ISO Acquires Technology Firm for Field-Survey Workflow Solutions

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 12, 2003 — Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) has acquired the assets of PalmCoast Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of automated workflow solutions, to help insurers maximize the value of commercial and personal lines information collected in field surveys. Terms were not disclosed.

Palm Coast provides solutions and support for the real estate appraisal, mortgage and franchise-inspection industries under the name ACI. ISO will continue the ACI name.

"The acquisition provides ISO and our customers access to leading technology that makes field-data collection more efficient and the analysis and integration of data much easier," said Frank J. Coyne, ISO chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"ACI's technology will also help position us to import field-verified information from numerous sources and deliver it with risk-specific underwriting, natural hazard and claims analytics developed by ISO professionals," Coyne added.

"When it comes to understanding information about individual risks, our customers need decision-driven processes and more flexible technologies. We intend to help them," said Coyne.

ACI staff will continue operating in Palm Coast, Fla., under the leadership of the company's president, Dave Roberts.

"The transition to ISO will be seamless for ACI's existing customers," said Coyne, adding, "ISO is fully committed to maintaining ACI's leadership position by making further investments to grow ACI's traditional markets."

Explaining ACI's technology edge in the property appraisal and survey space, Roberts said, "ACI's digital, Internet and workflow solutions are driven by 25 years of experience in streamlining appraisals for North America's largest financial institutions. Our application-specific tools support multi-vendor platforms, run on all Microsoft Windows operating systems and feature user-friendly and intuitive functionality."

ACI's scalable, customized technology also uses modular components to streamline workflow from underwriting to claims processing. At the same time, the technology enables data warehousing and maintenance for both internal and external data exchange, according to Roberts.

"We expect the complementary strengths of ISO's analytics and ACI's technology to open new cross-industry opportunities," said Coyne, adding, "Dave Roberts and the intellectual strength of the ACI team are a significant strategic addition to ISO."

ISO has been working with ACI to improve the flexibility of the software used by ISO's field staff for survey and grading activities. Through its Risk Decision Services unit, ISO maintains the property/casualty industry's most comprehensive field-survey service and the largest database of rated commercial buildings.

"If we want to enable our customers to make better decisions, it's all about delivering information and analyses quickly, efficiently and seamlessly," Coyne added.

About ISO
ISO is a leading source of information, products and services related to property and liability risk. For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, ISO provides analytical and decision-support products; consulting; data processing; and technical, statistical and actuarial services. ISO's products help customers with sales and prospecting, underwriting, rating and quoting, customer management, policy administration, product development, claims administration and fraud detection. ISO's AIR Worldwide subsidiary provides customers with the most advanced technologies to assess and manage natural and man-made extreme-event risk. Through its ISO Claims Services, Inc. (iiX unit) and Intellicorp subsidiaries, ISO provides motor vehicle reports and criminal-records information and through its AscendantOne unit delivers policy-management and rating solutions. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents, brokers, self-insureds, risk managers, insurance regulators and other government agencies.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com