The challenge to connect all sides in the claims triangle means insurance carriers must look beyond their own self-interest to ensure quality repair work is performed for policyholders who purchase the insurers' product for this expressed purpose. “It's an area that's difficult to tie together in an informational, transactional, or workflow kind of network,” says Donald Light, senior analyst in Celent's insurance group. “There are a lot of organizational and technological challenges. Technology finally is producing some capabilities that will allow interesting solutions to appear.”

Analysts at Gartner have discovered multiple claims strategies in today's market, according to Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, research vice president. These strategies are contingent upon the vision of the company, she explains. “There are some claims strategies that are cost based–[carriers] still are trying to reduce the cost of the claims operation,” she says. Such tactical strategies involve automating some of the manual processes in the claim cycle. “[Insurers] are looking at processes that might be broken and the opportunities available to do them cheaper,” she says.

Carriers also are changing their processes as a way to grow revenue, Harris-Ferrante points out. Such changes focus on increased customer satisfaction, more rapid claims servicing as a way to improve customer loyalty, and the ability of the agent to check the status of a claim to help the customer. “You will hear companies talking about the ability to manage risks and improve the service through collaborative networks,” she says. “You hear about how you deal with the claims supply and service partners, how you deal with the lawyers with litigation management, and the like. [Insurers] are looking at the whole concept of supply chain management being put into a claims context.”