ICW Group Honored as a 2014 Model Insurer by Celent

Company Uses FirstBest Underwriting Workstation and Agent Portal to Triple Revenue and Fuel Profitable Growth

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Apr 24, 2014, 01:07 ET

BEDFORD, Mass. and SAN DIEGO, April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions for American and international property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers, and ICW Group, a leading national multiline P&C insurer, announced today that ICW Group is the winner of a 2014 Celent Model Insurer Award in the category of Legacy Transformation for its next-generation underwriting workstation and agent portal, Snap®. Built on the FirstBest Underwriting Management System™ (UMS), FirstBest Agent™ and FirstBest AppReader™, Snap optimized ICW Group's work comp business, enabling the company to become the carrier of choice among agents. By increasing underwriting efficiencies, ICW Group tripled direct written premium (DWP), and increased submissions and quotes by 93 and 80 percent, respectively.

ICW Group Logo (PRNewsFoto/FirstBest Systems, Inc.)

"Since unveiling Snap in 2008, we've exceeded our goals for profitable growth," said Paul Zamora, senior vice president, Workers' Compensation Underwriting, ICW Group. "With a more efficient workflow powered by FirstBest UMS, Agent and AppReader, we have succeeded in tripling our revenue with only a marginal increase in expenses. Most importantly, each underwriter is able to write more business while enhancing the level of service we provide our agents and brokers—helping them to better advise their clients."

Snap is based on the FirstBest Front Office Suite™, and combines underwriting and analyst workstations with an agent portal. It includes real-time collaboration for internal and external users, and is currently equipped with:

FirstBest UMS, an intuitive underwriting workstation that brings together everything the underwriter needs in one place so they can rapidly quote new business; provides management visibility into key metrics
FirstBest Agent portal and FirstBest AppReader with upload, quote, bind and collaboration capabilities
FirstBest BA Studio, which enables business users to configure business rules and screens

Additional performance highlights include:

An 85 percent retention rate with smaller accounts, 75 percent with larger accounts
85 percent of workers' compensation business is now being submitted through Snap
A 300 percent increase in policy count
Shorter referral processing—from 2.5 hours per day to 15-30 minutes per day
Underwriters tripled their productivity

"ICW Group's impressive results demonstrate that the FirstBest platform is a mature, proven platform for profitable growth. ICW Group has been able to meet and exceed their goals for best-in-class agent service and profitable growth. We congratulate them on this recognition and are proud that FirstBest has played a role in their transformational project," said FirstBest CEO and Founder John Belizaire.

The Celent 2014 Model Insurer Awards, announced at Celent's 2014 Innovation & Insight Day, recognize insurers that demonstrate effective use of technology and industry best practices. New for 2014, the awards were broken down into five categories: digital, analytics, legacy transformation, implementation best practices and best IT management. Winners were chosen among nominees who were sourced from more than 70 nomination submissions.

Donald Light, Director of Celent's American Property/Casualty Practice, said, "As this year's 2014 Legacy and Ecosystem Transformation Model Insurer, ICW Group's use of innovation to enhance its work comp business is an outstanding example of using technology to meet a business growth imperative in a challenging market environment. The initiative's impact on ICW Group's business operations was impressive—including increases in submissions, quotes and underwriter productivity."

Learn more about ICW Group's award at www.firstbest.com/celent-icw.

About FirstBest
FirstBest® Systems is the leading provider of insurance software solutions that help American and international global insurance companies improve underwriting profitability, scale their business and achieve high service levels with brokers, across the enterprise. The patented and proven FirstBest Front Office Suite™ has processed more than $14 billion in quotes and includes modular underwriting workstation, mobile underwriting, agent/broker portal and upload applications. Leading American and international carriers such as XL Group plc, OneBeacon Insurance Group, Chesapeake Employers, Beacon Mutual, ICW Group Insurance Companies, and others rely on FirstBest to improve underwriting efficiencies and quality, institutionalize knowledge and best practices, and empower everyone in the process to rapidly quote, collaborate, issue, and bind business on a single real-time platform from anywhere. To learn more call 1-781-863-6000.

About ICW Group
Based in San Diego, ICW Group Insurance Companies is the largest privately held insurance company domiciled in California. Quoting more than $3 billion annually, ICW Group represents a group of Property, Auto and Workers' Compensation insurance carriers, including Insurance Company of the West and Explorer Insurance Company. ICW Group is recognized nationally as an industry leader in helping policyholders achieve fewer and less costly claims, and is committed to meeting the needs of its policyholders and elevating the trusted agents and brokers who advise them. More information is available at www.icwgroup.com.

FirstBest is a registered trademark of FirstBest Systems, Inc. FirstBest Front Office Suite, FirstBest UMS, Underwriting Management System, FirstBest UMS Mobile, FirstBest BA Studio, FirstBest Agent and FirstBest AppReader are trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc.

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SOURCE FirstBest Systems, Inc.; ICW Group