Honoring excellence in insurance
Claims magazine recognizes two companies and their employees for outstanding service to the industry.
Insurance professionals go about their jobs day in and day out — quietly working behind the scenes to assess losses and pay out claims in order to make policyholders whole after an accident or catastrophe.
Recently, three industry leaders were honored by Claims magazine at the America’s Claims Event (ACE) in Austin, Texas.
Creating a trail of success
The Trailblazer Award recognizes an insurance claims or carrier organization that has made significant, progressive contributions to the claims industry by introducing new products or innovations to improve the claims process.
This year’s winner, Generali Insurance, recognized that it had an issue to solve when one of its highest volume partners experienced heavy growth in travel insurance sales, and saw a significant rise in claims, straining the call center and claims processing team.
Related: Blazing a trail of innovation in the insurance industry
Generali built a new eClaims portal specifically for this client to provide a fast and efficient way to navigate the claims process. The eClaims Portal was so successful that Generali is introducing similar products to all of its customers.
“This is truly a great recognition for the hard work and dedication that our team has shown in building out our eClaims portal,” said Generali Global Assistance CEO, Chris Carnicelli. “This was a global development project that had to be flexible to support different markets. This is just the first step in enhancing the entire system to improve the customer experience and responsiveness to our policyholders’ claims.”
Honoring a customer champion
The Claims Magazine Customer Champion Award honors a claims professional who has gone above and beyond to serve customers and provide a seamless, supportive experience.
Linh Pham is a claim representative with Sedgwick. Born in Vietnam, she came to the U.S. when she was 16 years old. Her multi-cultural background is a tremendous asset as she handles workers’ compensation claims every day. Her attention to detail, ingrained discipline, her level of empathy and understanding are tremendous assets as she works with injured workers, discussing treatment options, benefits, compensation and return to work expectations.
Related: What makes an insurance customer champion?
“I am extremely honored to be recognized by ACE and presented the Customer Champion Award,” said Pham. “At Sedgwick, we strive to put the needs of injured workers first while working alongside our clients and partners to expedite the claims process. Receiving the Customer Champion Award highlighted the importance of the work that claims professionals do every day, and I am very grateful to be a part of the claims industry.”
Recognizing an industry luminary
Darryl Brown, the chief claims officer for Sedgwick was named Claims Luminary of the Year. The award recognizes a strategic claims leader who has made significant contributions in their organization and the industry in general.
Brown spent approximately 25 years in the claims world, starting out as a workers’ compensation examiner and advancing to the position of claims manager before joinng Sedgwick in 2001. He was responsible for developing workers’ compensation products and services, creating and implementing best practices, ensuring compliance with state laws supporting business development, and providing oversight for EDI compliance.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized at ACE among a group of people that recognize the value and importance of the claims community. Receiving the Claims Luminary of the Year Award was one of the proudest moments of my career because of what the award represents — always improving the claims system and working hard to retain and attract claims professionals who are committed and instrumental to that process.”
Related: Brandon Kay: Claims Luminary of the Year
Each of these professionals exemplifies the level of service and care required to excel in the claims arena, and represent the best of the insurance industry.
Patricia L. Harman (pharman@alm.com) is editor-in-chief of Claims magazine.