Moving from manual guesswork to automated intelligence in propertyclaims
Across the insurance industry, the focus has shifted from simple claims processing to claims precision. With social inflation rising and supply chains remaining volatile, carriers are under immense pressure to ensure that every indemnity payment is accurate, fair, and defensible.
Most insurers have successfully modernized their core systems to handle the workflow. Yet, a significant gap remains in the decision-making process itself: the valuation of contents.
The Problem: The “Subjectivity Trap”
Leakage in property claims is rarely caused by the core system; it is caused by the data fed into it. When a policyholder claims a complex item, like a 3-year-old gaming laptop or a discontinued smartphone, the adjuster is often forced to step outside the digital workflow. They resort to manual internet searches, trying to match a used item to a specific policyholder loss.
This manual friction creates three universal risks:
- Indemnity Leakage: Relying on current retail prices for old items leads to systematic overpayment.
- Operational Drag: The “swivel-chair” process slows down settlement cycle times.
- Inconsistency: Lack of standardized data makes it difficult to audit results.
The Challenge at Scale: Large Loss Lists
This friction is painful, even for a single item. However, i t becomes unmanageable when dealing with numerous large losses.
When adjusters face BER (Beyond Economic Repair) lists or bulk inventory sheets containing up to 1,000 items, the manual approach effectively breaks down. Reviewing these lists line by line becomes a significant administrative burden. Consequently, these high-value claims are often settled with broad estimates rather than precise data, leading to substantial leakage.
The Solution: Intelligent Automation & STP
To solve this, the industry is moving toward Product Intelligence-replacing manual effort with structured, granular database lookups.
ValueChecker provides this capability for both single items and bulk lists. While the platform’s proprietary database indexes millions of electronic products dating back to 2003, its reach extends far beyond technology.
Through broad connections to the retail industry, ValueChecker performs live price lookups for virtually every generic consumer item available (excluding niche specialty goods). This hybrid approach allows insurers to:
- Pinpoint the exact item (whether it’s a 10-year-old laptop or a brand-new coffee maker).
- Identify the best replacement item and the specific place to buy it in seconds.
- Achieve Near-STP: ValueChecker can automatically process lists of 1,000+ items instantly, turning a week of work into minutes of processing.
Executing this Strategy in Guidewire ClaimCenter
For insurers operating on Guidewire ClaimCenter, implementing this precision is seamless.
The ValueChecker accelerator for ClaimCenter is designed to bridge the gap between external market data and the internal core system through an integrated workflow. It ensures that ClaimCenter remains the “single source of truth,” enriched by specialized product data.
The Integrated Workflow:
- Streamlined Launch: The adjuster triggers ValueChecker directly from the claim file.
- Flexible Processing: Whether it is a single item or a bulk upload of a 500-item loss list, the engine identifies and values the inventory instantly.
- Data Synchronization: With a single click, the detailed product specs, final valuations, and audit reports are imported back into ClaimCenter.
The Impact
By integrating product intelligence directly into their core system, insurers are seeing measurable results:
- 20% Reduction in Indemnity Spend: By eliminating overpayment on electronics.
- 40-80% Efficiency Gain: By removing the research burden from the adjuster’s desk.
- Scalability: The ability to handle large complex losses with STP speed.
Precision is no longer optional. It is the new standard for efficient claims management.