AIR Worldwide and FirstBest Collaborate to Provide Integrated Underwriting Solution for Commercial Insurance Carriers
BOSTON and BEDFORD, Mass., April 1, 2015 - Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide and FirstBest® Systems, provider of insurance software solutions for U.S. and global insurance carriers, today announced the companies will integrate AIR's catastrophe modeling solution with the FirstBest underwriting management system. The collaboration between the two organizations allows data and analytics on commercial risk to be incorporated into the commercial lines underwriting workflow of property/casualty insurers. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.
The solution will integrate AIR's cutting-edge catastrophe modeling and noncatastrophe analytics from its Touchstone® platform with FirstBest UMS®, a state-of-the-art underwriting workstation, to incorporate risk analytics in one comprehensive underwriting decision process. For commercial insurers, particularly those that write multifaceted commercial risks, including excess and surplus(E&S) writers, data such as risk scores, summary reports, loss analysis, and marginal impact to portfolio can now be used to make more precise, data/analytics-driven underwriting decisions.
"Traditional underwriting and policy systems are not designed to handle fluid, detailed, and rules-driven risk assessment analysis at the point of decision," stated John Belizaire, CEO and founder, FirstBest Systems. "Access to informative catastrophe data is a key determinant of exposures in intelligent underwriting, especially for complex risks. The AIR/First Best integration allows for up-front portfolio analysis and management in real time, and our combined solution facilitates individual account analysis before binding risks."
"By delivering risk analytics directly to the point of decision on the underwriter's desktop, FirstBest and AIR assist underwriters to make better decisions, increase competitive advantage, and build a better book of business," said Bill Churney, COO, AIR Worldwide. "Bringing a more complete view of risk - both catastrophe and noncatastrophe - into the mainstream of account underwriting is an important step in the evolution of underwriting and helping companies to own their risk."
About AIR Worldwide
AIR Worldwide (AIR) is the scientific leader and most respected provider of risk modeling software and consulting services. AIR founded the catastrophe modeling industry in 1987 and today models the risk from natural catastrophes and terrorism in more than 90 countries. More than 400 insurance, reinsurance, financial,corporate, and government clients rely on AIR software and services for catastrophe risk management, insurance-linked securities,detailed site-specific wind and seismic engineering analyses, and agricultural risk management. AIR, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is headquartered in Boston with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.
About FirstBest
FirstBest® Systems is the leading provider of insurance software solutions and services that help U.S. and global insurance companies improve underwriting profitability, scale their business, and achieve high service levels with agents and brokers. The patented and proven FirstBest Front Office Suite powers the underwriting operations of leading commercial property/casualty, specialty, and workers' compensation carriers. Processing more than $17 billion in quotes and featuring a modular set of applications, the Front Office Suite incorporates a dedicated underwriting workstation (FirstBest UMS®), mobile underwriting (FirstBest UMSMobile™), agent/broker portal (FirstBest Agent™), data integration/upload applications (FirstBest AppReader™), configuration tools (FirstBest Business Analyst Studio™), and integrated analytics engine (FirstBest Insight™). Leading American and international carriers, such as XL Group plc, OneBeacon, Chesapeake Employers, Beacon Mutual, and ICW Group, rely on FirstBest to improve underwriting efficiencies and quality. FirstBest helps insurers institutionalize risk-assessment knowledge and best practices. With FirstBest solutions, all constituents in the underwriting process can rapidly quote, collaborate, issue, and bind business on a single, data-powered, real-time platform. To learn more, call 1-781-863-6000 or visit www.firstbest.com.
