ISOnet Delivers ISO's Core Products Over the Internet, Offers Gains in Speed, Accuracy and Productivity

January 1, 2011 / 4 min read

NEW YORK, June 4, 1998 — In an industry first, Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s (ISO) core products became available over the Internet today.

Insurers and reinsurers are now able to access ISO circulars, policy forms and Commercial Lines Manual (CLM) information over the World Wide Web through ISO's Internet delivery system, called ISOnet®.

"We are proud to be the first insurance advisory information provider in the country to deliver our core products on the web," said Donald J. Rainone, ISO's executive vice president of marketing and strategic planning. "Making circulars, policy forms and Commercial Lines Manual information available on ISOnet is just the first phase of the delivery of ISO's products over the Internet. To keep pace with our customers' needs, ISO is moving toward using the Internet as a primary delivery channel for our products."

Using ISOnet's flexible, easy-to-use search options and hypertext link capabilities, customers can navigate between circulars, policy forms and manual rules and information." ISOnet makes it easy to find and use ISO information that is vital to our customers' operations," Rainone said. "ISOnet will improve employee productivity, speed up research, eliminate tracking of paper documents, and reduce filing and storage expense — in short, lower our customers' cost of doing business. Ultimately, this translates into savings for insurers' customers, as well."

ISOnet will provide customers real-time access to ISO's online reference library of both current and historical documents: three years' worth of circulars, personal and commercial lines policy forms in effect since January 1995, and information from the current Commercial Lines Manual and up to two previous versions.

ISOnet electronically stores more than 12,000 ISO circulars issued since 1995, and more than 5,000 personal and commercial lines' policy forms. In paper format, these documents total over half-a-million pages which, if stacked vertically, would be as high as a 20-story building. The 25,000-plus-page Commercial Lines Manual available on ISOnet would fill 50 volumes in paper form.

"ISO extensively tested an ISOnet prototype with major insurance companies and reinsurers to seek their input on design and functionality," Rainone said. Participants recognized a host of benefits that ISOnet delivered for their businesses, including fast, accurate and real-time access to ISO data. Participants also cited improved research and analysis capability, improved response to changing market and regulator demands, and better-quality information with timely updates.

"The test companies' feedback contributed significantly to ISOnet's design, user-friendliness and seamless integration of features and functions," said Rainone." As our information customers go online to access our products on the Internet, they will see their productivity go up and their costs go down. ISOnet adds real value to ISO's information."

ISOnet^SM FACT SHEET

Products currently available through ISOnet — ISO's new Internet delivery system.

Circulars

ISO Circulars are issued daily to communicate vital information on ISO's activities to customers - such as when loss costs, rule and form filings are made and approved, information on statistical plans, actuarial data and analysis.
On average, ISO issues over 75 circulars each week - over 4,000 per year.
ISOnet contains more than 12,000 circulars issued since January 1995.
The ISOnet Circular database contains over half-a-million pages of information - which, if stacked vertically in paper format, would be as high as a 20-story building.

Forms

ISOnet provides online access to an extensive electronic library of ISO's industry-standard policy forms and endorsements
ISOnet contains more than 5,000 forms - covering all ISO forms in effect since January 1994 (except Spanish language forms, pre-simplified forms, Personal Inland Marine forms).

Commercial Lines Manual

ISOnet contains loss costs, rules and other information from ISO's Commercial Lines Manual (CLM) - covering ISO's nine commercial lines of insurance.
ISOnet makes available electronically more than 25,000 pages of CLM information - enough to fill up a 50-volume set in paper form.

Customer Benefits

ISOnet saves time - beta test customers indicated that with efficient, online access to ISO information, they saved between 15 and 75 percent of the time they spend working with ISO information.
ISOnet increases productivity - ISOnet delivers important time-sensitive information to customers faster than ever before and helps insurers plan better.
ISOnet saves money -customers can expect to realize savings in the form of reduced copying, filing, storage and internal routing costs.

ISO CORE PRODUCTS

ISO's core products are:

Advisory prospective loss costs: Loss costs are the expected losses from underwriting a particular risk or class of risk, validated by an actuarial analysis of historical losses on similar risks or risk classes.
Forms: ISO produces standardized policy-contract language — policy forms and endorsements — for underwriting many insurance lines and classes. ISO modifies such forms in response to legislative, judicial, regulatory, sociological, demographic and marketplace changes.
Rules: ISO helps insurers develop and modify rules — sets of conditions under which an insurer agrees to underwrite a particular type of risk or risk class at a specified rate in a state — and may file those rates with state regulators on behalf of insurers. ISO's manual of rules includes definitions of territories and classifications of risks for rating purposes.

Release: Immediate

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