Who Drives that Car? Where is it Driven? New Analytics Tool Enables Auto Insurers to Identify Missing Operators

January 1, 2011 / 4 min read

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 10, 2006 — Quality Planning Corporation (QPC), the Rating Integrity Solutions Company, has introduced a new data analytics product that uncovers costly insurance premium rating anomalies by comparing an insurer’s rating information with thousands of independent data sources.

The new RISK:select product is designed specifically for states where mileage is not an important rating factor and complements QPC’s existing RISK:check® data analytics solutions that insurers use to identify and recover lost auto-insurance premium revenue.

Unlike RISK:check, RISK:select does not include sophisticated mileage calculations as part of its bank of analyses. As a result, a RISK:select analysis typically costs less than a RISK:check analysis, yet delivers exceptional results to insurers not using mileage to calculate auto insurance premiums. RISK:select accurately identifies key causes of premium “leakage” — missing operators, garaging location, and business usage.

“Our RISK:check product consistently provides QPC clients with a high return on their investment, especially in states such as California where accurate vehicle mileage is essential for optimal premium pricing,” said Daniel Finnegan, president of QPC. “With our new RISK:select product, QPC’s Rating Integrity Solution can be deployed cost-effectively on behalf of most major private passenger auto insurers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

Rating error is a major source of premium loss — or leakage — costing private passenger auto insurers more than $16 billion annually. Auto premium leakage reduces premium and bottom-line profitability from every auto writer. It runs from 4% to 15% of premium revenues, depending on a number of different factors. These include: the company’s rating plan, the states in which it operates, the degree of effort expended to ensure that underlying policyholder data is up-to-date, and even the insurer’s corporate attitude to the problem.

Separately, for ongoing rating integrity, QPC also announced the national availability of RISK:guard, which maintains rating integrity once a book of business has been scrubbed by RISK:select or RISK:check. Intended for use in the second and subsequent years of the program, RISK:guard lowers future costs by up to 60% because it acts as a filter and reduces the number of policies that require further investigation. For just pennies per policy, auto insurers can regularly monitor their books of business and keep premium leakage to an absolute minimum.

“It’s surprising how many auto insurers appear to be unaware or unconcerned about the flawed information on which they base their business,” said Bob U’Ren, vice president of underwriting and business development at QPC. “Rating integrity is all about the use of accurate, validated policy-holder data. QPC’s clients experience impressive results and substantial ROI because they have better underwriting information.”

On average, 82% of QPC audits uncover policies lacking sufficient premium to cover the intended risk. QPC’s clients experience average premium growth of 4% to 8% as a result of improved rating integrity.

Rating integrity and competitive advantage
QPC assists auto insurers in their efforts to minimize rating error. QPC takes an auto insurance company’s book of policyholders and processes it through a battery of more than 150 proprietary tests, cross-reference checking and pattern-matching algorithms to identify errors and discrepancies that might suggest fraud and misrepresentation on the part of consumers. QPC also provides insurers with additional services, such as policyholder phone interviews to discover missing drivers, verify garaging addresses, determine annual mileage, and other key rating information. Over time, insurance companies with accurate rating information are better able to compete and are more financially stable.

About ISO
ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and human resources. Clients use ISO’s databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the U.S. and around the world, ISO’s services help customers protect people, property and financial assets. For more information.

About Quality Planning Corporation
An ISO business, QPC is focused exclusively on providing decision integrity solutions to the insurance industry. QPC works with insurance companies to identify areas of significant premium leakage using sophisticated database management, statistical analysis and modeling, customized survey design, and highly targeted customer interaction. Quality Planning Corporation (QPC), the rating integrity solutions company, was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.qualityplanning.com

Release: Immediate

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

Tim Cox (QPC)
Zing Public Relations
650-369-7784
tim@zingpr.com