fraud risk:-Because fraud may not exist at the time the claim is submitted, or because evidence

    of abuse may not yet be apparent, a system must each claim over and over on an

    ongoing basis.

    b) Understanding raw data:-The starting point is the raw mountain of data. A thorough understanding of this

    data requires careful analysis and domain expertise. Furthermore regardless of what

    technologies are employed, careful engineering is required to address issues of data

    being messy. missing or standardized

    c) Behavior from ongoing transactional data:-Characterizing claim activity involves the summarization of all transactional data

    (e.g. payments or medical service details). This summarization must not lose keyaspects of activity.

    d) Complex pattern in data:-Identifying which claims are most suspicious requires a comprehensive analysis of

    many different features characterizing the claim and its activity. A detection system

    must be able recognize those patterns of behavior most indicative of fraud.

    e) Limited examples of confirmed fraudulent claims:-In many cases, only a small number of known examples of fraud may exist in the

    historical data. One must be able to handle such situations when developing the

    detection system.

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    f) Prioritization of suspects:-In order to match work level to staffing constraints, which may be different for

    different customers and may vary over time, a detection system must allow for

    prioritization of suspects. Scoring models provide a rank ordering of all suspects so

    that attention can be focused on those deemed most suspicious.

    g) Effective use of detection results:-In order to effectively use the detection systems results, explanations for what

    makes a claim look suspicious should be provided, strategies for effective workflow

    assignment should be determined (e.g., match resources with suspects that are most

    beneficial to review) and tools to review the results should be available (these may

    already exist).

    h) System Maintenance:-The system performance must not deteriorate due to changing patterns of activity

    overtime. Because neural network models are built from data and automatically learn

    complex patterns within the data, they can be efficiently redeveloped. Indeed, as more

    examples of abuse become known, model performance can be expected to improve

    over time

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    Chapter-3

    TECHNOLOGIES AND CYBER INSURANCE IN INDIA

    3.1 INTRODUCTION

    The opening up of the Insurance industry in India would boost competition,

    facilitate technology transfer and lead to new products, better customer service, deeper

    and wider insurance coverage and many more opportunities for employment. As new

    private sector entrants enter into India, opportunities in the insurance industry are up for

    grabs. One important aspect of the insurance industry, which is gaining prominence tile

    world over, is the development of technology and cyber-insurance strategies.

    Cyberspace is a risky place. Companies conducting business over the internet are

    exposed to a variety of new, unpredictable and serious exposures such as servers

    crashing, computer viruses, destruction of data, emails disappearing and attack from

    hackers for which there are few precedents in terms of risk management and even less

    actual insurance coverage. Cyberspace presents unique challenges to risk managers for

    several reasons; the foremost being that there is no Standard risk profile.

    The wide variety of internet-related businesses, such as ISPs, content aggregators,

    certification authorities, online merchants and software developers, all contribute to the

    difficulty of developing a single risk profile. Enacting appropriate insurance policies for

    ensuring cover for security issues and intellectual property rights issues is vital. For safe

    business transaction, what is needed is a secure legal environment and while legislation in

    India is providing this environment with the enacting of laws dealing with the Internet,

    Insurance companies in India should provide comprehensive protection policies for a

    business against web-related risks, such as hackers and viruses, credit card and employee

    fraud, business interruption losses, and legal action.

    Essentially, the policy can fill the gaps in coverage that have opened up between standard

    insurance policies due to the fact the way business is done has changed.

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    a) Intellectual property infringements:-Content providers who use content of others without permission can trigger these risks.

    Errors and Omissions liability: these risks are typically triggered by the programmers,

    web hosts & web-designers, who, through negligence in their work cause injury/damage

    to a third party.

    b) Personal injury & advertising Liability:-As e-commerce grows, these risks can be triggered by worldwide web sites, and trade

    publishers who publish illegal content or content which may be constructed as libel.

    c) Directors liability:-Directors and officers often face the risk of litigation due to numbers of factors, such as

    consumer protection laws, securities related laws, and certain provisions in the corporate

    laws that place additional responsibilities on directors.

    d) Employee liability:-These risks would arise from the breach of confidentiality and rights of privacy arising

    out of confidential client information stored on a particular system or website. In

    addition, employee can initiate sexual harassment charges from an employee due to

    disturbing e-mail content.

    e) Legal fees:-Fees incurred for litigation arising out of various claims, such as intellectual property.

    Many businesses on the internet mistakenly think their internet- related exposures are

    covered by their existing policies.

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    3.2 INTERNET & INTRANET

    The Internet is a worldwide system, accessible through computers. Information

    travels through the internet at incredible speeds. It cuts across national & international

    boundaries. While the internet allows access for anybody from anywhere, the internet is

    an in-house network, working on the same principle. The difference is similar to the

    difference between a national newspaper & in-house newsmagazine, which is for private

    circulation. If an insurer has an intranet system, the information in the intranet will be

    available only to its offices & personal.

    The policyholders will not be able to access the data in the intranet. Circulars meant

    for internal circulation can be posted on the intranet & everybody will have immediate

    access to it, however far away he may be located. In the intranet also, it is possible to

    restrict some information to certain categories of persons, who will be identified through

    passwords. Both internet & intranet enables users to do the following at any time (24

    hours, 365 days)

    a) Send & receive letters, which are called e-mail:-Every person will have an e-mail id, which is his address in the net. Search, read &

    retrieve data, files, and pictures.

    b) Buy & sell of policy:-If the insurer has an intranet, the agent can, sitting at his place of work, be attending

    the insurers office, making enquiries about status of proposals or claims or

    discussing with any other agent, for clarification or advice, whenever he wants to do

    it. The physical distance between the agent & the office will not be of any

    consequences at all.

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    BENEFITS TO AGENTS:

    The benefits to agents will be:-

    He can receive all circulars & instructions issued by any office. All delays on

    account of postal transmission, being forwarded from one level to another, dispatch

    department absence of peons, wrong addresses, misplaced through oversight, lost in

    transit etc., are avoided.

    Any doubts with regard to proposal, benefit, premium, taxation, medical

    examination, insurability etc., can be discussed & got clarified directly from the

    person concerned. Communications to & from the office will be immediate through

    e-mail & at a low cost.

    BENEFITS TO POLICYHOLDERS:

    l) Prospects: Prospects can get benefit through the internet in the following ways-

    They can get details of the various policies, the benefits there under, the premiums

    payable etc.,

    Prospects can get advice on the suitable insurance plan for themselves.

    Policyholders can get information with regard to the status of the policy, thepremiums due, the bonuses attached, the surrender values or loans available,

    revival possibilities, nearest office for any further transactions.

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    3.3 INSURANCE AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE -

    E-INSURANCE

    On a global basis, there is mad rush of companies willing to enable their business.

    E-insurance is one of the growth areas in India. Enormous opportunities are being created

    by the Internets new connectivity such as improving customers service, reducing cycle

    time, becoming more cost effective, and selling goods, services, or information to an

    expanded global customer base. As entire industries are being reshaped and rules for

    competition are changing, enterprises need to rethink the strategic fundamentals of their

    business in order to be successful.

    Globally, insurance on the net has lagged behind other financial service products

    such as banking and brokerage. Of the total online users only 5% used insurance service

    online. This lag was due to lack of relevant and adequate content. Traditional insurers,

    while leveraging on new information technologies, have been slow to utilize the Internet

    as an alternative distribution channel. All the largest insurers have been focused on static

    marketingpresence online, encompassing product information, FAQs and quotes. Only a

    few insurers have added the ability to submit applications online. This lack of

    participation in the e-business revolution is seen across lines.

    The insurance companies attribute two factors for the slow take off. First and

    foremost, insurance is a product that is sold and not bought. The Internet is perceived to

    be a buyers medium, with online customers able to search quickly and for the most

    competitive prices and variety of products. Insurance is one product that cannot be easily

    commoditized. The more personal the selling process, the greater the difficulty in using

    the net as a medium for selling. Insurance is one product, which involves personalized

    selling. The process of insurance sales requires a series of face-to-face interactions.

    The convergence effect of IT is being felt by the insurance industry as well in

    developed countries. The insurance industry is expected to lose market share to banking

    and other financial institutions. Customers today expect enhance levels of service due to

    increased competition. This customer demand is likely to result in non-traditional access

    to specific information. The global online insurance market is expected to achieve an

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    exponential growth in the near future. The Gartner Group in a study conducted by them

    says that in a year 25% of all customer contacts and enquiries for enterprises will come

    via the internet, e-mail and online forms.

    Banc assurance customer service, which has been almost exclusively done via the

    telephone (96% of all transactions), will become increasingly e-mail based in the next

    four years; decreasing telephone related service by 28%. In response to these trends in

    customer preference, insurers are mobilizing their online sales and customer account

    management capabilities. This move towards building Internet based business solutions

    benefits the insured by providing greater flexibility, greater customization of information

    and improved customer service for the insurance company. This drastically reduces the

    costs involved. Similarly, by essentially outsourcing administrative and cost intensive

    processes such as policy administration to customers, the cost of administration and

    servicing the insurance policy also decreases sharply.

    E-Insurance in India The intriguing question before all associated with the

    insurance industry is that will it be possible for private companies or even public sector

    monoliths to sell insurance online in India in the near future? Insurance companies will

    probably have to wait for Internet penetration to increase and the still ambiguous e-

    commerce rules to take concrete form. However, what is not debatable is that new private

    entrants will change the rules of the game for the Indian insurance business, both in the

    life and the non- life segment, unfolding opportunities for software engineers and

    professional agents. To peep into the possibilities and opportunities emerging out of the

    integration of insurance and information technology, various organizations have

    organized seminars and conferences in the recent past to explore the possibilities of

    selling insurance on the Net and gauge the opportunities for the growing Indian software

    industry.

    According to T. Ramanan of Assocham, life insurers were among the first to go online

    with informative content and features like actuarial calculators. However, according to

    him, they have been relatively slow to embrace online commerce, which currently makes

    up about 1 per cent of the total term life market. Only 12 per cent of insurance companies

    globally sell policies online. Experts expect the percentage of term life sold over the

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    Internet to increase from I per cent to 15 per cent by 2003, which in monetary terms

    works out to $21 billion. Although traditionally term life insurance has been sold through

    independent agents, the big shift will become manifest sooner than later. And more

    importantly Indians cannot watch from the sidelines as this paradigm shift in the

    insurance sector takes place. In the non-life sector, automobile policies are popular over

    the Internet. Premium income, points out the paper, is expected to rise to $18 billion from

    about $1 billion currently.

    The growth of global online insurance business augurs well for the Indian IT

    sector. The exponential growth in the online insurance business will unfold significant

    business opportunities for software companies/consultants. The opportunities that rise out

    of this will be both global and local, because new entrants will have to either fine tune or

    prepare customized packages for the Indian market. Online insurance will also help

    companies reduce costs and keep premiums low, a prerequisite in a price sensitive market

    like India. The government, however, will have to address problems relating to

    bandwidth on an urgent basis to make online insurance a reality in India. Other major

    challenges to face Indian insurers will be to design and develop strategies for delivering

    services to well segmented customers.

    The third challenge lies in developing the right combination of customer segments

    and applicable distribution channel strategies. Most Web sites offer contact numbers of

    their branch officers where we can get further details of the products on offer. The Agent

    locator feature, available on maxnewyorklife.com, iciciprulife.com and on

    bimaonline.com help one locate an insurance agent most accessible to you based on a

    search facility. One would expect downloadable proposal forms on insurance web sites,

    but these are missing in most cases. Only Iicindia.com seems to offer downloadable

    proposal and claim forms for a few of the schemes.

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    3.4 BENEFITS OF ELECTRONIC INSURANCE

    E-insurance provides multiple benefits to the insurer and the existing and prospective

    insured:

    a) Information collected is better and cheaper

    b) Speed of responseIssuance of policy and settlement of claims is faster

    c) Provides new ways of doing business in competitive market

    d) Flexible pricing and customized services

    e) Global accessibility i.e. lapse of physical boundaries

    f) Increased sales without additional sales force

    g) Immediate premium collection and funds transfer

    h) Reduced cost per transaction 24x7 availability i.e. round the clock availability of

    information

    i)Real time knowledge base building

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    3.5MAJOR FACTOR AFFECTING E-INSURANCE

    a) Growth of net:-It is estimated that India would have about 150 million net users by 2010. These

    figures represent a huge buying potential.

    b) Competition pressures:-Insurance companies because of competitive pressures would be driven into Internet

    rather than a clear ROT justification.

    c) Customer:-The availability of net-based services will be a huge factor for customer retention.

    d) Cross sells:-When linked with other financial products, a portfolio approach to investment,

    savings and risk coverage will increase cross sells and customer loyalty and retention.

    e) Costs:-In the beginning c-insurance will be a cost factor rather than a profit driver, but in the

    long run it will be a cost reducing factor.

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    3.6 E-INSURANCE BUSINESS CHALLENGES

    Electronic insurance will not only provide many benefits but will also pose business and

    technological changes.

    I) Business Challengesa) Disintermediation increases business:-

    Study has shown that the cost of distribution decreases with the increased value

    of connection. Products with relatively high fixed costs and low value such as travel,

    credit or burial insurance are relatively expensive to produce. Customers pay a high

    price per dollar of coverage for these products. The Internet allows the

    disintermediation of this relatively high overhead for these low face value products.

    This means that prices can be lowered and more insurance can be sold by reducing

    the transaction costs of the exchange.

    b) Reorganization of companies-Virtual Companies:-Many insurers will be prompted by the opportunities presented by E-commerce to

    restructure the packaging of insurance services. Insurance companies using c-

    commerce may re-engineer, outsource, and/or streamline their management functions,

    or marketing and distribution arms. To more efficiently deliver these services, some

    insurers will be able to reduce their significant investments in physical facilities and

    certain personnel. E-commerce will enable independent agency insurers to more

    easily adapt their distribution mechanism to market competition and expedite their

    transactions with intermediaries.

    c)

    Insurance customers what do they want:-Customers could get better and different service through the Internet. It is

    possible to obtain quotes from a number of companies. In some cases, the Internet

    provides rating agencies evaluation of insurers. The Internet and outsourcing can

    provide additional cost savings to the consumer. Technology can bring the customer

    closer to the insurance contract, by removing layers of inefficiencies. Consumers will

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    also obtain price comparisons for relatively generic contracts, such as life insurance

    and rates for a standard set of auto insurance coverage for given vehicle and driver

    characteristics. Consumers also could have access to internal records to see where

    their claims are in terms of payment, when their next annuity payment is due, and

    how their mutual fund is performing. This can be done without calling a burdensome

    voicemail system, being put on hold, or finding a person who can give them the

    desired information efficiently.

    d)The Death of Insurance Agent:-One of the reasons why insurers have been slow to use electronic commerce

    could be the fear of swallowing up the agents business. The Internet does not

    necessarily imply the death of the agent. Many insurers are examining their agents

    role in the process and arc also developing direct contacts with the insured through

    their web presence. Agents could enhance their advisory role to consumers as their

    paper and money processing functions diminish.

    II) Technological ChallengesOne of the most prominent challenges of e-commerce is security. It is very evident that

    many users are reluctant to do business on the Internet due to security reasons:

    a) Database Security:-The business database security is utmost important. This has to be monitored by

    security of the web server and web access. Web Server Security: Security policies

    should be defined as who is allowed access, nature of the access and who authorizes

    such access, etc.

    b) Password sniffing:-Protection against password sniffing is to avoid using plain text user names and

    reusable passwords.

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    c) Network Scanning Programs:-Automated tools should be used to scan your network. These tools check for well-

    known security related bugs in network programs such as send mail and FTPD.

    d) Physical Security:-One can ensure physical security by having an alarm system that calls the police,

    having a key-lock on the computer power supply.

    e) Web Access Security:-Host based restrictions can be implemented using a firewall to block incoming HTTP

    connections to a particular web server.

    f) Transmission Security:-Encryption is a key technology to ensure transaction security.

    g) Privacy:-Privacy is likely to be a growing concern as internet-based communications and

    commerce increase, Designers and operators of web sites who disregard the privacy

    of users do so at their own peril.

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    Chapter-4

    INSURANCE APPLICATIONS WITH ADOBE

    4.1 INTRODUCTION

    Break free of paper-based processes Insurance companies tell us that they are hindered by

    slow, paper-based processes. Agents waste time and money shuffling forms, instead of

    closing business and prospecting for new customers. Back-office burdens, such as re-

    keying data and handling huge volumes of mail, further increase costs. As a result,

    customers are put off by frequent poor service, causing them to look for other alternatives

    or abandon the process altogether. The challenge is to find a way to streamline the

    application processdriving down costs while helping to drive additional revenues and

    profitsbut it hasnt been easy. Restricted by system silos and patchwork processes.

    If your company is like most carriers, you have legacy system silos and patchwork

    processes for various product lines. This lack of integration creates islands of

    information, which necessitates extensive manual handling and staff paperwork. The

    resulting inefficiencies dramatically impact your organizations ability to put thecustomer first and efficiently meet the needs of policyholders and agents.

    Applications for new insurance take an hour or more to complete. Customers have to supply the same information repeatedly A seemingly endless stream of paper flows from desk to desk and department to

    department, often back stepping more than once.

    Frequent data errors and broken process steps require timetime that costs youmoney. Studies have shown that paper-based processes are expensiveup to an

    estimated $150 to print, scan, fax, copy mail, and process each insurance

    application.

    In addition, growing regulatory requirements add to the burdens that your

    headquarters faces, forcing you to update systems and disclosures to remain in

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    compliance. All this leads to slower service, unhappy customers, and dissatisfied agents

    and brokerswho just may decide to take their business elsewhere.

    Adobe can help remedy the situation. The Adobe solution for insurance application

    helps you improve service while reducing costs, meeting policyholder needs, and

    increasing agent loyaltyso you can dose more business. Get faster, more accurate

    processing The Adobe Intelligent Document Platform accommodates both paper forms

    and electronic documents, simplifying the collection and sharing of information, and

    minimizing time-cons tuning back-office tasks.

    Agents, customers, and call center representatives need to enter data only once. Renewal forms and other documents can be automatically populated, dramatically

    reducing time-consuming and error-prone re-keying.

    Adobe Document Services simplify underwriting and risk appraisal by allowingratings and not to be made right on the form for review by all partieswithout

    altering the original document.

    Electronic distribution eliminates postal delays and costs, and improves responsetimes by eliminating back-office handling.

    Agents and brokers can present intelligent forms to clientsin an offline modeby using the free Adobe Reader.

    When wet signatures are required, you can print forms out and then easily revertback to an intelligent, automated process while maintaining full integrity of the

    original form data. Build data validation and calculations into all application

    processes.

    Support for extensible Markup Language (XML) and ACORD XML standards helps

    efficiently integrate this information into your enterprise applications. Adobe Document

    Services also offer a flexible front end, so you can adapt easily to the latest regulatory

    policies, to minimize the business disruption and expense of compliance.

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    4.2 Adobe PDF:

    Key to streamlining the insurance application process Adobe Portable Document

    Format (PDF) provides a secure, reliable way to distribute and exchange documents and

    information. PDF files look like the original documents, offering customers and agents

    the look of paper with the added efficiency of fill able forms. This familiarity helps to

    increase the acceptance of your self-service channel and maintains better consistency

    between online and offline processes.

    Multiple policyholder documents can be dynamically converted and combined

    into a single Adobe PDF file, decreasing document preparation time and expense, while

    ensuring higher quality packages. And since Adobe PDF files are searchable, they are

    ideal for archiving and retrieval. With free Adobe Reader software, your internal staff as

    well as independent brokers and agents can access documents and forms as needed.

    Reviewers can easily add comments without altering the original, and agents as well as

    customers can see and respond to these comments, avoiding redundancy and saving

    cycles. Password protection and other built-in security features can be added to control

    access and ensure data integrity at every step.

    This efficient workflow translates into to faster reviews and underwriting, and

    improved service. The Adobe solution for insurance application improves the quality of

    your service to agents, brokers, and customersmaking it easier for agents to sell more

    policies, decreasing abandonment rates, and enhancing your profitability.

    The application process is simplified and back-office tasks are automated,improving cycle time and reducing the costs of acquiring and servicing customers.

    Revenues increase because you and your agents and brokers can efficientlyhandle more business.

    Your headquarters gains better control over costly, disruptive compliance issues. Personal information gathered from policyholders is safeguarded, ensuring

    privacy and maintaining transaction integrity with customers and partners.

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    4.3MICROSOFT AND THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

    For many drivers, the seemingly endless round of phone message and paper

    work that follow traffic accident can make the job of resolving on insurance claim feel as

    damaging as the accident itself. For insurance carriers auto claims processing which

    involves handling estimates adjustments repairs billing, and more is no less time-

    consuming, expensive, and frustrating.

    Today, innovative technologies from Microsoft are transforming from the way

    auto insurance claims are processed. Based on the power of the Microsoft.NET

    framework these technologies open the door of integrated IT system that link programs

    and applications built of any platform and written in any language. Streamlining the flow

    of data and bringing new levels of efficiency to the business of claim processing. Process

    claims is a leading software provider to the insurance industry, offering a broad range of

    property and casualty solution that span heavy equipment, commercial, personal and

    specialty lines. A Microsoft certified partner, process claims deliver solutions that

    automate solution that automate communication and information flow, and yield rapid

    return on investment. By harnessing the power of Microsoft .

    NET framework and its own data transformation technology and industry

    expertise, process claim solutions provide data transformation an d mining, business

    intelligence, work flow management, assignment automation, appraisal management and

    trading partner integration. Last year, process claims facilitated settlement of $4 billion in

    claims. The issue of data integration is critical for all parties involved in resolving auto

    insurance claims. In addition to insurance companies there are companies that depend on

    data to provide rental car services, supply parts, facilitate salvage processing, determine

    vehicle valuation, and more. Process claims end to end material damage management

    systems provide the vital link between all of these parties.

    Utilizing Microsoft visual studio, .NET, XML and web service programmable

    application components that can be accessed over the internet with standard web

    protocols-process claims enables its client to conduct business with greater speed and

    efficiency. Typically, when a driver reports an accident, the carrier assigns an adjuster or

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    refers the driver to an authorized body shop. Because process claims uses XML it can

    take information from any claim system and instantly route the assignment to the most

    appropriate appraiser. After receiving the claim the appraiser downloads is it to an

    estimating application, writes the estimates, adds digital photos, and sends the package

    back to the carrier through the process claims browser-based application suite. The ability

    to utilize XML and web services has established process claims as a market place leader.

    Not only does the solution streamline claims processes. It also extent and enhances the

    value of existing legacy system functionality through seamless integration with outside

    services. And because legacy system can access this new functionality transparently,

    Training and support costs are minimal.

    Process claims claims port system focus on areas of material damage to reduce

    loss-adjustment expenses, increases efficiencies, and improve customer satisfaction, and

    they are configured to meet the specific business requirements of individual insures.

    Today, innovators are taking advantage of technologies like this to automate business

    processes and transform insurance claim processing.

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    Chapter-5

    ICICI Prudential

    5.1 OVERVIEW

    ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a

    premier financial powerhouse, and Prudential plc, a leading international financial

    services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential was amongst the

    first private sector insurance companies to begin operations in December 2000 after

    receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).

    ICICI Prudential Life's capital stands at Rs. 4,793 crore (as of June 30, 2012) with ICICI

    Bank and Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the period April 1,

    2012 to June 30, 2012, the company has garnered total premium of Rs 2,385 crore and

    has underwritten over 13 million policies since inception. The company has assets held

    over Rs. 70,000 crore as on June 30, 2012.

    For the past decade, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has maintained its dominant position

    (on new business retail weighted basis) amongst private life insurers in the country, witha wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step

    in life.

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    5.2 ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE

    India's foremost financial services companies, and prudential plc, a leading

    international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. While

    ICICI retains 74% stake in the joint venture, Prudential plc has the remaining 26% stake.

    ICICI Prudential began its operations in December 2000. Today, this company has over

    1,900 branches (inclusive of 1,074 micro-offices), over 210,000 advisors and 6 branch

    assurance partners. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is the first life insurer in

    India that received a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch

    Ratings. ICICI Prudential has been voted as India's Most Trusted Private Life Insurer for

    three consecutive years. This company provides various insurance plans that have been

    designed for different individuals, as every individual has different insurance needs. Itcelebrated its 10th anniversary on 12th December 2010. Given below is a list of plans

    provided by ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company:

    All ULIPs

    Unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs) are a category of goal-based financial solutions that

    combine the safety of life insurance protection and long term wealth creation

    opportunities. In ULIPs, a part of the premium goes towards providing you with life

    cover while the remaining portion is invested in fund(s) which, in turn, are invested in

    stocks or bonds.

    Retirement Wealth Child Health

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    5.3 LIFE INSURANCE PLANS

    Term Plans

    Term insurance is the simplest and most fundamental insurance product available atextremely affordable prices. In this type of a policy, an individual pays a fixed amount of

    money periodically and in the unfortunate event of death of the policyholder, the entire

    amount paid, along with some other benefits and interest, is paid back to the deceased's

    family.

    ICICI Pru Protect ICICI Pru Pure Protect ICICI Pru Life Guard ICICI Pru Home Assure

    Wealth Plans

    Wealth insurance plans are essentially long term savings plans which are designed to help

    you save enough for your long term goals, like owning a house or a car etc, along with

    providing you the benefit of life cover and protection for your family.

    ULIP Wealth Plans

    ICICI Pru Life Stage Wealth II ICICI Pru Pinnacle II ICICI Pru Life Time Premier ICICI Pru Life Link Wealth SP ICICI Pru Pinnacle Super

    Traditional Wealth plans

    ICICI Pru Future Secure ICICI Pru Guaranteed Savings Insurance Plan ICICI Pru Whole Life

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    ICICI Pru Save n Protect ICICI Pru Cash Bak

    Child Plans

    Regardless of the rising cost of education in modern times, a parent never compromises

    on the expenditure that goes into his/her child's bright career. A saving's plan that is

    designed to provide money at key educational milestones and take care of your loved

    ones future even if you are not around, is a wise decision to make. In this plan, you pay

    premium periodically, or in lump sum, and during the key educational milestones of your

    child, you can withdraw the money partially.

    Traditional Child Plans ICICI Pru Smart Kid Regular Premium

    Unit Linked Child Plans

    ICICI Pru Smart Kid Premier

    Health Plans

    predicting unfortunate medical emergencies is difficult. Bearing the expenses of the

    costly treatment is not at all easy and therefore, ICICI Prudential has come up with health

    insurance plans that insure you and your family against expenses arising due to medical

    emergencies and uncertainties such as hospitalizations or onset of critical illnesses.

    Hospitalization Plans

    ICICI Pru Health Saver ICICI Pru Hospital Care II

    Critical Illness Plans

    ICICI Pru Crisis Cover

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    Riders

    ICICI Prudential gives you the freedom to form your very own comprehensive insurance

    policy by adding the rider benefits to the basic life insurance policy. This increases the

    scope of your policy, at a nominal cost.

    Critical Illness Benefit Rider Accident & Disability Benefit Rider Income Benefit Rider Waiver of Premium Rider (WOP) Waiver Of Premium On Critical Illness Rider

    Retirement Plans

    financial independence at all times is important but its importance is the most in the post-

    retirement phase of life. After being self-dependant for a lifetime, the idea of depending

    upon your children can be quite putting off. Retirement plans from ICICI Prudential Life

    Insurance, ensure that you have enough flexibility to choose your retirement date and the

    manner in which you receive the pension.

    ULIP Retirement Plans

    ICICI Pru Life Link Pension Sp

    Traditional Retirement Plans

    ICICI Pru Forever Life ICICI Pru Immediate Annuity

    Group Plans

    Group Insurance Plans from ICICI Prudential enable the employer to effortlessly provide

    his/her employees with both, savings and security, so they can pass on the benefits to

    their loved ones.

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    Retirement Solution

    Group Gratuity Plan Group Leave Encashment Plan

    Protection Solution

    Annuity Solutions Group Term Insurance Plans Group Term in lieu of EDLI Scheme Credit Assure Utility

    Rural Plans

    ICICI Prudential's rural business initiative has covered more than 2.5 million lives across

    as many as 16 states in India. The plans offer Life cover, low and affordable premiums

    and hassle free procedure.

    ICICI Pru Sarv Jana Suraksha ICICI Pru Anmol Nivesh

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    5.4 RULES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

    As an advisor, you would be the primary connect between the customers and ICICI

    Prudential. Your main function would be to solicit life insurance business on behalf of

    the company. At the same time, you need to gain trust of the prospect and advise him

    suitably, keeping his insurance needs in mind. Thus as an advisor you would be required

    to play the unique role, whereby, you would be trusted by the customer as well as Insurer.

    You would be required to interact with individuals and families to

    Understand their insurance protection and investment needs. Identify and recommend solutions that best fit their requirements. Offer your customer a complete product portfolio. Complete the formalities necessary to get the policy issued. Keep in touch with customers to ensure that their service requests towards

    policies are managed properly.

    Facilitate settlement of claims.

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    5.5 WELCOME TO PRUDENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES

    Prudentialtech HR management Services Pvt. Ltd., established in 2008, dedicated to

    providing high quality Executive Search.

    We are experienced professionals who understand business dynamics of IT organizations.

    We use our expertise, processes and tools to identify the best talent in the industry and

    help our customers to increase productivity and performance through these talents.

    Vision

    Prudential tech recognizes that human capital is emerging as the biggest asset in recent

    times. Prudential tech is envisaging specific interest in talent and Learning Management

    System (LMS) to efficiently administer and manage numerous regulatory training andqualification requirement apart from providing platform for business transformation.

    Goals

    Identify and train the bright talents, set them up for success by placing them in the best

    companies. Ignite growth of our clients by providing the best talent and technology

    expertise.

    Clients

    We value our clients time and work committed for every assignment. No matter how

    complex your requirements may be, with prudential tech you can be assured of reliable

    service and exceptionally qualified candidates.

    Our clients include many of the elite privately held IT companies in the world. Our goal

    is to provide excellent service to clients and candidates through uncompromising quality

    and commitment on delivery. The fact that a majority of our clients have been with us

    since our inception is testimony to their trust in us.

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    Mr. KALYAN PRASATH- HEADINFORMATION TECHNOLGY.

    Kalyan holds a Diploma in Business Management from ICFAI and Post Graduate

    Diploma in Systems Management from NIIT. He has 23 years of experience across

    industries like IT, manufacturing and banking & financial services. At ICICI Prudential

    AMC, his responsibilities include overseeing the overall technology function i.e. business

    application, information security and IT infrastructure & projects thereby contributing to

    business excellence. Kalyan has a strong interest and flair for astrology.

    Kalyan Prasath, VP, Prudential ICICI, said, Within a year of first going live, registration

    on our online transaction website has grown from just 2,000 users to a current 11,000

    plus audience. Thats a significant achievement in itself. Whats more, the investments

    through the website have touched the Rs 2 crore mark. A significant number of NRIs

    have registered on the website, and we receive traffic from the Middle East as well.

    We purchased the entire web infrastructure for about Rs 6-7 lakh. The TCO has been

    realized within a year of operation. The online model has become popular due to the fact

    that it offers our customers the convenience of remotely logging on from their residence,

    and make complete transactions online. said Prasath.

    Registered users can simply select any of the six banks with which they have a valid net

    banking account, and make secure transactions online. Payment is authorized online, and

    the system directly credits the amount, explained Prasath.

    Prasath added, KPMG has established concrete security guidelines and set a robust

    framework for our organization by conducting extensive audits.

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    Annexure-I

    FINDINGS ON QUESTIONAIRE

    Kalyan Prasath is the head of information technology of ICICI Prudential. Theheadquarter of ICICI Prudential is in United Kingdom. The goals ICICI Prudential are

    identity and train the bright talents, set them up for success by placing them in the best

    company.

    Rules and Responsibility of ICICI Prudential understand their insurance protection andinvestment needs. Keep in touch with customers to ensure that their request towards

    policies is managed properly.

    The technology provided to client to get trust on ICICI Prudential like Interactive VoiceResponse Services [IVRS]. IVRS is a technology which ascertains several types of

    information about their policy like policy status, online premium, loan amount, etc.

    IT application are used in ICICI prudential are functional areas and human resourcesmanagement areas. In functional areas, there are consumer awareness and customer

    services. In human resources management, there is recruitment and selection, training.

    Appraisal, promotions.

    E-Insurance is given enormous opportunities are being created by the internet newconnectivity such as improving customers services, reducing cycle timing, becoming

    more cost effective and to expanded global customer base. E-Insurance will not provide

    many benefits but will also pose business and technological changes.

    Technical challenge faced by ICICI Prudential are ongoing reassessment of fraud risk,understanding raw data, behavior from ongoing transactional data, complex pattern in

    data, prioritization of suspects, system maintenance, effective use of detection results.

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    CONCLUSION

    The technology in insurance has grown through their performance, restructuringpolicy and their efficiency in providing the large amount of insurance services with the

    help of technology as their technology as their tool. The supporting technology require

    will be real time, rather than batch, longitudinal rather than episodic; will require

    connectivity rather than be self contained; will be interactive; will rely on large relational

    databases. Todays consumers do not like to wait. Insurance companies that are enabling

    to react to their customers demands will lose market share to their competitors that can.

    The question now facing insurance companies is no longer if they should takeadvantage of the internet, but now should they do it. Should you adapt your existing

    products or create internet specific insurance products and brands? Do you focus your

    efforts on distribution or service? Thus the insurance services without technology will be

    like tea without sugar. Therefore both need to be integrated in order to provide quality

    service & also to tap the insurance market.

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    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Websites:

    Insurance & Technologyhttp://www.insurancetech.com Network Magazine Indiahttp://www.networkmagazineindia.com Microsoft Corporationhttp://www.mircosoft.com Adobe Systems Incorporatedhttp://www.adobe.com Wikipediahttp://www.wikipedia.com

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    QUESTIONAIRE

    Name :-

    Branch:-

    1) Who is head of information technology in your company?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    2) What are the kinds of technology provided to client to get trust on iciciprudential?

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    3) What are goals of ICICI prudential?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    4) What are rules and responsibilities of ICICI prudential?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    5) In which countries headquarter of ICICI prudential located?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    6) How employees increase productivity and performance throughinformation technology?

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    7) What is an interactive voice response service?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    8) In which areas information technology applications are used?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    9) What are challenges faced by your company?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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    10) What is E- Insurance?

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