Those who know me know that I am a person of few words, so the short answer is “Nobody knows!”  The specific details of the deal between #4 and #2 have not been revealed but I do understand an official announcement from the merger’s management team is forthcoming.  Until all the details are announced to the marketplace I do not wish to comment on speculation on my part.  What I do know is that demo requests for our software rose over this past weekend which would lead a reasonable person to suspect adjusters and contractors are looking around for alternatives if they don’t like or believe what they hear over the coming weeks and see in the months to come.

Marketing and maintaining estimating software and data analytics in the property insurance space is no easy task and it’s becoming more and more complicated as technology evolves.  As with any industry, as competition gets gobbled up or goes away it is the end-user who suffers the most.  We all like a variety of options when we have to make a decision, any decision.  Whether it be the Republican candidate for President to go head-to-head with the incumbent or estimating software for our property claims, more candidates means more freedom of choice for the voter, the claims manager or adjuster.

Thousands of man-hours went into the development and maintenance of the MSB software as well as the Symbility application.   It will be sad to see one of these applications be phased out over the next few months or years, depending on what the new management team decides.  They may decide to maintain, update and support both but that is unlikely – it takes a great deal of effort and expense just to keep one estimating platform current and credible.  As most of you, I look forward to hearing more from the horse’s mouth.

All I can assure is that Simsol is alive and well.  We just returned from the 11^th Annual Windstorm Conference held right here in our backyard of Orlando, FL.  Traffic at our booth was better than ever and most everyone who stopped by was either a current user of Simsol or wanted to be.  The Xactware folk were almost directly across the aisle from us and if overall customer laughter is any indication of customer satisfaction with a software application, Simsol won hands down!

Funny thing.  We had more-than-several new adjusters stop by the Simsol booth and say things like “Oh, you’re Simsol.  You guys are the flood estimating software, right?  I don’t do flood claims so I can’t use you.”  I personally thought we squashed this incorrect perception about Simsol years ago.  You all know as well as I do that no other software does flood claims better than we do.  I just thought everyone also knew Simsol does all types of property claims better than all the other guys (i.e. Competitor “one” and “two” as well as anyone else who might be out there!).  More about this next month…

Thanks for reading.  Adjust ‘til ya’ bust!

John Postava

Simsol

As I am sure you are all aware, Simsol, Xactware and MSB make up the Lion’s Share of the property insurance estimating marketplace.  With Xact (with the help of Jersey-based ISO) servicing the vast majority of the largest insurance companies, Simsol and MSB continue to service the remaining carriers as well as the IA, CAT and PA firms who still have the “freedom” to use their estimating/adjusting  software of choice.

That being said, Simsol’s top resolution for 2012 is to do everything in our power to overcome some of the misconceptions about our company and our software held by some of the industry.  Some of these false perceptions may have been true 20 years ago, however, they still persist in 2012!  Why?  Part of the reason is our competition attempting to perpetuate these false notions and another may be our inability to properly communicate the truth to all of the people who need to hear (and understand) it.

The oldest misconception (and the biggest MISPERCEPTION) I personally hear from time to time on the phone or at trade shows and conferences goes something like this, “Oh, you’re with Simsol, that’s the software that does FLOOD CLAIM ESTIMATES, right?”  My answer to this question is always the same.  “Yes, Simsol was originally designed to handle flood estimates and claims (back in 1984!) and we still remain the MOST POPULAR software for handling claims for FEMA and the NFIP.  However, we’ve come a long way since the days of “big hair” and the first video games like Pac-man and Asteroids!  Today, adjusters and contractors using Simsol generate hundreds of estimates every day for all types of claims including fire, water, wind and whatever else Mother Nature and Mr. Mayhem throw at policyholders.

Another more serious misconception about Simsol is that our cost database, when compared to Xactware’s estimator is “low” or “tight”.  Several years ago we were even quoted in a newspaper story, along with several insurance carriers, of being guilty of “lowballing” hurricane claims.  Of course, nothing could be further from the truth and all those false accusations faded away as quickly as the newspaper they were printed on!  When you compare the cost databases of the top three property estimating softwares (which is not an easy task, by the way) our pricing is in-line with the other two and with the restoration construction industry as a whole.  And, like with all the other softwares, database prices should be only used as an educated “guide” and final (agreed) numbers should be left between the contractor for the policyholder and the adjuster representing the insurance carrier (isn’t that why they call us “adjusters”?).

The final misconception we would like to overcome in 2012 is that the Simsol database doesn’t contain “as much detail” as the other guys’ databases.   Sure we do.  Let me explain.  Our estimating engine contains three (3) levels of Line Item Description.  These “levels” span from a generic description of a material to a very specific size and/or type of material description.  For example, an adjuster using Simsol can either select “Wall Gypsum Drywall”, “Commercial Wall Gypsum Drywall” or “5/8” Commercial Wall Gypsum Drywall” depended on how descriptive they want to be in the printing of their estimate (and how fast they want to use the Estimating module in the software – i.e. generic descriptions can be selected FASTER!).  To a casual reader of an estimate, “Wall Gypsum Drywall” is sufficient to get the point across (the “point” being we are paying for the drywall!) but to the professional estimator-reader, the “5/8’s Commercial” description is preferred.  Adjusters using Simsol have the freedom to choose any of these descriptions and the unit cost price EXACTLY THE SAME FOR ALL THREE DESCRIPTIONS!  In the final analysis, adjusters using Simsol have the ability to show as detailed an estimate as users of the other systems if they so choose.  It is up to the professional adjuster to make those calls, not Simsol.  Our goal is to provide all our users the freedom of choice.

We will do our best to stamp-out some or all of these false perceptions about our software and services and continue to provide our users (current and future) with rock-solid and accurate estimating and claim documentation software.  We have some exciting new features, products and services slated for release in 2012 and I personally look forward to showing some of them off at this year’s PLRB conference right here in our backyard of Orlando, Florida in a couple of months!

Now I am going down to the kitchen to get a piece of cake and glass of milk.  No, wait….cant’ do that…cake and dairy are off the “menu” until my “Holiday 10” are off the scale!!

I HATE RESOLUTIONS!!!

Adjust ‘til ya’ bust!

John Postava

President, SIMSOL

This year’s tropical storms, Irene and Lee, were no exception.  Our tech supports handled hundreds of support calls during the past 30 days.  The software program which runs our phones tells me the average wait time for a support call was one minute and fifty seconds.  Now I understand this was just the “average” and that some users experienced longer wait times.  Nothing is worse than an impatient adjuster wanting an answer and wanting it NOW!!!.  The vast majority of these callers, however, were brand new to Simsol and calling with what we refer to as “How To” questions.  These are support questions which are “technically” not technical support questions but training related inquiries.  Our tech supports answered as many “How to” inquiries as possible – sometimes at the expense of clients who have been with us for longer periods and either waited on the phone or abandoned their initial call and called back later.  For this I apologize and deeply regret any one of our users that had to wait for someone from our technical support staff before they could get back to work and handle their claims.

I know our largest competitor (who shall go nameless) advertises 24/7 tech support.  Some of their users may get a “real person” faster than some Simsol users do.  But, that competitor also CHARGES for their tech support and often refers users to their website for automated support.  Automated support, on-line FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) services and User Forums are on the horizon for Simsol.  These services will definitely be welcomed by some Simsol users who would rather speak with a machine than wait for a real person.  We are also experimenting with Chat services to reduce the occasional bottleneck we experience in technical support during large weather-related events.

We will do everything at Simsol to keep supplying tech support AT NO ADDITIONAL COST for all of our licensed users.  And, if you are not aware of this fact already, free technical software support is becoming as rare in the insurance industry as finding a true “multiline” adjuster!

We are now past the historical heart of tropical storm season and the support calls for Irene and Lee are down to more manageable levels.  I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our technical support people for a job well done.  I also want to thank all of the new and loyal Simsol users for their patience on the phones during the storm season of 2011.

Disasters never rest and another one could be right around the corner.  For now, however, things around here are returning to their “normal” state of CHAOS!

Adjust ‘til you bust….

John Postava,

President

Simsol Software

As most of you know, Simsol is the preferred insurance claims estimating and loss documentation software for catastrophe, independent and staff adjusters who have a choice in the estimating software they can use for their property claims.  Adjusters for our sister company, Simsol Insurance Services, Inc. (SIS) are currently handling thousands of Irene and Lee flood claims from Jacksonville to Maine.

Although we understand how all of our insurance carrier clients cringe with the hope of getting through yet another tropical storm season unscathed, it is usually during the aftermath of major storm events our estimating software grows in both usage and visibility.  Some of Simsol’s best features were born out of the suggestions from adjusters handling large amounts of large losses during catastrophes.  When turnaround time is crucial and people need estimate and claim payment numbers “yesterday”, Simsol’s easy-to-use estimating interface enables adjusters to shine to their companies and their home and business owners.  But I don’t have to tell YOU (if you already use Simsol).

Because the vast majority of Irene and Lee claims are from flooding and the losses are located in the northeast, residential basements are the most affected.  These types of claims are, for the most part, uncomplicated and close relatively quickly.  SIS expects to have the majority of their claims settled and paid by Halloween!

Ah, Halloween…that reminds me of 1991.  Halloween day was also the day of “The Perfect Storm”!

The Halloween Storm was formed when an extra tropical low formed off of Nova Scotia, a strong cold front was sweeping down from Canada, and Hurricane Grace was moving up the East Coast. This confluence of events led to a storm that was so strong that it lasted the better part of a week, consumed a hurricane, retrograded backwards towards New England, and created a new hurricane in its wake. Before the storm was over it would leave hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in areas across the Northeast (mostly in Massachusetts) and rival (or exceed) the fabled Blizzard of ’78 in destruction across New England.  Wow!

To all those claim managers out there….in the foreboding words of the Yankee great, Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”!

Adjust Til Ya’ Bust!!!

John Postava

President, Simsol