Two major organizations that supply standard forms, rating information and policies to the property/casualty insurance industry have agreed to work more closely together.

The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) and ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) have partnered to expand the reach of the standards they develop for property/casualty insurers.

The two nonprofit insurance organizations have become members of each other’s association, with mutual access to each other’s information.

AAIS is a P/C advisory organization and statistical agent that provides policy forms, rating information and automation support for more than 700 insurers. AAIS maintains programs of forms and manuals for more than 25 lines of personal, commercial, agricultural and inland marine insurance.

ACORD is a global nonprofit that helps develop open consensus data standards and standard forms for the insurance and related industries. Members include insurance and reinsurance companies, agents and brokers, software providers, financial services organizations, and industry associations. ACORD maintains offices in New York and London.

The relationship will initially focus on three areas:

• AAIS will incorporate ACORD code sets for numerous fields in the statistical plans AAIS maintains for regulatory reporting and ratemaking.
• ACORD will incorporate contributions from AAIS, including staff expertise and insight from AAIS member companies, into the core ACORD standards.
• The partnership is designed to facilitate traceability for insurers that are members of both ACORD and AAIS across any implementation of the AAIS Underwriting Platform and any rating and underwriting application that utilizes ACORD data standards.

According to Bill Bickerton, AAIS vice president of data analytics, integrating ACORD standards with AAIS’s programs will increase efficiency for members, enhance the quality of products and services, and extend the mission of the organizations.

“AAIS’s use of ACORD data sets in our statistical reporting will mean standards-based consistency for our data reporting members,” he said.

Shane McCullough, ACORD chief enterprise architect, said by utilizing AAIS’s statistical and reporting data, ACORD will broaden its standards offerings.

“Our partnership with AAIS will significantly expand our ability to service our members and the insurance industry as a whole,” he said.