Dan Butler, Vice President of NUDGMI, attended the National Big I Conference in Orlando, Florida in October on behalf of the National Users Development Group for MI.

Dan attended the AUGIE (ACORD - User Groups Information Exchange) meeting on October 14^th, following is his report from the AUGIE meeting:

• The first discussion centered on a new ACORD form that would act as an agency survey.  This form would be available to all our carriers to use and could act as a generic replacement for the annual survey some/all our companies ask for.
• The second main discussion was about voting as a member of AUGIE.  I was not familiar with all the previous discussions from previous meetings, this will continue to be a work in progress. 
• Another discussion focused on restructuring the three main steering committees, with 15 people per committee and 3 governing board members, totaling 48 people who would become responsible for the output of suggestions and reports as they relate to ACORD.
• It is recommended that all Independent Agencies subscribe to ACORD Advantage for access to all ACORD forms and the additional support that comes with the subscription.  This can be accessed from the ACORD web site for any agency with an interest.
• I am asking for any suggestions or "Maintenance Recommendations" from all our members on any ACORD forms.  WE do have a voice and should use it.
• There is an internet based discussion site for all at team.acord.org.  This site will be up soon.

Dan attended the ACT (Agents Council for Technology) meeting on October 15^th, following is his report from the ACT meeting:

• The main discussion focused on where the companies should be going with their technology.  There was an open and spirited discussion of companies and advocacy groups.  I WOULD URGE ALL MEMBERS TO CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH AND LOBBY THEIR CARRIERS TO PUT $$$ INTO SUPPORTING MI.  This revolved around REAL TIME INTERFACE.
• The ACT website (which can be accessed from www.iiaba.com ) gives an update of the companies and the technologies supported by them.
• ACT has produced a video which should be hosted on the Encompass website.  The video should be checked out.  It deals with getting more real time activity for the agents/agencies. 
• Since we were in Florida, some time was spent discussing DISASTER PLANNING and RECOVERY.  This is needed for all agencies.  How many of us have a plan in place?  How many of us run a drill on our plans to find out where the kinks are in the plan?
• Discussion also centered around the acceptance of Digital Signatures.  What will the companies or the regulatory bodies currently or futuristically will require for signatures?  How can we get standardization for our industry?
• Various committees gave reports.  The best way to keep in touch with ALL the activity is by accessing the information off the ACT website.  Please use this web site.  Anyone interested in getting on any of the committees can contact me.

On October 16^th & 17^th Dan, along with Scott Deetz, visited with many Carrier Representatives, following is his report from those meetings:

 

Scott Deetz and I visited with carriers who interface with MI.  I advocated for all the members of NUDGMI and asked the companies to partner with MI.  Scott then approached each carrier with the particular issues MI is currently working on with that Carrier.

The carriers visited are as follows:

·        MetLife

·        St. Paul/Travelers

·        Encompass

·        Ohio Casualty

·        Safeco

·        Kemper

·        AIG

·        Liberty Regionals

·        Hartford

·        Chubb

·        EMC

PLEASE CONTINUE TO WORK ON THESE CARRIERS TO PARTNER WITH MI COMPARATIVE RATER AND MI MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.  THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO GET THINGS DONE.

 

Thank you,

 

Dan Butler

VP NUDGMI