When it comes to the life of a claim, arguably some of thegreatest organizational challenges arise during the subrogationprocess. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than subrogationresponse, a task often left to line adjusters struggling to manageever-increasing workloads.

During my tenure as a claims-process leader at multiple Top 10P&C carriers, this was a challenge that we constantly faced.Through our recognition of this area for improvement, we focused oncontinual process enhancements in order to remove thesetime-consuming claims from the line adjusters' scope ofresponsibility.

While organizations have a myriad of processes and claimsworkflows, there are two constants that can drive improvements insubrogation response: recognition and response.

• Recognition—The first step to maximizingfinancial returns on subrogation response is through timelyrecognition and review of the demand. In many organizations thiscan prove to be challenging in a world of competing prioritieswhere higher emphasis may be placed on contacts, inspections anddisposition.

• Response—With the advent of technology, it isnow possible to balance priorities while leveraging innovative newsolutions to handle subrogation response. This benefits theadjuster by freeing up time to address the most importantpriorities, as well as the organization, which can get an immediatelift from technological innovation.

The results of such actions will speak for themselves—with animprovement in indemnity, decreased cycle time and a reduction inintercompany arbitration.

Companies such as Chicago-based HyperQuest provide a seamless andtransparent workflow using patented technology, thereby enablingadjusters to hand off subrogation demands from claimant carriers.In a traditional setting, these demands often find their way to thebottom of an incoming stack of mail. The estimates may berubber-stamped for payment or inadvertently forgotten, resulting inan increase in adverse intercompany-arbitration filings. In thebest-case scenarios, the subrogation demands may be submitted to anappraisal group for review using their estimating platform to bescrubbed for company compliance and industry standards. Thedownside is that this formalized process will increase costs whilelimiting productivity with a limited impact on leakage.

By identifying workflow opportunities, insurers have the abilityto fundamentally transform the existing subrogation-responseprocess. By leveraging technology, insurers can free up existingstaff to focus on more critical tasks, such as contacts,inspections and claims disposition. Most critically, changing theparadigm on subrogation response from reactive to proactive willhave a profound impact on severity and expenseimprovement.