Hundreds of exhibitorsrepresenting myriad insurance interests and specialties assembledat the Risk and Insurance Management Society's 50th annual meetingin Philadelphia. National Underwriter met with them to discuss someof the new offerings they presented to the thousands ofrisk-management attendees on hand for the four-day event.

RISK-ANALYSIS DASHBOARD & CYBER RISK

Travelers' Michael J. Strietelmeier, second vice president,risk-management information services, presented the company'srisk-analyzer dashboard in its e-CARMA suite of informationservices and tools.

The new Web-based analyzer allows a risk manager to compilevarious loss data into an easy-to-use statistical format with justa few clicks.

The dashboard, which is custom-assembled for clients byTravelers, includes loss data going back five years to provide agranular picture of a company's claims history and helps discernpatterns of loss.

“This was built by risk-management professionals for riskmanagers,” says Strietelmeier. The dashboard has been rolled out to2,300 customers, says Travelers, and shortly will be released to atotal of 11,500.

The analyzer is geared toward companies in the mid-to-large-sizerange, with a claim frequency of 50 to 100 incidents a year.

Travelers also unveiled an enhanced version of its CyberFirstproduct that Kirstin Simonson, underwriting director of globaltechnology, says expands its coverage to first-party coverageoptions.

In the past, the product onlycovered third-party cyber liability such as technology errors andomissions, network and information security liability, andcommunications and media liability.

Now, the first-party coverage will cover costs resulting fromcyber attacks that include forensic investigation to determine whathappened and who was harmed; cost of notification; reputationalrisk; and exposure to fraud and telecommunication theft, such asbilling for long-distance phone calls the policyholder nevermade.

SWISS RE CORPORATE SOLUTIONS LOOKS TO INCREASED SPEED OFPAYOUTS

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has announced its BusinessContinuity Expense Coverage, offering quick cash payouts andenhanced flexibility to businesses damaged by seismic activity.

The insurance product, designed three years prior and licensedin 2011, was first introduced in Japan as a buffer against lossdamage, the cost of debris removal and extra expenses in line withbusiness continuity.

“Japanese businesses were running out of cover quite quickly dueto gaps in coverage,” Serge Troeber, chief underwriting officer atSwiss Re Corporate Solutions, tells NU. “This[business-continuity plan] provides funding based on a definedtrigger related to an intensity-to-payout ratio.”

“It pays out quickly once triggers are hit, providing forrealistic extra expenses,” he adds. “Companies may have to ordernew goods, hire additional short-term employees and advertise thatthey are still in business.”

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions calculates the payout based on aprofessional estimate of property damage or loss-of-profit triggerbased on the quake's magnitude. The compensation offers up to 3billion yen if the event's magnitude is 7.4 or greater.

DEALING WITH SUPPLY-CHAIN EXPOSURE

Following 2011's lessons in global business interruption due tocatastrophes, Supply Chain exposure is a growing concern among riskmanagers—and AIR Worldwide has addressed that concern with theexpansion of its suite of Catastrophe Risk Engineeringsolutions.

Akshay Gupta, AIR's senior principal engineer and director ofcatastrophe-risk engineering, says the new offering helps riskmanagers better understand the probability of exposures to theirsupply chains, including political risk.

The analysis can run from just a portion of the supply chain to100 percent to understand “the interdependent action of multipleevents” on their business,” says Gupta.

PHYSICIAN-GUIDED CARE

Paladin Managed Care Services is offering a new service designedto lower costs and improve outcomes in Workers' Compensation cases:physician-guided management care.

Where most health-care management-services companies rely onnurses to review cases and influence treatment, says Paladin COOJeffrey D. Miller, his company has doctors reviewing thesecases.

The advantage is that Workers' Comp cases go through apeer-review process through which doctors discuss cases withdoctors to determine the best outcome for a patient.

Savings comes from Paladin's specialists working with claimants'doctors to determine the most-effective course of action forgetting patients back to work as quickly as possible.

As medical decisions are made faster, says Miller, the systemreduced medical costs by 8 percent and litigation by more than 50percent in a study group.