Tomorrow’s Info-Tech Strategies:
Let’s Raise the Bar

Basic Issues
• Strategy Development
• Execution/Implementation
• Assessment/Feedback

Basic Needs
• Right Information
• Right Place
• Right Time
• Right Price
• …and the right use...

Three Solution Areas
• Reinvent Company/Vendor Relationships
• Foster Cross-Industry Cooperation
• Conduct Implementation Assessment as a
Separate Function

Reinventing Company/Vendor
Relationships
• Industry-Asset Approach to Sales and Use of Information
• Joint Product Development

Reinventing Company/Vendor
Relationships
Case Study
Rethinking ISO’s Assets for
Protection Class Assignment

PPC Today:
Insurance and Beyond
“The best indicator of the effectiveness of the fire service in this state is the increasing number of lower ISO (PPC) ratings found throughout the state.”
Alabama Assoc. of Volunteer Fire Departments

PPC Today:
Insurance and Beyond
“The city has spent $369.4M on maintaining, expanding and upgrading the water distribution system. We’ve made enough changes to bring our rating up to a Class 2.”
Asst. Fire Chief Debra Carlin
Dallas Morning News, January 1999

Classifying Individual Risks by
PPC
Protection Class Manual
• 90,000+ Recipients Countrywide
• Monthly Updates
• Requires Local Knowledge of Boundaries,
Drive Distances, and Hydrant Locations
• “Paper Manual Doesn’t Work Anymore”

ISO’s First Solution: GUS
Geographic Underwriting System (GUS)
• Transaction-Based: Address In-Answer Out
• Multiple Access Solutions
• About 250 Customers
• About 40M Addresses Run Since 1995
• “Best Known Way”

Reinventing The Wheel
• Change technology/Create a database
• Every U.S. address to be represented
• Simple Comma-Delimited File:
Address PPC Code FD Name
1-50 Main St. Class 4 Wilber FD
• Consumers Get the “Benefit of Doubt”

Protection Class Database
Address Types
Address Type 1: Different PPCs on a Street
ZIP STATE CITY PRE
DIR
20601 MD WALDORF
20601 MD
20601 MD
WALDORF
WALDORF
STREET ST
TYPE
GARDINER RD
GARDINER RD
GARDINER RD
POST
DIR
LOW HIGH O/E/B FIPS PPC
3501 3569 O
3571 3999 O
3600 4298 E
017 10
FD
WALDORF FD
017 5/9 WALDORF FD
017 5/9 PRINCE
PRINCE

Protection Class Database
Address Types
Address Type 2: Same PPC on a Street
ZIP STATE CITY PRE
DIR
20601 MD WALDORF
STREET ST
TYPE
ALFRED DR
POST
DIR
LOW HIGH O/E/B FIPS PPC
017 5/9
FD
WALDORF FD

Protection Class Database
Address Types
Address Type 3: Same PPC in a ZIP Code
ZIP STATE CITY PRE
DIR
20680 MD RIDGE
STREET ST
TYPE
POST
DIR
LOW HIGH O/E/B FIPS PPC
037 9
FD
RIDGE FD

Protection Class Database
ZIP Code Record
ZIP PPC % PPC % PPC % PPC %
20601 3/9 2.33
5/9 70.77
9 15.36
10 11.53
20602 5/9 91.99
10 8.01
20603 5/9 100
20606 9 100
20607 3/9 99.16
5/9 0.84
20608 3/9 2.84
10 97.16
20609 9 99.64
10 0.36
20611 6/9 100

Solution:
Protection Class Database
Benefits
• Provides a PPC Every Time
• High Accuracy with Built-In Fail Safe
• 24 X 7: Internet Time
• Handles Quotes, New Business, Renewals
• No Reliance on Costly Manual Intervention
• Preserves an Important National Standard

Foster Cross-Industry
Cooperation
• Real Estate
• Banking
• Insurance
• (Government?)

Studying Implementation
• Underwriting Guidelines
• Rating
• Loss Control
• Marketing
• Actuarial: Hunting for niches in areas where the predictive correlation fails