About PLANS

The PLANS organization was formed on February 26-27, 1970 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Companies attending the first conference hosted by Northwestern National were Continental National American Group, Federated Mutual Insurance Company, Integon Corporation, Northwestern National Insurance Company, and the Western Insurance Companies.

The 16 attendees discussed their experiences with the PALIS (Property and Liability Insurance System) package developed by IBM in the late 1960's. The first conference was spent getting acquainted, providing overviews of each company's data processing operation, and discussing technical problems experienced with PALIS. Unlike other user groups, this was to be participative for the exchange of information and solution of common problems. Those in attendance were encouraged to make individual contact with group members.

Don Arndt of Northwestern National Insurance Company was selected as temporary chairman of PUG (PALIS User Group). A monthly newsletter was to be published with the next general conference set for July and subgroup conference on specific problems to be held in March.

The July conference included such topics as conversion of 2311 to 2314, tape master files, surcharge '71 model automobile, and IBM's future plans.

The next conference was set for November in Chicago with the purpose of formalizing the organization. The first president and other officers were elected. A constitution and by-laws were presented at the December 1970 meeting in Winston-Salem. IBM was invited for the first time. This was important in that growing pressure was applied to have IBM commit itself on its future intent with PALIS.

The organization's objective began shifting from a platform for exchanging technical information to a general discussion of data processing in property and liability companies and to influencing IBM in the development of software and hardware to accommodate the PALIS concept. IBM's method of pricing software was also the topic of a lively discussion.

A board of directors was added to improve leadership and continuity.

The Fall Conference in Raleigh was very important in the life of the organization. Some "old" members were becoming disenchanted with the organization's inability to persuade IBM to resolve a "recursive call" problem under PALIS. It was felt that individual companies were bearing the financial burden of eliminating a "bug" that was the vendor's responsibility.

Some companies were beginning to "throw in the towel" on PALIS, so a special business meeting was held to determine the future of PUG. After heated discussion, with some dissension, it was decided that a new direction was needed if the organization was to continue. PLANS (Property Liability Association for New Systems) was adopted as the name for future emphasis on all types of automated insurance and membership was opened to non-PALIS users.

Today PLANS has 43 member companies located throughout the United States. These companies include 12 of the Ward’s top 50 property and casualty insurance companies and have a combined written premium of $50 billion. Semiannual conferences are held around the country with formal presentations done by member companies and numerous opportunities are made available for networking with peers.