INSpire Announces Agreement With Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance

27 January 1999

INSpire Insurance Solutions Announces Software Licensing Agreement With the Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.

    FORT WORTH, Texas--Jan. 26, 1999--INSpire Insurance Solutions announced today a software licensing agreement to provide the company's Underwriting Expert System to The Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. (Farm Bureau Mutual), located in Manhattan, Kan.
    The implementation of these new capabilities will enable Kansas Farm Bureau to automate the company's underwriting process for its $100 million book of personal auto business.
    "We are very excited about the INSpire system. We anticipate substantial decreased manual effort in our underwriting process due to the capabilities of this expert system," said Dean Armstead, systems and procedures project manager, Farm Bureau Mutual. "We evaluated several vendors' products, visited and observed automated underwriting systems' usage in several production environments, and chose INSpire because of the flexibility of this system and the insurance industry experience of the INSpire team."
    INSpire's Underwriting Expert System enables a company to automate its underwriting guidelines, which results in increased productivity and improved loss ratios due to consistency of the underwriting. Generally, less than 20 percent of new business applications are referred as exceptions for underwriting review.
    Farm Bureau Mutual will begin processing its first auto policy in the second quarter of 1999 with plans to introduce additional personal lines products. Farm Bureau Mutual is an affiliate of Kansas Farm Bureau. The company represents one of the largest automobile insurers in Kansas and writes personal lines business through approximately 335 captive agents.
    "We are pleased that INSpire has been selected as the system provider for Farm Bureau Mutual. We look forward to implementing the solution that will enable Farm Bureau Mutual to continue to grow its business," said Bill Smith, president and chief operating officer, INSpire Insurance Solutions.
    With headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, and offices in San Diego, Calif.; Sheboygan, Wis.; Columbia, S.C.; and Roswell, Ga., INSpire Insurance Solutions provides policy and claims administration solutions for all property and casualty insurance products. As one of the foremost providers of outsourcing and integrated systems, INSpire serves clients with needs to enter new markets quickly, reduce expenses, improve customer service and focus on core competencies. Additional information can be obtained from INSpire's Web site at www.nspr.com or by calling 817/348-3999.