Included in the claim-oriented portion is a new push to self-service claims that further leverages web technology and allows clients to manage more of the transaction. Celent also outlines the advantages associated with a totally paperless claim environment.

“New claim technology gives insurance companies the opportunity to revisit both their organizational structures and their staffing levels in order to put them in better alignment with organizational priorities and skill requirements,” said Fitzgerald. “Several insurers are beginning to use claim analytics to provide systematic loss information to their front-end product development, pricing, and underwriting activities.”

Three companies were touted as “models” in claim transformation: Esurance, Hertz Europe, and Highmark. Celent highlighted the quantifiable gains experienced by each. For instance, Hertz successfully transitioned from a legacy claim system to an improved platform facilitating automated processes and reduced claim costs, while Highmark implemented a scoring system to detect fraud.

After expounding on overlapping best practices, Fitzgerald said that readers should keep two things in mind: “First, no one insurer does everything right,” he said. “Rather, most insurers do some things right. Second, effective use of technology is more important than pursuing technology for the sake of technology. This is the common thread among every selected model insurer component, and a decision for which each should be proud.”