SURVEY FINDS THAT INSURANCE INDUSTRY
HAS NOT MADE ADEQUATE IMPROVEMENTS
IN CONTRACT PROCESSING TO AVOID ANOTHER SEPTEMBER 11 CLAIMS DISPUTE
Majority of Respondents Cite Better Access to
Deal Documents as Chief Cause
NEW YORK– March 21, 2007 – Q.Know Technologies Inc., a global provider of advanced information management software, announced today the findings of its Third Annual Survey conducted jointly with Reactions/US Insurer magazine.
The information management survey was designed to identify how well business technology is keeping up with industry and regulatory demands and also to measure the impact on the daily life of the knowledge worker.
Of the 145 insurance and reinsurance executives responding, 68 percent resoundingly confirmed that their company was under increased administrative and underwriting pressure to keep up with new regulatory demands, such as Sarbanes Oxley in the U.S. and the FSA’s Contract Certainty requirements in the UK. Yet, 54 percent are only “somewhat certain” that their policy wording will “always be in place” by the time the coverage is incepted. Thirty-one percent (31%) reported being “completely confident”, while the remaining 15 percent were “less than confident” to “not at all.”
These findings are particularly poignant given the fact that 64 percent of respondents reported that their companies had not improved contract processes enough to avoid another claims dispute like the September 11 scenario. Central to the 9/11 claims problem was that the fact that insurance on the World Trade Center towers was incepted before the contracts were finalized. When the attacks occurred shortly after, it was not clear which contract wording bound the insurers and reinsurers of the property. To date, the matter remains unresolved.
“The insurance industry is not unlike most businesses and organizations that struggle to streamline processes in managing the overwhelming volume of electronic information,” states Vineet Kalucha, president and chief executive officer, Q.Know Technologies, Inc. “The WTC claims dispute underscores the worst case scenario for what has now become a heavily regulated and discoverable contract and underwriting process with much improvement still required at insurance and reinsurance companies globally.”
Identifying what technology improvements/upgrades would provide the greatest relief to the daily life of the knowledge worker, the respondents reported the following:
- Better/faster access to deal documents (59%)
- Improved archival systems (43%)
- Larger server capabilities (17%)
- New e-mail platforms (13%)
The central issue of information management is primarily focused on the organizing, retrieving, finding, tracking, responding to and managing important electronic business documents. When dealing with electronic information, this includes more than 250 file types, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, Web pages, e-mail, voice mail, photos, PDFs, instant messages, VoIP, etc. Business users spend a considerable amount of time managing this information during the work day. The survey respondents revealed the amount of time they spent managing their electronic information was from 10-25 percent of their day for 30 percent of respondents to as much as 76-100 percent of the day for nine percent of those surveyed.
E-mail communications comprises a large part of how business is transacted today. Being able to maintain all electronic documents – including e-mail – in one central location, which is accessible across the organization, proved to be at the top of the wish list for respondents. Fifty-three percent (53%) report that being able to maintain e-mail alongside all other electronic deal documentation would be “extremely valuable”, while 38 percent responded “somewhat valuable.” Nine percent (9%) responded “not at all.”
“The survey results, as well as the frustration of business users, does not come a big surprise for Q.Know. This is the type of feedback we routinely get from prospects and new clients looking to better serve customers and meet compliance requirements,” states Mr. Kalucha. “Having come from the industry, this is exactly why we created Q.Know’s enterprise software to address these information management challenges in an easy-to-use platform on Microsoft Outlook.”
Q.Know Technologies, Inc. develops software that solves the most challenging problem in business computing – the ability to automatically and accurately file, retrieve, manage and share unstructured electronic information. The result is instant access to enterprise-wide information, real-time deal visibility, ensured regulatory compliance and improved customer satisfaction. Q.Know works seamlessly across existing applications, such as Microsoft Outlook® and Office®, and is quickly implemented and easily learned. For more information, please visit www.qknow.com
Q.Know Contact:
Deidre Campbell, 212.847.9554, dcampbell@qknow.com.
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