Claims supplement: The faces of the new revolution

Building Repair: Lanes Assistant Services
Lanes Assistant Services provides outsourced claims management services for the insurance industry. Set up in July 2006, it completed a management buy out earlier this year led by its managing director, Darren Cooper, who explained its difference.

What drove you to open a business in the extremely competitive UK claims market?
We formed LAS against a core belief, and market feedback that existing claims management providers in the household sector were not delivering a high quality service to insurance companies and their customers.

Why was it the right time?
The property claims sector has been slow to innovate and devise new methods to improve claims handling, resulting in supply chain solutions that had not changed for many years and delivered poor customer service. We, therefore, set out to challenge conventional claims handling and bring new ideas to the sector. There was also negative feedback in respect of the control of claim spend, including how transparent service providers are in demonstrating commissions and hidden management costs.

What makes your firm different from those already established in the markets you are targeting?
We have gained a strong reputation for innovation in an otherwise inert market. We have a fully integrated system where claim lifecycles are measured in hours not days. We also operate totally transparently, giving clients access to all parts of our claims files, allowing them to deal with their customers using live online information. We have designed and implementing new products and services which are providing loss adjusting and surveying services in a totally new and unique way. Our clients consider us the most innovative company in the claims market, irrespective of sector or commodity.

What have been your major achievements with the firm so far?
We consider our major achievement is that we have stuck to our core principles despite market pressures to conform and go along with traditional methods. We consider our client relationships to be exceedingly strong. For example, it is with great pride that we work alongside Ageas and support their claims service proposition, which is regarded by many as the best in the claims industry. A true partnership exists where our ideas are welcomed and we have been able to produce market leading performance in a number of areas. One of our proudest moments was in 2008 when we won the British Insurance Award for e-business. This related to our industry first live site reporting capability and the massive impact it has made in terms of claim spend and lifecycle reduction.

How will you be able to achieve what others may have failed to in your market?
LAS has created a stable but flexible business infrastructure, which allows it to respond quickly and effectively to client and market demand. This cannot be said for many of our competitors which are part of larger, often global, businesses that are unable to react at a more localised level. The strongest components of our plans to grow and sustain our position in the market are transparency and innovation. We have opened up our business like no other claims provider, and this engenders trust and confidence within our clients. We have challenged ourselves to perpetuate innovation and our recent product launches demonstrate our ability to keep moving forward.

What innovations do you claim to have you already brought, or aim to bring in the future, to the market?
In 2008, we pioneered live reporting from site which significantly streamlined the process and condensed lifecycles meaning we now measure in hours rather than days. In 2010, we developed a new roof survey product. Using live digital aerial images, we have halved both the cost of roof claims and the number of customer complaints. We are now offering guaranteed 48-hour site surveys where, if we are unable to meet this guarantee, we will not charge for the survey. In October, we launched LAS professional services, where we have recruited qualified adjusting resources in-house to provide technical input where they can add value to the claim. Where this is undertaken as part of other validation or fulfilment services, this is at no cost to the client. We are now introducing video streaming live from site across all product lines, to focus upon getting the right person to the customer quicker and stream images for centralised decisions from surveying or adjusting resources.

Sum up your 'big idea' for your area of the claims insurance market in five words.
Uniquely innovative, transparent, dynamic and reliable.

Credit Hire: Validus-IVC
Validus-IVC is an insurance service business that provides technology-driven cost reduction services and opened for business with 10 employees in December 2007. Mike Srokowski, its chief executive, Validus-IVC, talked to Post.

What drove you to open the business?
In 2006 I was the chief executive officer of a credit hire operator, and it was clear that growing inefficiencies within the claims process were increasing frictional costs. I felt that by streamlining the invoice analysis and payment process it would be possible to reduce frictional cost for insurers and CHOs,making the whole recovery process more efficient.

Why was it the right time?
Because I believed that there were an increasing number of credit hire cases being held in dispute for long periods or were being litigated at significant additional cost to both sides.

What makes your firm different?
We have a high level of sector-specific knowledge, and we combine that knowledge with pioneering technology platforms and high-quality people. It took the best part of a year to map the process and write the initial software programme, which has moved on considerably since then. The system scrutinises claims to an intricate level of detail, which allows our analysts to focus on the core facts of each claim when agreeing settlement terms with the claimant representative. To the best of my knowledge, none of our competitors have been able to put these components together in the way we have.

What have been your major achievements?
Getting our first client in April 2008, which I'm very pleased to say is still with us today, was a very satisfying achievement for the whole team. We now work with several of the UK's top insurers, employ 126 people in the heart of Norwich and have analysed claims with cumulative value of £270m.

How will you be able to achieve what others may have failed to?
At the foundation of our offering we have developed a unique technological application, which enables us to provide our clients with a high degree of flexibility in terms of how they wish to manage their claims. I do not believe that our competitors offer this level of flexibility.

What innovations do you claim to have already brought, or are aiming to bring in future?
Our claims analysis platform was really the first innovation. It applied a completely different methodology to traditional ‘claims management' systems in that it was specifically designed to analyse credit hire claims. The original platform is in the process of being replaced and we will shortly launch a new claims analysis package with significantly enhanced claims management capabilities, including an option for it to be used by insurers in-house.

The credit hire industry has faced a lot of criticism in the last 12 months-what does your firm offer that will silence the critics?
Our approach has always been to bring a degree of objectivity into the claims process and in doing so facilitate behavioural change within the credit hire industry. We want to help rationalise some of the traditional areas of conflict.

Sum up your ‘big idea' in five words.
Smarter sourcing delivers more value.

Loss Adjusting: VRS Vericlaim
VRS Vericlaim is a UK loss adjusting firm with links to the VRS global loss adjusting network. It was established in 2009 by managing director Stewart Steel.

What drove you to open the business?
Although a UK company, we are part of the larger VRS organisation, a well-established global corporate and complex adjusting organisation, on which global board I have served since 2006. We believe we are the world's largest loss adjusting organization to have an exclusive focus in the corporate and complex sector. When the North American operation, VRS Vericlaim, offered us the opportunity to set up a VRS-badged company in the UK, we took it.

Why was it the right time?
Primarily, we responded to a new business opportunity in a sector we know extremely well. Our experience at [former employer] Teceris had confirmed that the constraints of the insurer panel system could be overcome in the corporate and complex arena, where highly qualified and experienced adjusters are now largely accepted as being more important than the ability to bulk process claims at a low price. That is not to decry the work of adjusters in the volume market, who work extremely hard and creatively to provide good service, simply that this is not an area where our staff add value, or one where our business model works.

What makes your firm different?
There are a number of approaches that set us apart: focus, best of breed discipline and owner/operator mentality. We stick to what we do best, corporate and complex adjusting. When we do expand our proposition - either cross territory or cross discipline - we draw upon either other members of the VRS organisation, or pre-negotiated, mutually beneficial relationships with similarly focused organisations. We strive to work with the best partners at all times. Like us, the leaders and senior employees of the vast majority of our partners have a financial interest in the success of their venture, which we believe brings an extra dynamic and hunger for client satisfaction. One of our competitors once said that the weakness of our model was that ‘we only eat what we kill' - each member of our staff has to be so attractive to the market that he or she can generate sufficient work to feed themselves. We believe it is precisely this appetite that gives us the edge over the competition.

What have been your major achievements so far?
Successfully negotiating with Capita to acquire the assets of Teceris Corporate & Complex Adjusting was an excellent initial development for the business. Since launching, we have transferred in staff from Teceris and recruited 10 additional professional staff. We are also in discussion with several others, predominantly senior market figures who are impressed with our high-end technical focus. In terms of client development, we are securing new national, pan-European and global corporate nominations by the week and have developed business relationships with a number of insurers for whom we did not work in the Teceris days.

How will you be able to achieve what others may have failed to?
By remaining focused on the things we do best and not getting sidetracked. Ours is absolutely a people business-you cannot open a corporate and complex adjusting business without high profile market experts in your team. The attraction and retention of the UK's best upcoming talent is key to our success. Not only do we want to be the leading business in our sector, but we also aspire to be the ‘best place to learn' for those with the ability and appetite to become tomorrow's leading practitioners.

What innovations do you claim to have already brought, or aim to bring in the future?
We believe our best of breed approach, of bringing together the best companies in complementary but non-competing sectors to provide wider and end-to-end solutions for the market, is truly innovative and has the potential to become market leading. Our proposition challenges the ‘everything under one roof' solution which, clients tell us, routinely promises much in terms of ease of doing business, but all too often fails to deliver consistent technical excellence and satisfactory customer experience. We believe that by only using firms that are genuine leaders in their own sectors and disciplines, our proposition should always deliver a better quality outcome.

Sum up your ‘big idea'.
Undiluted expertise - corporate & complex adjusting.

Technology: Xactware
Xactware Solutions provides computer software solutions for professionals involved in estimating all phases of building and repair. it is a Us firm, which launched its european operations in July 2007 with a physical presence in the UK. its initial suite of software services for the european market became available in February 2009. James Grant, Xactware's manager of european sales, talked to Post.

What drove you to open the business here?
The UK is a worldwide insurance centre with a global reputation for expertise and innovation. Because of this wide-ranging influence, Xactware often came into contact with UK companies and professionals long before it opened operations here. For that reason, it was a natural place to turn when the firm looked to build on its success in north America - where nine of the 10 top Us property insurers use our products, along with eight of the top 10 Canadian carriers.

Why was it the right time?
The time was right because after years of study and development, Xactware was able to introduce a set of products that was designed specifically for the UK. A hallmark of our success has always been flexibility. Our tools let businesses continue to follow the practices that helped make them a success, but with substantially increased efficiency. We felt the highly diverse UK market was rejecting a one-size-fits-all approach and that it was receptive to our proven solutions.

What makes your firm different?
Xactware's products are flexible, extendible, and easily fit with insurers' existing first notification of loss systems. Our claims estimating software is powered by comprehensive, up-to-date, localised rate schedules containing information for thousands of materials, labour, and plant costs. These rate schedules help users improve reliability, transparency, and consistency in claims handling and settlement. The claims estimating platform allows users to quickly adjust prices to match unique circumstances or substitute their own in-house rate schedules. While the claims management system automates many tasks of the claims journey to speed handling and improve customer satisfaction. real-time management reports alert managers to problems as they occur so they can make appropriate adjustments, and inspection algorithms help managers catch and correct claims errors before they affect customer satisfaction rates. Also, Xactware's solutions provide benefits for all parties to the claim. For the first time an insurance product is available that is designed to meet the needs of the diverse participants in a property claim the insurer, the loss adjuster, the surveyor, the builder as well as fire and flood and restoration specialists.

What have been your major achievements with the firm so far?
We are pleased to see that early adopters are enjoying the same benefits that north American insurers have experienced for nearly 25 years. For instance, Merlin Professional Claims services achieved a 20% saving in indemnity spend-and was honoured as the winner of the 2009 British insurance award for loss adjusting initiative of the year, as a result of its use of Xactware tools. Many estimators in north American and the UK also report reducing their claims cycle times by as much as 50%.

How will you be able to achieve what others may have failed to?
Xactware invests heavily in research and development to stay on the cutting edge of technology. it also prides itself on listening to its customers and creating solutions that help them work faster and more efficiently. in fact, one of our key products was born from a customer's wish for a full-cycle, real-time claims management system.we believe that our total solution is unique in both its functionality and its comprehensive appeal and applicability across the whole supply chain. We know that adjusters and surveyors prefer using it to any other and we know that insurers gain exceptional value from the transparency, consistency and detailed management information that Xactware brings.

What innovations do you claim you have already brought, or aim to bring in the future?
Xactware pioneered replacement cost estimating software and invented patented sketch technology that allows insurance professionals to draw graphical floor plans and estimate repair costs much faster and accurately than with any other methods. our claims management software contains inspection algorithms that help insurers catch and correct errors. Xactware also provides insurers with access to industry-wide trend reports so they can easily track critical claims and pricing trends. in addition to these innovations, our tools allow for immediate settlement of small losses over the phone, and we have also harnessed the power of smart phone technology to help insurers capture detailed scoping information using just their Blackberry devices. Xactware plans to bring this technology to the UK to help insurers estimate property losses with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

Sum up your ‘big idea' for your area of the claims insurance market in five words.
Save money and satisfy customers.