Satisfaction Is Job One

The property and casualty industry can do a better job of claims management. Twenty percent of U.S. insurance customers who filed a P&C claim during the past three years are not satisfied with the way their insurance company handled the claim, according to a recent survey jointly released by Accenture (New York) and SAP (Walldorf, Germany).

To address the need for improved claims management, the technology providers, which formed an alliance in September 2003, launched a preconfigured claims management solution for midsize insurers that combines Accenture's claims process and systems integration expertise with SAP's software development experience. The product's availability was announced at the 2005 ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Orlando in May.

Respondents to the survey based their claims satisfaction levels on several factors, including perceived fairness of the settlement (selected as a top priority by 45 percent of respondents), responsiveness of claims representatives (selected as a top priority by 19 percent of respondents) and speed of the settlement (selected by 19 percent). According to Michael Lucarini, partner, Accenture, the preconfigured claims management solution can help midmarket insurers improve customer satisfaction. "This product is designed to help midmarket companies get the same benefits as bigger companies that make much larger investments in claims management systems, which will allow speedy and accurate settlement delivery to customers," he says.

Because the product is preconfigured with Accenture-built business content, core system interfaces and implementation services, and is linked to SAP's existing claims management application, it can be deployed more quickly than a completely customized solution. It can reduce the number of days it takes insurers to implement and configure a new claims management system by 30 percent to 50 percent on average, according to the vendors.

"Anything that contributes to speed also contributes to fairness," says Donald Light, senior analyst, Celent (Boston, Mass.). "The quicker a claim is settled, the better the psychological perspective of the claimant."

Light adds that having work process controls or business rules built in to a system likely will result in more fair and accurate settlements. "You eliminate the human factor of estimating too high or too low and narrow down the payment range to something that is a more fair claim in the eyes of both the insurer and the claimant," he explains.

This only can lead to better business relationships with clients, Accenture's Lucarini notes. "It is important for insurers to be able to institutionalize best practices along with integrated financial components to provide customers with a reduction in risk and a pre-proven solution," he asserts.