Speeding the Cycle

It isn't often that a company is able to find solutions to its processing problems in one place. But, when VantisLife ($700 million in total assets) wanted to reduce its underwriting business cycle and provide agents with one point of entry for all sales- and agent-driven processes, the East Hartford-based carrier looked to a familiar vendor: Edison, N.J.-based NaviSys.

In 1997, VantisLife's Scott Smith, senior VP of operations, selected a Genelco point-of-sale solution (now offered by NaviSys) to simplify the insurer's new-business underwriting process. The solution, which was applied to the company's flagship term life product, instantly improved the process. So, when it came time to streamline the agent side of the sales and underwriting process, Smith knew just where to go.

According to Smith, inefficiencies stretched VantisLife's business cycle to as much as 30 days. For one thing, underwriters spent too much time searching for missing application information, he notes. "We asked ourselves what we could do to enhance the automation in our business cycle," Smith says, adding that the company also was looking to create a single point of entry for all applications.

Since VantisLife's clients are banks and financial institutions, Smith approached NaviSys in fall 2003 with very specific needs. He wanted a system that would be platform-neutral. The system had to be easy to use for someone who is not an insurance agent. It had to be fast - Smith wanted a product that delivered nearly instant approval for life applications. And, it had to be foolproof, preventing applications from being filed without all the required information. "Our underwriting department was receiving paper applications with fields missing," relates Craig Simms, VantisLife's SVP of marketing.

Finally, the system had to help generate new business. According to Simms, VantisLife's clients want applications that can do it all with minimal effort by the user. The carrier found its solution in NaviSys' FrontOffice point-of-sale (POS) application.

The vendor customized the product around VantisLife's seven rules-based criteria. Since the application is compatible with most platforms, Smith relates, no modifications were required to install it. Linking the existing POS system and the agent system through the agent portal was the last step in the implementation, which was completed in less than six months, he adds.

The next step was training the banks how to use the product. According to Simms, he walked bank employees through the product demo and answered their questions during his regular visits to the branches. He also showed them how to interact with the agent portal.

Despite a $150,000 capital investment, Smith says VantisLife couldn't be happier with the solution. "[Return on] the initial investment has already been achieved by the success of the new product in premium value - never mind the scalability," he says. According to Smith, with the ability to render an underwriting decision at the desktop, underwriters are able to focus their attention on more critical cases.

And savings have been realized right where Smith intended. "The whole rollout of point-of-sale on our term product has cut down our underwriting cycle by four or five days, easily," he says. "We're in a 22- to 24-day underwriting cycle right now."

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CASE STUDY PROFILE

COMPANY

VantisLife (East Hartford; $700 million in total assets).

LINES OF BUSINESS

Life and annuities.

VENDOR/TECHNOLOGY

NaviSys' (Edison, N.J.) FrontOffice point-of-sale application.

CHALLENGE

Streamline the underwriting process and cut the underwriting cycle time.