Large P&C Carriers Expressing More Interest in Claims Systems: Novarica Report

Forty-one percent of large p&c insurance carriers and 23 percent of midsize carriers rank upgrades to claims systems among their top three projects for 2012, according to a report released by Novarica.

 The report, Novarica Market Navigator: US Property/Casualty Claims Solutions 2012, also estimates that p&c insurers completed between 50 to 60 claims systems new sales last year, and 65 to 75 will be selected in 2012. Like other Novarica Market Navigator reports, it provides an overview of the current solution provider marketplace and profiles 34 vendor solutions.

“P & C carriers are looking for ways to drive growth and improve operations, and claims is one of the areas they are investing in,” says Karlyn Carnahan, Novarica principal and an author of the report. “It's clear that claims plays a critical role in the overall success of the carrier.”

For many carriers, claims solutions were installed twenty years ago or more, making them hard to maintain and rendering the claims handling process a labor-intensive one. Whereas carriers had a limited number of choices for modern systems a few years ago, there is now a broad range of claims solutions available.

These newer solutions include features that support automated processing and management of claims functions, and provide integrated workflow management, and task or process management. With this large number of solutions now in the marketplace, the surge in plans for modernization projects comes as no surprise, according to Carnahan.

The report is based on information collected directly from the solution providers using Novarica's proprietary universal RFI, and includes profiles of vendor solutions from Accenture, AGO Insurance Software, Aon eSolutions, B2-USA, Brightwork, CGI, Cover-All Technologies, CS STARS, CSC Exceed Claims, CSC RISKMASTER Accelerator, DAVID Corporation, DRC, eBaoTech, Exigen, FINEOS Corporation, Finys, Guidewire, IDP, Innovation Group, Insuresoft, Insurity, ISCS, JW Software, MajescoMastek, Maximum Processing, MphasiS-Wyde, PCIS, Ravello Solutions, SAP, StoneRiver Claims Stream, StoneRiver Claims Workstation, StoneRiver PowerSuite, Systema, TCS, Tropics Software Technologies, and Vikaran Solutions.

It is the latest report in the Novarica Market Navigator series, which provides an overview of a solution provider marketplace to assist insurers in drawing up their shortlists of potential providers based on vendor market position and offering details.