"The quality of a carrier's claims service heavily impacts the customers' view of the carrier because other than the bill, claims are typically the only contact a customer has with a carrier," says Karlyn Carnahan, lead author of the study for Novarica. "A bad claim experience is one of the top reasons for non-renewal. In today's competitive environment, where retention is a critical imperative for carriers, claims handling is a major source of competitive advantage for property-casualty companies. Claims administration systems are being replaced at an increasing pace in the insurance industry. While many carriers have already upgraded and others are in the middle of a claim replacement project, a majority of carriers are in the planning phase for a core claims system replacement."

Until recently, there weren't a lot of choices for modern systems, explains Carnahan.. Today, carriers have a broad choice of claims solutions to meet their needs.

Claims management systems supports automated processing and management of claims functions. Generally, modern claims systems provide integrated workflow management and task or process management as well. Most come with some level of document generation and document management.

User interfaces have dramatically improved with easily navigable screens and easy-to-find contextual help. Adjuster portals, wizards to open new claims, scripting, and recursive questioning all allow carriers to create very intuitive processes and deliver consistent service.

Vendor solutions profiled in the report include: Accenture, Aon eSolutions, BlueWave Technology, Brightwork, CSC Advanced Claims, CSC Exceed Claims, DAVID Corporation, Decision Research Corporation, Exigen, FINEOS, Guidewire, Innovation Group, ISCS, LexisNexis, MajescoMastek, Oracle, Paradox Technology Solutions, P&C Insurance, Ravello Solutions, SAP, StoneRiver Claims Workstation, StoneRiver PowerSuite, Tropics Software Technologies.