State Auto Expands into New Markets and Keeps Pace with Technology, Fueled by CSC’s Software

Founded with $30,000 in borrowed funds, State Auto opened its doors in 1921 in Columbus, Ohio, pledging to build its new business through independent agents. Now a publicly traded company with more than $1 billion in property and casualty premium, State Auto Financial Corp. remains committed to independent agents as its sole distribution channel.

Building on 30-Year Relationship

Over the past decade, State Auto’s growth was fueled by four acquisitions – Milbank, Midwest Security, Farmers Casualty and Meridian insurance companies. The last acquisition, which was migrated to CSC’s Series II system in 2005, pushed State Auto above the million-policy mark, boosting revenues to more than $1 billion in P&C premium. Now more than 3,200 independent agents in 27 states throughout the Midwest and Southwest are doing business with State Auto.

“Because we have stakeholders in different time zones now, we have to evolve our core systems to being real-time and available on a 24x7 basis, so we worked with CSC to make that happen,” said Doug Allen, CIO, State Auto.

Extend, Enhance and Evolve

To address the needs of companies such as State Auto, CSC introduced its Extend, Enhance and Evolve strategy. It enables companies using the Series II administration system to convert from batch to real-time processing. CSC also built software adapters to make it easier to integrate with new Web-based software such as Exceed Claims and Exceed Billing & Collections.

“State Auto is a great example of a company that has built a leading-edge technology program while preserving its investment in its policy admin system,” said John Zourzoukis, director of CSC’s Series II Services. “State Auto simplified its IT environment, which will help drive down its costs, and created a solid foundation for future enhancements – without having to rip out and replace its core system.”

In 2006, State Auto upgraded Series II with real-time processing capabilities and replaced its client/server claims and billing systems with Exceed Claims and Exceed Billing & Collections. The new claims system lets adjusters and other claim professionals access real-time information from Series II and CSC’s Colossus, the industry’s leading injury evaluation software, while working in State Auto’s regional offices or in their homes.

Part of CSC’s Innovation Community

CSC’s Innovation Community program has also played a key role in State Auto’s technology initiatives. In the past, insurers such as State Auto typically customized their systems to fit their companies’ way of doing business, but that process “became an anchor that held you down to the older technology,” Allen said.

“With CSC’s Innovation Community, the philosophy is centered on getting modifications into the base system,” he said. “It makes the entire product set stronger and it gets all of us to market faster with new technology. It helps the whole industry grow together, instead of developing everything in silos. We can count on CSC to add the new functionality, ensure it’s well-tested and make it configurable in case two companies want to implement it differently.”