A new claims management audit system for life industry companies has been launched by Laing Advisory Services (LAS), with Asteron agreeing to take part in the pilot.
According to Sue Laing, LAS principal, the C-MAP process will enable the risk industry for the first time to measure the claims management division of an insurer’s operation, by examining its systems, standards and services.
Laing said: “Advisers using research are selecting product in a measured way, but they are not selecting insurers in any way other than by personal experience and anecdotal evidence of the underwriting and claims management practices.
“From insurers’, researchers’ and advisers’ viewpoints, the lack of an objective, detailed measure of the consumer’s claims ‘experience’ has been clearly evident.”
The audit program examines all aspects of the management of claims and the claims department, from staff training on policy terms and conditions; to turnaround time and quality of communication among the various parties to claims; through to claims assessment adherence to policy terms.
Each organisation to partake in the audit will be rated on their claims management capabilities.
According to Laing, the concept has been discussed with six insurers and has received endorsement ‘in principle’. The next step will be to conduct a pilot which will test the methodology and confirm the rating techniques to be used.
Asteron has agreed to take part as the pilot insurer, and the audit will commence this month.
Asteron’s chief operating officer of the retail business John Cresswell said: “Claims is fundamentally important to us. We spend a lot of time focusing on how to do it well, both pay the claims that we need to pay and the way in which we do it.
“So on that basis, we are very happy to work with Sue on developing a very robust methodology.”
Laing added: “If the process proves as useful as we believe it will, the next step will be U-MAP and the target for measurement will be underwriting.”
