Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho Selects Guidewire Software for Policy Administration and Billing

Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ to expand business potential and streamline operations for better service

POCATELLO, Idaho and SAN MATEO, Calif., May 20, 2010:

Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho (FBM Idaho), the state’s largest domestic property/casualty insurer and Guidewire Software®, a leading provider of flexible core systems to property/casualty insurers, today announced that FBM Idaho has selected Guidewire PolicyCenter® as its new policy administration and underwriting solution and Guidewire BillingCenter® as its new billing system. FBM Idaho had previously selected Guidewire ClaimCenter®. Together these Guidewire Insurance Suite™ applications will replace functionality currently performed by the carrier’s legacy all-in-one policy, billing, and claims system. 

FBM Idaho is planning ahead to ensure a strong technology foundation for its future. After a thorough search, the company selected Guidewire’s intuitive, web-based policy administration, underwriting, and billing solutions to help position itself to win in the competitive insurance services industry. As modular applications, built on a shared platform, PolicyCenter and BillingCenter will provide the focused functionality of best-of-breed applications along with the technology and user benefits of integrated systems.  

FBM Idaho wanted to invest in its technology infrastructure and core systems in order to help it better respond to the rapidly changing business landscape and recruit new IT staff. “It was important for us to find the right solutions for our business,” says Tim Stronks, vice president, Personal Lines at FBM Idaho. “Our preference was that these be from the same vendor so that we could best leverage our internal IT skills across systems. We also wanted to remain self-reliant since we will be living with these systems long-term, so the systems needed to be easy to work with. Guidewire offered individually strong applications with the added benefit of a common architectural foundation, which met our needs nicely.”

“PolicyCenter and BillingCenter will enable us to personalize the communications and level of service we provide,” said Stronks. “Technology limitations will no longer be a barrier to the service enhancements and process improvements we would like to implement. For instance, we’ll be able to get policies into the hands of our customers more quickly.”

“By selecting the Guidewire Insurance Suite to run its operations, Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho will have a strong foundation on which to grow and operate its business efficiently and effectively,” said John Raguin, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software. “We are proud that their ClaimCenter experience was a positive one, giving them confidence to implement additional Guidewire core systems.”

Guidewire PolicyCenter® is a flexible underwriting and policy administration system designed to empower personal and commercial lines carriers to deliver insurance the way they want. PolicyCenter helps insurers grow profitably by increasing underwriting effectiveness, improving efficiency and lowering expenses, while responding with agility to market opportunities and enhancing customer and agent relationships.

Guidewire BillingCenter® is a comprehensive billing system for all lines of P&C insurance. BillingCenter is a flexible system designed to make it easier for insurers to automate the billing lifecycle; design flexible billing, payment and delinquency plans; manage agent commissions; and enable rapid integration with external payment systems.

Guidewire PolicyCenter and BillingCenter are available as standalone systems or as part of the Guidewire Insurance Suite™ and can be integrated to an insurer’s existing systems and/or to third party applications. Both systems are built on a modern technology architecture, including a 100% Web client and Web services interface, which enables lower total cost of ownership in any environment.

Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho (FBM Idaho)

Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho was founded in 1947 by Idaho farmers and ranchers. Today, FBM Idaho remains wholly based in Idaho, and is one of the state’s leading home and auto insurers as well as the largest writer of farm and ranch insurance. The company’s 145 agents in 48 offices across Idaho offer automobile, homeowners, commercial, flood, crop hail, life, and health insurance. FBM Idaho pioneered the “package policy” concept in the early 1960’s. Today its package policies for both rural and urban clients remain some of the most competitively priced and convenient available.  FBM Idaho has consistently maintained an \"A\" or higher financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company for over 25 years. FBM Idaho’s current A.M. Best rating is A+ Superior. Loans and investments are available through FBM Idaho’s subsidiary company, Idaho Farm Bureau Financial Services. Further information about Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho can be found at www.idfbins.com.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software is a provider of core system software to the global Property/Casualty (general) insurance industry. Designed to be flexible and scalable, Guidewire solutions give insurers the capability to deliver excellent service, increase market share and lower operating costs. Guidewire InsuranceSuite™, consisting of Guidewire PolicyCenter®, Guidewire ClaimCenter® and Guidewire BillingCenter® spans the key functional areas in insurance – underwriting and policy administration, claims management, and billing. Guidewire is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com.