Press Release

FACULTY TO IDENTIFY OPTIMUM CLAIMS OPERATION

09 June 2006

Faculty of Claims to undertake thought leadership research

A strategic, hi-level, thought leadership research project is to be undertaken by the CII Faculty of Claims which will lead to a report on the future positioning of claims in the UK general insurance sector.

Views of senior management and claims professionals in general insurance companies, loss adjusters and the top 50 brokers will be sought via a qualitative and quantitative study. The opinions of more than 4,000 members of the Faculty of Claims will also be established through a web based study.

Faculty of Claims chairman Jonathan Clark says, “Intuitively you would expect claims to be at the heart of the insurance industry agenda. Get claims wrong and profitability, reputation and shareholder value suffers, get it right and brand equity and consumer confidence is enhanced.

“But we still have much to do in terms of getting more claims professionals represented at board level, shifting the focus away from the financials of a claim to the claimant experience and doing more to make claims an attractive career choice. This research will identify what we really think about these and other issues and outline a ‘no holds barred’ view for the future of claims.”

Among the topics to be covered by the research will be identifying the key drivers for running an effective claims function for an insurance company, establishing whether claims plays an important part in delivering shareholder value and if so how, looking at the best structure for a claims operation, and the must have tools, resources and skills needed to support the delivery of the optimum claims operation.

It is expected that the findings of the research will be presented at the CII and CILA UK Insurance and Financial Services Conference in October. It will also assist the Faculty to shape its 2007 Masterclass programme.