Arbitration Forums Inc. (AF), which provides inter-insurance company dispute resolution services, announced it had saved insurers more than $700 million in litigation costs annually through its programs.
W. Russ Smith, president and chief executive officer of AF, speaking at the National Association of Subrogation Professionals annual conference, said AF resolves more than 475,000 inter-insurance company disputes annually, with a claim value of over $2.3 billion.
Most inter-company disputes, he noted, involve auto collisions, and typically arise when insurance or self-insured companies believe their insureds are not at fault, or when there are disagreements over the percentage of liability or the amount of damages.
Mr. Smith said AF relies on its nearly 2,500 certified arbitrators and new technology to resolve inter-insurance company disputes.
He urged more claims and subrogation professionals to become arbitrators, and called volunteer arbitrators "the backbone of the entire inter-company arbitration process."
Mr. Smith added, "Objectivity and neutrality are the foundations of a credible arbitration system."
Regarding technology, Mr. Smith mentioned a new application called the E-Subro Hub, which provides members with a single Web-based platform to interactively issue and respond to subrogation demands, share and manage documents electronically, and file and respond to arbitration cases.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.