ISO Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary

January 18, 1996 / 2 min read

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 1996 — Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) marked the 25th Anniversary of its founding at its Annual Meeting and Business Forum here today.

ISO's creation, as a single, national, multiple-line advisory organization, replacing regional and line-specific rating and service bureaus, introduced major economies of scale that cut costs for insurers, and ultimately, policyholders.

In remarks at the meeting — which carried the theme, "Proud of our past, focused on the future" — ISO Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Fred R. Marcon said, "We are especially proud of the partnership that we've built with our customers."

Highlights in ISO's history include:

1975: ISO introduced the property/casualty industry's first uniform commercial fire rating schedule and fire class-rating manual, eliminating the need for thousands of separate surveys of individual properties, state-to-state differences in rating procedures, and complicating differences from state to state in evaluating communities' fire-suppression capabilities.
1976: ISO introduced the Personal Auto policy and Homeowners policy that feature less technical language and are easier to read.
1978: ISO brought out its Commercial Lines Manual, incorporating common general rules and classifications for commercial lines. That year, ISO also completed the Commercial Statistical Plan — a major step in increasing the quality of data that ISO receives from insurance companies.
1986: ISO implemented one of its largest undertakings: the Commercial Lines Simplification Project. More than a decade in the making, this project produced a set of consistent, simplified insurance policy programs for all major commercial lines.
1989: ISO began to phase in advisory prospective loss costs (estimates of future claims payments) to replace its advisory rates for all lines of insurance in all states. ISO's insurer members provided for noninsurer directors to serve on ISO's board, which had been entirely composed of insurance company executives.
1995: Insurers relinquished control of ISO and created a new board controlled by noninsurers. ISO dissolved the last of its decision-making insurer committees, creating advisory user panels in their place. Decision-making authority now resides with ISO's professional staff.

"During our next 25 years, we'll continue our tradition of anticipating customers' needs and meeting them in a variety of innovative ways," Marcon said. "That's what has made us the premier provider of property/casualty information, and that's what will keep us there."

Release: Immediate

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