NORTHBROOK, Ill., Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- After a three-month
long crowd sourcing competition, three data scientists proved their
data analysis abilities in Allstate's (NYSE: ALL) predictive
modeling competition. The nation's largest publicly-held insurer
launched the "Claim Prediction Challenge" with Kaggle on
July 13, offering $10,000 to number crunchers worldwide for the
best models predicting bodily injury insurance claims based on
vehicle characteristics.
Contestants continued to submit algorithms down to the
competition's closing minutes October
12. From 1290 total submissions and 202 players, the three
winners with models closest to predicting actual claims data
are:
- 1st place - $6,000 – Matthew Carle – Sydney, Australia
- 2nd place - $3,000 – Owen Zhang – Bolton,
Conn., USA
- 3rd place - $1,000 – Jason Tigg – London,
United Kingdom
Aside from monetary motivation, all three winners said they
entered to size up their skills against some of the best predictive
modeling talents out there. The public leader board on the
competition site fueled continual model improvements and additional
entries.
"As an actuary, I have worked on claims models in the past, and
the Claim Prediction Challenge allowed me to see how my modeling
skills compare with those of other modeling experts," said Carle.
"It also provided a way to improve modeling skills and try new
techniques."
Provided with Allstate data from 2005 to 2007, contestants
analyzed correlations between vehicle characteristics and bodily
injury claims payments to predict claims payment amounts in 2009.
Based on the data, modelers considered how factors such as
horsepower, length and number of cylinders affect an insured's
likelihood of being held responsible for injuring someone in a car
accident. The data provided to contestants contained no personal
information about any individual consumers.
"A competition of this type is definitely a new approach for the
property and casualty insurance industry, and we're proud to reward
the work of these talented winners," said Allstate Vice President
Eric Huls, Quantitative Research and
Analytics. "Allstate always looks for ways to embrace new ideas and
appreciates the excitement and participation generated in this
community of modelers."
Allstate will examine the winning modelers' methods and may use
gained insights to complement the insurer's existing best-in-class
modeling techniques.
"We're excited to see Allstate helping to advance actuarial
science by engaging the best and brightest data scientists from
around the world," said Anthony
Goldbloom, founder and chief executive officer, Kaggle.
"Kaggle's competitive dynamic inherently pushes entrants to produce
better work than they would have if they were working in isolation,
so they break the benchmark time and time again. This ultimately
leads to greater efficiency for companies like Allstate."
For more Allstate news, visit http://www.allstatenewsroom.com or
follow @AllstateNews on Twitter.
About Allstate
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest
publicly held personal lines insurer known for its "You're In Good
Hands With Allstate®" slogan. Now celebrating its 80th anniversary
as an insurer, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to
help nearly 16 million households insure what they have today and
better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance
products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services through
Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive
financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and
1-800 Allstate®.
About Kaggle
Kaggle offers a platform for predictive modeling competitions
that helps companies, governments, and researchers identify
solutions to some of the world's hardest problems. By using a
competition format to introduce challenges to a community of nearly
17,000 data scientists, Kaggle helps organizations achieve the best
possible predictive accuracy. Kaggle has helped solve problems for
NASA, Deloitte, and Ford, and it is currently running the
$3 million Heritage Health Prize, the
largest medical prize ever, to help prevent unnecessary
hospitalization. Kaggle was founded in 2010 and is based in
San Francisco, Calif.
SOURCE Allstate Insurance Company