London Market Group Notes Improvements in Electronic Claims Capabilities

The improving performance in claims handling in the London market has been underscored with the introduction of Electronic Claims File 2 (ECF2), a suite of software products, developed by Xchanging on behalf of the London Market Group, which has now been delivered to insurers. An LMG bulletin described it as a “landmark upgrade to the London market’s electronic claims capability.”

Joe Dainty, Head of Business Practices at QBE and Chairman of the ECF Management Group, commented: “We are delighted that ECF2 is now live and rolled out across the market. The new products combine to deliver a step change in the usability of a system that has already had a profound effect on our market’s ability to respond to claims quickly and efficiently. The introduction of ECF has led to claims being transacted more than twice as fast as on paper. We fully expect ECF2 to deliver yet further improvements to that key measure of the market’s customer service performance.”

The bulletin describes ECF2 as “a genuinely practitioner driven solution…designed in conjunction with the 25 leading market claims experts who make up the ECF User Group.”

It “has redefined the electronic claims handling process,” said the LMG, with the following improvements:

• rendering a single, fast to access, easily searchable electronic file of claims documents;
• providing a common workflow platform for firms to identify and manage their actions;
• allowing firms to integrate their in house claims management systems with the central platform; and
• transforming the management information available to claims practitioners.

This is helping firms deliver more effective claims management; improving productivity and thus further reducing processing times.”

Max Pell, Managing Director of Xchanging Insurance Sector, significantly observed that “claims handling is the market’s shop window. What we have developed in partnership with LMG will very significantly improve the market’s image in the minds of its key clients. That is the ultimate goal of any modernization project.”

Simon Cooper, COO at Atrium and Chairman of the Associations’ Administration Committee (AAC) – the body charged with delivering LMG’s Finish What We’ve Started (FWWS) program, of which ECF2 is a part, added: “AAC is delighted that we have delivered this major tranche of the FWWS work. ECF2 has been an ambitious and complex technology project – one of the largest undertaken in the London market. We are pleased that it is now in use across the insurer community and that those firms are in a position to realize the benefits that this next generation of electronic claims support can bring.”

Source: London Market Group