Business News: Greenlight Re, Ontellus, Munich Re

Greenlight Re Invests in Handdii

Greenlight Re Innovations, a specialist property and casualty reinsurance company headquartered in the Cayman Islands, has investment in Handdii Pty Ltd., a property insurance claims fulfillment platform.

Handdii, an insurtech based in Melbourne, Australia, provides a tool that pairs insurance companies with contractors and ensures that all parties involved in the claim process receive real-time updates, Greenlight said in a press release.

Handdii’s platform focuses on routine property claims, which, under the traditional insurance model, demand significant time and resources to administer, the company said. Handdii reduces both claims handling costs and repair time, improving the customer experience.

“Handdii has created a technology platform that bridges the gap between the construction and insurance industries, eliminating the pain points that arise under the traditional model,” stated Greenlight Re Chief Executive Officer Simon Burton. With experience in both industries, Handdii has identified a solution to a niche problem.

Greenlight said Handdii represents its 12th strategic investment. The company has previously announced investments in Cove, which created a platform that allows consumers to purchase insurance online; and FairClaims, an online dispute-resolution service.

Ontellus Adds Record-Retrieval Tool to Guidewire

Ontellus, a Houston-based provider of records retrieval and claims intelligence services, has joined Guidewire Software’s claims management platform with a plug-and-play add-on.

Ontellus said its records retrieval product enables insurers to securely order records within Guidewire’s ClaimCenter. This single-sign-on integration alleviates the extra steps that leaving ClaimCenter can entail, including rekeying order details such as claimant name, date of birth, Social Security number, claim number, and billing information, the company said in a press release.

“After placing the order, claims adjusters can monitor the status of the request, take action on it if needed (such as custodian fee approvals), and view/download medical records without leaving ClaimCenter,” stated Melanie Pita, chief product officer for Ontellus. “Records delivered to claims staff via Ontellus are securely sent to ensure all data privacy and security controls are met.”

Ontellus said the “Ready for Guidewire” integration provides claims adjusters with seamless ordering, status updates, and viewing or downloading medical, billing, and other necessary records while evaluating claims from within ClaimCenter, saving time, improving adjuster productivity, and reducing costs.

Munich Re Announces Hurricane-Response Tool

Munich Re announced the launch of a new suite of hurricane-response tools designed to help insurance companies assess widespread property damage after a hurricane and improve customers’ claims experience.

As reported by the Claims Journal in June, The Hurricane Response Suite gives insurers location-specific detection of property damage within days after a hurricane has occurred. Additional tools provide insurance companies with highly detailed predictions of damage days prior to the hurricane making landfall.

The produce was developed by Munich Re’s Remote Industries team, the reinsurer said in a press release.

“The hurricane events from 2016 to 2018 resulted in a high volume of claims, a shortage of adjusters and higher loss adjustment expenses for insurance companies, with claims resolution delayed for many of those who were impacted,” stated Roman Buegler, head of Munich Re’s laboratory. “Our new suite of tools utilizes cutting-edge technology to help insurance companies improve the customer experience and free up adjusters to manage serious or complex losses, while allowing rapid settlement of more simple losses.”

The hurricane-response tool allows insurance companies information to prioritize and steer claims adjuster resources, reach out to affected policyholders and help mitigate losses, Munich Re said. The tool uses high-resolution aerial imagery and machine learning to help insurance companies predict potential property claims four days prior to an expected hurricane.

Daily recalibrations and updates are provided until one day after the event. Two to three days following a hurricane, Munich Re’s Remote Industries team tasks the Geospatial Intelligence Center, an initiative of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, to begin collecting aerial imagery of hurricane damage.

Remote Industries applies its machine learning algorithms on those aerial images to detect damaged individual property features, such as exterior building and roof damage, Munich Re said. This insight and the Remote Industries web tool, a web-based interface that lets insurers adjust a claim without an on-site inspection, enable insurance companies to deploy their resources to the more complex claims and to start settling claims with only light roof damage without onsite adjustment, where appropriate. The same approach would also apply to major structural damage, such as a home that has been completely destroyed. That allows the property portion of the claim to be settled without waiting for an adjuster to visit the site.

Remote Industries is available throughout the United States, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, as well as in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. It is available to insurance companies for all residential properties and commercial properties with gabled roofs; mobile homes may also be considered.

Remote Industries is provided by MR Service GmbH which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Munich Re.