When customers purchase an insurance policy they are seeking some form of security from their insurance carrier. They are not purchasing a piece of paper; they are purchasing a promise from the insurer that if something happens, the insurer will do what it can to make things right. "[Customers] want to be returned to whole as quickly as possible, they want to understand the claims process, and they want to be taken care of throughout the process," says Peter McMurtrie, chief claims officer for Grange Insurance.

Do those needs match those of the insurer? McMurtrie believes they do. He claims Grange is focused on early intervention and timely resolution, which he feels are the same things sought by customers. "What we've done is look at ways to do both equally," he says. "[The goal is] to benefit both our overall claim accuracy in paying the right amount owed while at the same time getting the customer to whole as quickly as possible."

Settlement time is a major issue for claims managers because, as McMurtrie explains, the least amount the carrier is going to pay on a claim occurs at the moment the loss happens. "Through the passage of time the value of that claim goes up," he says. That increase usually is caused by external factors, he adds, such as continuation of damages or influences such as attorneys or public adjusters. "Those things can adversely affect the value of the claim," he says. "Our focus is to intervene in the process as quickly as possible and [keep] our customer informed throughout the claims process."