Benchmarking claims

Commercial insurance buyers should look at three main areas when assessing a carrier’s claims handling performance, according to advice from the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC).

Speaking to StrategicRISK, Paul Hopkin, AIRMIC’s technical director, explained what to look for in evaluating an insurer’s claims service.

A risk manager needs to be satisfied that the resources an insurer deploys are adequate, he said. User friendly claims handling procedures are another key metric. Finally, the insurer’s operational success is also critical.

AIRMIC is set to publish an index before the end of 2008 that will benchmark the claims performance of insurers. ‘Our claims performance index will be structured so that it focuses mainly on those three areas,’ said Hopkin.