Business News: Munich Re, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Independent Life Assignment Company

Munich Re Introduces Smart Mobility Program to Reduce Auto Fleet Collisions

Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. unveiled its Smart Mobility Program offering a toolbox of solutions to address the complex issues surrounding commercial auto losses and to help reduce or avoid the risk of collision for commercial fleets. Smart Mobility includes LossDetect (patent pending), an automated text-mining tool that analyzes automotive claims data and recommends potential solutions.

“Our Smart Mobility Program integrates technology and risk management solutions based on historical loss analysis to offer an innovative approach to the safety challenges faced by commercial fleet owners,” said Mike Scrudato, senior vice president, mobility, Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. “Our partnerships with leading edge companies in telematics and crash avoidance, in conjunction with our LossDetect tool, help us identify ways to increase safety and reduce collisions for fleet owners and their employees.”

Munich Reinsurance America’s LossDetect portal analyzes unstructured auto claims data to determine causes of loss and matches that with one or several of the Smart Mobility Program tailored solution(s) to assist in helping to reduce auto collisions:

• Collision Avoidance – Utilizes aftermarket collision avoidance products that are designed to warn of driving behaviors that could lead to an accident such as speeding, tailgating, lane departures, etc.
• Telematics – Captures vehicle performance and driver characteristics via an in-vehicle OBD device or a mobile app to offer operational insights (e.g., driver distraction) and savings via a reporting dashboard.
• Driver Coaching – Customized training focused on improving individual driver safety.
• Advanced Fleet Monitoring – Solutions that provide individual driver feedback and fleet assessment using advanced analytics to help monitor training and driver performance and benchmark against internal/external performance analytics.

The Smart Mobility Program is available to insurance company and broker clients, public entities, and small to mid-size companies with commercial fleets. The LossDetect portal can be accessed by all commercial fleet owners as well as Munich Re America customers. Visit us here to learn more.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ New Vehicle History Data to Help Insurers Predict Future Loss, Assess Risk

LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a provider of data, analytics and technology for insurance, announced the launch of LexisNexis Vehicle History. It provides a more holistic view of a vehicle’s lifecycle by gathering data on previous damage events, ownership changes, odometer readings and other data points to help insurers make a more accurate risk assessment.

LexisNexis Vehicle History provides a robust and simplified data gathering and delivery process that insurers can incorporate in their existing workflows. The solution draws from a variety of data sources to integrate important vehicle-related attributes into the pricing equation, while maintaining a simple quoting process for the consumer by prefilling information about the vehicle’s history. LexisNexis Risk Solutions insurance customers have access to data and analytics with sub-second turnaround utilizing a single point of entry that eliminates the need for technology resources to implement the product.

Annuity Provider First to Focus Exclusively on Structured Settlements for Personal Injury Victims

Company officials announced the launch of the Independent family of companies including subsidiary affiliates Independent Life Insurance Company and Independent Life Assignment Company. Independent Life will be the first annuity provider to focus solely on the personal injury structured settlement market.

The Texas-based company will complement the industry’s current life insurance carriers that offer annuities to fund structured settlements from their larger suite of insurance products. Independent Life Assignment Company will work to craft customized payments streams that best meet the financial needs of personal injury victims and their families and will fund those streams with custom annuities from Independent Life Insurance Company.

Independent Life Assignment Company will serve a nationwide market soliciting assignment of settlement liabilities from settling parties and buying funding annuities from Independent Life Insurance Company, its newly launched sister company.

Independent Life Assignment Company, Independent Life Insurance Company and their holding company, Independent Insurance Group, were formed as a collaboration between management and LKCM Headwater Investments, the private equity arm of Luther King Capital Management, a Fort Worth based investment firm founded in 1979 with approximately $15 billion in assets under management for high net worth individuals, institutional clients, private investment partnerships and mutual funds.

In addition to Atkins, the Independent Life Insurance Company management team includes Donald J. Herrema, vice chairman and chief investment officer, and J. Todd Hagely, chief financial officer. Atkins is also president of Independent Life Assignment Company with Daniel P. Durbin, vice president of Marketing and Sales, Patrick J. Hindert, vice president of Business Development and Christopher M. Bua, vice president of Internal Sales.

Independent Life Insurance Company’s risk profile is differs from previous annuity providers funding structured settlements because it is a single purpose insurer without the entanglements of unrelated product lines that have challenged some other providers. Additionally, it does not have any historical structured settlement annuities with pricing out of alignment with today’s investment environment.