I think there remains a great opportunity for insurance companies to better mine data from their claims and to learn from that data, make adjustments, and to better address customer coverage needs as they evolve.

What's in store for Nationwide's claim department? What challenges do they face?

You might expect me to say this, but Nationwide has the best claim service in the industry. The key to being the best is to never think you have arrived. The second we stop pushing to get better is the same second we start going backwards.

Our claim team is not just dedicated to paying claims fairly and swiftly. Customers, claimants, and even vendors all need to be treated the way we would want someone to treat us. Any claim is a stressful time; our job is to take as much stress out of the process as possible. I will remind our claim folks that everyone they work with is someone's mom or dad, or son or daughter. How would they like their mom or their sister to be treated by another company?

We will remind them everyday that — to the degree that money and caring can — they rebuild people's lives.

Nationwide was one of the first insurers to launch an iPhone app for reporting claims. How important are technology projects like this for the industry?

The consumer is changing faster than just about anybody thinks. The iPhone application, which allows our customers to start the claim process right at the scene of an accident, is simply a reflection of Nationwide being focused on the customer.

To date, there have been more than 80,000 downloads of our iPhone application since it was released in April 2009, and more than 120 customers have used it to take pictures of their damaged cars and start the claim process from the application.

While the main features of the app are focused around starting a claim, finding a Nationwide Blue Ribbon Repair Shop, and finding a local agent, we've had more than 425 calls seeking a quote for coverage.

We will take advantage of every possible technology to take make the claim process as painless and stress-free as possible. Nationwide is one of first companies to allow customers to monitor their auto being repaired in the body shop. We have been doing that for years. We did not do that for us; we did it for the customers to help them see with their own eyes the forward progress being made to get them back on the road. The iPhone application is just a logical extension for a claim team that is committed to fast, fair, friendly claim service.