Claims should be about delivery not delay
Claims have long been the bug bear of the insurance market. From the personal lines to the most specialized of insurance and reinsurance risks, the speed and perceived willingness to pay claims has been the measure on which the client has judged their risk carrier.
As Richard West, Sales Director EMEA for FINEOS, says, the issue of claims management is now at the top of many an underwriter and broker’s agenda and is likely to stay there for some considerable time as the industry seeks to plot a path to create a workable solution.
“Former International Underwriting Association Chairman, Tim Carroll, summed the issue of claims management and claims up very succinctly recently when he said claims is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ for the industry,” he explains. “It is where the industry is asked to deliver on the promises it has made and been paid for.”
Without a doubt claims has been the area where the London Market, and to some extent its rivals, have been tested and on more than one occasion found wanting.
Some have said the claims management process and the claims department have been the forgotten areas of the industry with the underwriting processes seen as the premier role due to the fact that it is a revenue generator rather than a cost base.
“I view claims as a process from the moment that the first notification comes in until the time that the client receives their payment and certainly in the case of the specialist markets this is a complex process with a series of interlinked disciplines that in the past have not been able to communicate in an efficient matter,” adds Mr. West. “This is in some way where a claims segmentation system needs to be devised which enables the right people to be involved at the right time and in this market that seems to be far easier said than done.”
Workflow, document management and customer relations remains integral to the claims process but Mr. West says he believes the key to successful claims management is not simply the speed of the settlement.
This article featured in Global Broker and Underwriter. Click here to read the article in full.
