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Web-based Benefits Enrollment Launched
September 26, 2008Columbia, S.C. — Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Co., a Columbia, S.C., provider of disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance, announced its new Web-based Harmony enrollment system, an online benefits management system. Harmony is designed to provide the administrator with the flexibility to enroll all of an employer's benefits anytime, anywhere—meeting any employer's open enrollment needs.
Colonial Life benefits representatives can use the system to:
- Communicate benefits and enroll employees one-to-one with a Colonial Life benefits representative in person, over the Internet or by phone
- Enroll any or all of an employer's benefits, both core and voluntary
- Enroll employees in different company locations and remote areas
Source: PRNewswire
The Hartford Launches New Cyber Liability Insurance Product
August 18, 2008Hartford, Conn., - Information sharing among Internet users via Web-based communities such as social-networking sites <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_sites> is apparently becoming a real liability threat for many organizations.
To address the growing concern around threats now associated with the functionalities of Web 2.0, Hartford Financial Products, an underwriting unit of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has developed a liability product called CyberChoice 2.0, which provides businesses with a robust, technology-related insurance policy that goes beyond traditional business insurance.
CyberChoice 2.0 includes both errors and omissions and first-party coverage designed to help meet the needs of today’s traditional companies that recognize their technology exposure and information risks. Companies and/or organizations with personally identifiable information (PII) include:
* Healthcare
* Financial Services
* Retail
* Manufacturing
* Education
* Legal
* Media
* Miscellaneous companies such as data processors, application service providers and e-commerce companies that have an increased Cyber exposure.
“Cyber risk is an unavoidable, but very real, part of the internet economy that has created new liabilities and business exposures,” says Drew Bartkiewicz, vice president of Cyber and New Media Risk at The Hartford, Hartford, Conn. “As Web 2.0 is becoming more mainstream, so are the business risks of privacy, media, and online advertising. This is especially an issue as companies experiment with initiatives where the users create the potential new media liabilities associated with websites, including social networking sites. This is the most dynamic area of the economy, and the most legally uncertain in terms of doing business.”
Key features of The Hartford’s new CyberChoice 2.0 product include:
* Third-party coverage for data privacy and network security liability; Internet and electronic media liability; and professional services liability.
* First-party business interruption coverage in the event of a network security breach.
* First-party cyber extortion coverage for threats against data and identity theft.
* Intellectual property coverage for advertising and technology products.
* Reimbursement for expenses related to responding to a major privacy event. Some examples include notification of affected parties, costs for managing the crisis, data privacy regulatory fines, cost associated with credit monitoring, and investigation of the event by outside experts.
* Up to $10 million in coverage limits are available.
“In the last decade alone, personal data has become a valued company asset for businesses in the and abroad,” says Bartkiewicz. “With companies doubling their data volume every year and new regulations on the horizon, experts predict that the problem of data risk will continue to threaten businesses – and that the likelihood that a company and/or organization will experience a data breach will increase exponentially. We hope that the release of The Hartford’s new CyberChoice 2.0 product will help better protect companies against the many threats now part of our online world today.”
CyberChoice 2.0 is available via The Hartford Financial Products unit. Coverage is underwritten through the property and casualty insurance companies of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., and may not be available in all states.
Source: The
Ohio Casualty Gives Agents Access to Farm Line
August 13, 2008Fairfield, Ohio – Ohio Casualty, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, announced the introduction of its farm line of business (ISO Division Four) on Commercial IQ, its Web-based application for quoting and application submission.
Agents in Kentucky and Ohio are now realizing quicker approvals and binding turn-around time with SmartNav, the pre-qualification tool within Commercial IQ that helps agents determine which Farm exposures are acceptable risks. It also informs agents which related lines of business may be offered with Farm coverages.
“Making our farm product offering available on Commercial IQ gives our agents a paperless and easy-to-use process to quote and submit business,” said Jeff Cruey, VP, commercial lines underwriting, Ohio Casualty. “We’ve developed simplified entry screens and help text we call ‘farm logic’ that guides agents to the proper farm line of business, classifications and coverage options.”
To further agent convenience and quicken approval and binding, Commercial IQ also allows for the attachment of documents and photos to submissions and provides automated rating support for commonly requested coverage options and rules.
Commercial IQ can accommodate farm business as mono-line (combined farm property and farm liability, stand-alone farm property, and stand-alone farm liability) and in combination with business auto, commercial property, commercial umbrella, general liability and inland marine.
Ohio Casualty’s farm appetite is expansive, offering coverage for small liability exposures up to large commercial operations. The company, which offers property/casualty insurance products, also specializes in writing hobby farms for customers who don’t farm for revenue. Coverages for hobby farms can include primary residences and personal liability. Ohio Casualty’s experienced and knowledgeable staff assists agents in tailoring a wide variety of coverages to meet the specific needs of most farm accounts.
Source: Ohio Casualty
Connecture Enhances Corporate Web Site
July 28, 2008Atlanta — Connecture Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of Web-based sales, service and process automation solutions to the health insurance industry, has completed the first phase of its new Web site, www.connecture.com. The site offers new content and functionality, and provides health plan executives their own navigation paths, highlighting the business benefits Connecture’s sales automation software, InsureConnect and InsureConnect EZ, can provide their specific departments.
In addition to the executive navigation path, other new content includes a Webinar and event list, a current list of awards received, and employee testimonials that point to why Connecture is a great place to work and continues to achieve consistent growth. Added functionality includes multiple methods to request more detailed information, and easier access to Webinar registration and product demonstrations.
The newly introduced executive-path navigation is designed around the needs of health insurance executives, with particular focus on the sales, marketing, underwriting and IT departments, as well as an enterprisewide path. When executives select their particular area of interest, they are taken to a page that highlights how InsureConnect solutions can help them reach their department and organization goals with the aid of automation.
Source: Connecture Inc.
Liberty Mutual Expands Web Site
July 25, 2008Boston — Liberty Mutual Group Benefits, part of Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group, has launched several enhancements to its Web capabilities to give customers more control over their benefits.
The Web tools at MyLibertyClaim.com and MyLibertyClaimStatus.com give customers' employees greater options for reporting disability claims and leaves of absence as well as immediate access to updates on previously reported claims.
"The enhancements are the latest way that we harness technology to better serve our customers and their employees," notes Greg VanDam, SVP of claims and technology for Liberty Mutual Group Benefits. "And this is so important because it helps both employers and employees more efficiently manage their benefit programs."
The new Web tool enhancements on MyLibertyConnection.com include:
• Online Evidence of Insurability (EOI) — Employees can submit an EOI application for disability or life coverage in 10 to 15 minutes
• Broader reach — Employees can now submit claims and leave requests for a broader range of benefit programs, including long-term disability and other types of leave
• Online reporting for employers — Employers can now submit disability claims or leaves of absence on their employees' behalf
• More information — Employees can review additional status information, including detail on related disability claims and leaves
• Simplified reporting — An improved look-and-feel makes it easier to navigate both sites. A new streamlined intake session also makes it faster for employees and employers to file claim and leave requests
These enhanced Web tools are available to all Liberty Mutual Group Benefits customers at no additional cost.
Source: Liberty Mutual Group
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