Software Implementation of a Computer Based System for Underwriting Insurance

Introduction

It is being said there “There is nothing as constant as change” in all sectors of the society, there is always the tendency of a disaster, which takes many forms and no human is immuned to them. There is no method or ways of knowing who will have a loss or when loss may happen. This brought about group of people coming together to bear risks of others thereby ensuring that at least some of the money problems were met, these people are known as “Insurance”.

Companies compensate or indemnity the return for the financial loss suffered as a result of those risks of life. They do not set out to eliminate the loss and cannot stop the disaster or misfortune from occurring, but rater they suffer the below in a purely financial sense of offering monetary compensation to the nation.

This project is developed so that most of the work done manually in the insurance companies will be carried out using computers with the aims to achieve efficiency and accuracy in the operation of the business (underwriting) and also to make the task of insurance managers easier to providing them with additional information.

In developing countries, insurance companies are the second largest users of computers, but its use in Nigeria Insurance Companies are comparatively very low. There are several areas of applications of computers in insurance companies apart from the ones mentioned above, the use of computers in insurance companies try to guard themselves against staff shortage in addition to performing the administrative work associated with customer’s proposal calculations of premiums and claims when necessary.

1.1 Statement Of The Problem

The need for proper and accurate information for the underwriting of insurance policies cannot be over emphasized. But some insurance companies neglect this resulting poor performance of such company. Accurate information for the underwriting of insurance policies is very essential especially those policies that involves human life. In a case where false and inaccurate information flows in and out, the company is bound to encounter many problems like high wastage of money on settlement of claims, commissions, premiums of individual life assurance proposals.

In African-European Insurance Co., the company is still facing the problem of misfiling many hands handling one file, mis-sorting of files due to processing file manually.

Since African-European Insurance Co. is a very big company with many department, each department need to be computerized so as to carry it work efficiently. For instance, the Actuarial Services Department, which enters on the computation relating to premiums of individual life assurance proposals, preparation of accounting and member’s statements for Deposit Administration Schemes, liaison with consulting actuaries by supplying the necessary data for carrying out actuarial valuation.

1.2 Purpose Of The Study

The research deemed it necessary to carry out this work so as to point out those areas where the insurance company likes African-European Insurance Co. is one of every nation pride when we talk of economy. Not only that, it also involved indemnity.

The purpose of this study therefore is to point out in the necessity for the computerization of every department in the company. I mean developing software that will aid for easy and better information.

Also, to emphasize on the benefits to be obtained if one engaged in a business with an insurance company like African-European Insurance Co. The emphasis is much laid on the indemnity, the need to ensure promptness in the settlement of claims.

1.3 Aims And Objectives

The role of the insurer in any polity is of bearer of risks. In other words, the populace can feel insulted from risk when they take advantage of insurance to rely on when the unexpected strikes. It is for this reason that African-European Insurance Co. was rooted into existence.

It is interesting to note that insurance has over the years developed both positive and negative facets. Positives in its insulate function, negative in its refusal to perform this function. Such as this negative facet rooted itself in one psyche that the average Nigeria would probably insure only what is decreed for him to insure, such as his car.

Based on these, the study wants to achieve the following objectives.

1. To find out whether there is a computerized insurance underwriting system in the case study (African-European Insurance Co.)
2. To find out whether the company is able to carry out all the insurance policies especially those that involved underwriting.
3. To examine the method of information flow in and out of the company.
4. To identify the various problem encountered by the organization in the management information services department.
5. To make useful recommendation of the development of a software which can be used to solve the existing problems.

1.4 Scope Of The Study

The system is designed to run on IBM Personal Computers and its compatible. Because of the many aspects in the insurance companies, this system is based on the “underwriting” aspects, which involved the various insurance policies (life and non-life policies) carried out by collecting various data such as proposal’s particulars, calculate premium and claims required.