2008 Accomplishments

Using Insurance Data System (IDS) as the platform, TransUnion successfully developed and launched the Asset Monitoring Solution. TransUnion, working with the vehicle and asset finance and insurance industries, developed a solution that compares vehicle finance data with insurance information. Using integrated data files, TransUnion’s Asset Monitoring Solution, compares and monitors changes to insurance policies, helping the industry to effectively manage changes to existing policies and track cancelled policies. Vehicle and asset finance houses will now have the advantage of knowing when a policy has been cancelled, upgraded from third-party to comprehensive insurance or reduced from comprehensive to third-party insurance.

With the launch of the South African Insurance Crime Bureau in 2008, TransUnion facilitated the transfer of all data held by South African Insurance Crime Bureau (SAICB) members on the IDS to the SAICB. This information will play an integral part in the success of the SAICB. Clear roles and responsibilities were defined between the IDS and the SAICB. IDS’s focus remains on the transactional analysis of the risk associated with policyholders and their assets and the SAICB will leverage existing shared data to detect and investigate organised fraud and crime across the industry.

Great strides were made in increasing the participation in and quality of the data on the IDS. The IDS Steering Committee developed a 3-year strategy focusing on increased participation, including the broker community through their association the Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA), increased data quality, the identification of key performance indicators to measure the value of IDS and the development of a product strategy.

Focus areas for 2009

2009 will be an exciting year for IDS, key focus areas include:

• The implementation of the Asset Monitoring Solution providing a positive monetary impact to IDS participants
• Various activities in conjunction with the SAICB and FIA are planned to ensure a further increase in participation in IDS
• Research will be conducted to identify information-sharing opportunities in the commercial insurance environment
• Discussions have been held with all insurance companies in the Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland markets. TransUnion is committed to exploring the opportunities with insurers in these countries going forward. The IDS online enquiry functionality will be given a facelift, ensuring maximum value to the user.

The IDS is a dynamic tool utilised in the fight against fraud in the insurance industry, and we are sure 2009 will prove to be yet another year of achievement in this regard.