Top Five U.S. Carrier Adds MSB Home Characteristics Data at Point of Sale Process
January 18, 2008
NEW BERLIN, WI - JANUARY 18, 2008 MSB, the leading worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry, and a MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) company, announces that one of the top five U.S. homeowners insurance carriers will integrate MSB's InterChangeTM database into its policy quoting and issuance system for improved point-of-sale processing. Through this major new contract, the carrier receives a greater ability to support agents and staff with essential information that streamlines the underwriting and sales process.
InterChange, developed by MSB in 2006, is a dynamic, on-line database of accurate property characteristics data. The database, the only one of its kind in the industry, is continuously updated with data drawn from real estate, financial, insurance, and remodeling activity across the United States. Agents and underwriters who have access to InterChange's insurance-ready data via MSB's home valuation applications, gain greater efficiency and accuracy at the point of sale when creating preliminary insurance-to-value calculations, quoting, and binding homeowners coverage.
According to Peter M. Wells, President of MSB, "InterChange solves the reliability issue inherent in incorporating third-party building characteristics data into the replacement cost and premium calculations of insurers. InterChange's purpose is not just to source home characteristics data, but rather apply scoring metrics and other independent reviews of data quality to deliver mission-critical input that saves agents time in the sales process. Because MSB works in all industries requiring details of mission-critical building cost information, MSB is positioned to receive data from multiple sources and to develop reliable analytics pointing to the viability of each input item."
The extensive database of Insurance-Ready DataTM for millions of American homes is available at the point of sale through MSB's industry-leading home valuation application, Residential Component TechnologyTM (RCT) hosted on MSB ExpressTM, a secure Web-based platform. InterChange pre-populates data fields in RCT with current, continuously updated home characteristic data into the appropriate data fields, reducing phone time and data errors. InterChange home characteristic data is also available in a database form to carriers that participate in a reciprocal data exchange.
Data is deemed "insurance-ready" only after undergoing a stringent data analysis, validation and scoring process that determines the accuracy and reliability of the home characteristic data received from each individual source. Data configuration and content are provided in a manner that complies with credit and consumer privacy laws. Because highly accurate property characteristic data is available from one source within the current quoting workflow, efficiency is improved, the need for costly inspections is reduced, and customer service and financial position are improved.
Going forward, MSB's vision for InterChange is to expand into commercial property, to provide services to Canada and Europe, and to expand services beyond the insurance marketplace.
For more information about InterChange, contact Karen Linnell, Assistant Vice President of Residential Solutions, at Karen.Linnell@msbinfo.com, 800-809-0016, Extension 2833, or www.msbinfo.com.
About MSB
MSB (formerly known as Marshall & Swift / Boeckh), is an MDA company and the the leading supplier of local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology and services for the property and casualty insurance sector in the United States and Canada. MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. For information, please contact Marsha Berenson, Media Coordinator, at 800-285-1288, Ext. 2828, e-mail Marsha.Berenson@msbinfo.com, or visit MSB's Web site at www.msbinfo.com.
About MDA
MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information, and improve the decision making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.
Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of earth and space based information solutions, ranging from complex operational systems, to tailored information services, to electronic information products.
MDA employs more than 3,000 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX:MDA.
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