In this economically challenging climate, it is critical that P&C insurers focus on any opportunities to drive tangible improvements to their claim process and operations. To be successful, insurers must think and act differently to get water from a stone that has been squeezed repeatedly over the past few decades. Success can be realized by improving the operational efficiency of their claim organizations, and building an operating model that can minimize claim costs as well as mitigate claim "leakage." In the competitive insurance market, it is critical that insurers achieve these gains while simultaneously maintaining or enhancing the claimant's service experience.

The "stop watch" exercise is a common practice for the adjusters, customer service personnel, and specialty resources staff in many claim units. There is a practical reason for this exercise–each process step in the claim management value chain costs money and adds directly to an insurer's adjudication expenses. In high-volume or high-complexity operations, inefficient or suboptimal process steps can be replicated, often with costly implications to insurers' bottom lines. When you consider the spectrum of global services that an insurer offers, missed opportunities on the micro level can quickly soar into millions of dollars in costs.

Back-office claim operations within a multi-line or global insurer often mirror the market segments that the insurer serves. Many insurers have distinct claim operations, personnel, and units that focus on the products they offer to individuals (auto, home, and life). The same could be said for insurance offered to businesses; distinct claim operations exist for general liability, commercial auto, business owners, and property lines of business. Insurers have maximized this segmented model to the best of their ability, as it affords an insurer some flexibility to respond more effectively to customers' needs.