Midsize Insurers Spend 59% More On Policy Processing

NU Online News Service, Nov. 14, 2003, 12:47 p.m. EST – Midsize insurers are cutting life insurance information technology budgets faster than bigger life insurers, but life processing costs are growing faster at the midsize insurers than at the bigger insurers, according to results of an informal, voluntary survey conducted by TCi Consulting & Research, Cresskill, N.J.

TCi found that total life insurance IT expenses are down 3.5% at the bigger companies this year but down 11% at the midsize companies.

Even though the midsize life insurers that participated in the TCi survey have pruned life IT budgets, they are spending 59% more on total processing expense per in-force policy, mainly because the operations cost is $43.59 per policy at the midsize companies and only $19.39 at the big companies, TCi says.

The midsize survey participants are devoting 78% of their processing expenditures to operations, while the big companies are devoting only 55% of processing expenditures to operations.