Auto-Owners Selects Guidewire ClaimCenter

The P&C carrier cited speed of implementation as a reason for selecting a packaged system.

Lansing, Mich.-based P&C insurer Auto-Owners Insurance Company has selected ClaimCenter from San Mateo, Calif.-based Guidewire as its new claims system.

“Guidewire’s track record of successful implementations was a very important factor in our selection decision,” said Bob Buchanan, SVP of IT for Auto-Owners, in a statement. “We realized if we could license a packaged solution that we could easily configure to meet our unique needs, we would be in production much quicker than if we were to build such a system in-house or with the various tools available on the market. We feel that ClaimCenter is an excellent solution to help us meet both our IT and business goals.”

Buchanan, when named one of Insurance & Technology's Elite 8 technology executives last year, spoke proudly of the insurer's claims experience, which has won multiple J.D. Power and Associates awards. But still, he said at the time the company was looking to make upgrades to that system.

"Like many companies, we have COBOL-based legacy claims systems, and we realized that what we had wasn't going to work. We started on a build process [for modernization], but that wasn't going as well as we would like," he said. "We formed a new group to take a fresh look at it. We brought in some business partners to help us, and we'll be making a decision yet this year on what we're going to be doing for a new claims system."

That process culminated in Guidewire's selection.

“ClaimCenter is expected to complement our service efforts and apply increased technology to streamline our processes, allowing associates to focus on serving our customers and agents,” Jim Walsh, vice president, Claims, Auto-Owners, adds in the statement. “We expect to gain better insight into our operations and ensure that we are identifying best practices for optimal performance results.”

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio