There is now no doubt that electronic computers have a wide application in the insurance industry. The main controversy during the next few years is likely to be over fields of application: we find ourselves in the position of a child who, having been presented with a costly and elaborate paint-box, looks around in trepidation for something to adorn which will not turn out to have been irreparably damaged by his efforts. The purpose of this paper is to describe the attempt of one life office, transacting ordinary life business, to sketch a preliminary outline before committing itself to the costly process of wholesale interior decoration.

The dispute over fields of application has already been given a rousing send-off by S. Benjamin's assertion that ‘the emphasis on data processing applications… has been an unfortunate mistake’ (Computers and Actuarial Science, J.S.S.17, 93). This paper will be concerned exclusively with such applications; however, it is hoped that this concern will not be regarded as retrogressive. It so happened that the investigation described here developed naturally from existing data processing methods within the office.