NU Online News Service, Sept. 3, 11:05 a.m. EDT

Risk managers ranked FM Global first in handling claims in a recent Greenwich Associates survey, and FM Global was one of four winners of the 2010 Greenwich Claims Excellence Awards.

The other winners, in order of how they ranked among clients surveyed, were Travelers Insurance Co., Chubb Corp. and The Hartford.

Greenwich Associates--a Stamford, Conn.-based consulting and research firm--identified three core assessment considerations when it independently surveyed 683 U.S. corporate risk managers in its 2010 Large Corporate Insurance Study. To identify top-performing carriers, Greenwich Associates said it examined claims coordination with brokers, claim processing responsiveness and willingness to pay claims.

"Among these market leaders in claims, two companies stand out for special recognition," said David D. Fox, managing director for Greenwich Associates, in a statement. "FM Global [received] superior client ratings in every aspect of the claim-paying process, and The Hartford [saw] impressive improvements in quality ratings from 2009 to 2010."

Mr. Fox noted that only FM Global received "excellent" ratings for broker coordination from at least half of its U.S. corporate clients. Greenwich Associates also dubbed FM Global the best U.S. carrier when it comes to claim-processing responsiveness, with approximately two-thirds of FM Global's corporate clients assigning top scores in this category. The Hartford came in second, with "excellent" scores from 46 percent of clients, followed by Travelers (43 percent) and Chubb (41 percent).

The firm added that the rest of the top 10 U.S. carriers typically receive "excellent" ratings for claim processing responsiveness from 21-to-30 percent of their corporate clients.

"Responsiveness does not refer to immediate or even necessarily speedy payment," said Brett McNeice, client associate at Greenwich Associates. "Rather, companies are looking for carriers to be transparent about how the processing cycle is progressing and to be proactive in communicating to insureds where they stand."

Greenwich Associates reported similar results when it asked survey participants to rate carriers with whom they would conduct business based on a "willingness to pay" claims. Once again, FM Global, The Hartford and Travelers claimed the top three spots, respectively earning "excellent" scores from 66 percent, 43 percent and 42 percent of corporate clients.

"Everyone understands that in a complicated industry resting on complex contracts and underwriting documents, sometimes the claim process will break down. It's a function of sheer complexity and basic error rates," said Greenwich Associates Relationship Manager Robert Mata.

"The question is: Is my carrier doing everything it can to expedite the process, keep me informed, and get my claim paid as quickly as possible?"

Old Republic Co., AEGIS and Allianz garnered honorable mentions.

This article originally appeared (http://www.claimsmag.com/News/2010/9/Pages/Risk-Managers-Keep-Watchful-Eye-on-ClaimHandling-Performance.aspx) on the website of Claims magazine. Claims is a sister publication of National Underwriter.

Christina Bramlet is senior editor of Claims.

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Risk Managers Name FM Global Top Claims Handler

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