The Cincinnati Insurance Cos. Finalizes Claims Management System Rollout

The Cincinnati Insurance Companies this month completed rollout of a new Claims Management System that streamlines file administration for property casualty insurance claims.

“CMS supports our continued commitment to providing exemplary claims service with a personal touch,” said Gary Givler, assistant vice president, Headquarters Claims. “It lifts the administrative burden from our field claims representatives, allowing them to spend more time with people and less time with paper.”

Cincinnati Insurance reportedly consistently ranks high in independent industry surveys measuring customer satisfaction with speed and fairness of claims service. The company’s 743 field claims representatives are able to respond to claims promptly and personally because they work out of their homes and are assigned to serve local independent agencies in their own communities.

CMS manages processing of formerly manual, paper-based files within a single, automated system accessible to associates located in the field and at headquarters through a secure Web browser connection.

Documents related to property casualty claims are keyed or scanned into the system and are available immediately. Instead of waiting for a linear workflow to reach them, authorized associates can access files as they are ready to work on them.

Givler said, “Everything is everywhere, all the time; for the first time in our company’s history, multiple associates in diverse departments and locations can view a claim file simultaneously. We have a shared platform for decision-making.”

Carol Oler, executive in charge of CMS technical development, said the system speeds information flow and makes it easy for staff in Cincinnati and across 31 states to share files. “It helps our staff make quicker and better decisions,” she said.

Cincinnati partnered with SAP America to implement SAP’s Claims Management Solution and configure it to Cincinnati’s business needs. After the company prepared its business requirements and selected SAP, software implementation took just 11 months. “Development was very fast,” Oler said. “We have an exceptional team that takes pride in the project.”

Givler said a key factor in choosing SAP was the vendor’s position as a leading provider of business applications and its ability to provide ongoing support to Cincinnati’s in-house technical team. “We have added our claims expertise to their experience in insurance and technology,” Givler said.

Benefits reach beyond claims file management, Givler noted. “Because it makes financial data available in real time, we anticipate that CMS will greatly support our ability to quickly respond to marketplace changes,” he said.

Reporting functions in CMS allow managers to analyze loss data, identifying trends and addressing them by fine-tuning underwriting, insurance product design and pricing strategies.