Study Highlights Benefits, Competitive Advantage of Online Claims System

Fairfax, Va.-based Claims Resolution Management Corporation (CRMC), a pioneer in asbestos claims resolution and creator of e-Claims(TM) (patent pending), is featured in analyst group Visiongain’s newly released report, “E-Claims – Market Outlook 2002-2007,” which highlights the benefits and competitive advantage of implementing an online claims system.

The report by analyst Rhian Edwards provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive account of the current status and predictions regarding the development of online insurance and online claims processing within the insurance industry. It finds that, despite the advantages intrinsic to an insurance e-claims service, less than 10 percent of insurers in the United States and two percent in the United Kingdom have adopted such a system.

The report details how CRMC’s e-Claims –the first interactive, Web-based electronic claims processing tool for trusts, law firms and companies handling asbestos and other toxic torts– speeds up settlements, cuts costs, expedites payments to claimants, improves security, as well as reduces fraud. The report also points out that while in the traditional model filing online is seen to be more compatible with the lower end of the insurance spectrum, such as health, motor and household, CRMC’s experience has shown that ASP technology can be used for the more contentious and complex insurance claims, such as asbestos and other toxic torts.

“The sharp increase in asbestos claims is a critical and expensive issue for the insurance industry,” said David Austern, president of CRMC and one of the country’s preeminent experts on asbestos claims litigation and management. “It is imperative that insurers develop options for dealing with the large number of claims and their complexity.”

Asbestos claims have had a heavy impact on the insurance industry. According to A.M. Best, U.S. insurers have already spent about $21.6 billion on asbestos claims, and Tillinghouse-Towers Perrin has estimated the total cost to U.S. and non-U.S. insurers and corporations to be $200 billion.