CSIO portal funding in place

The broker-insurer portal currently under construction by the Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) got a shot in the arm from its board of directors, who voted unanimously to fund the project through a special assessment.”Top-up” funding was expected, as CSIO president Klaas Westera noted at the centre’s annual general meeting in the spring, telling members that additional financing was likely to be required. A total cost of delivery on the portal has not been released.”The unanimous vote not only confirms that the CSIO Insurance Portal will become a reality, but it also serves to illustrate the truly remarkable cooperation that exists within Canada’s broker driven industry,” says CSIO chair Howie Moran.The portal is set to begin broker testing in early 2002, although it is still in the process of choosing its pilot insurers. Zurich had been among those insurers until it sold its personal lines book to ING Canada, and is now being replaced. The first phase of the portal will have widespread release in the second quarter of 2002, the CSIO says. Other parts of the program to which the funding will go include the testing phase, including broker management system testing, the development of training tools and the creation of a help desk for users.