FCCI Insurance Group Deploys Guidewire ClaimCenter

FCCI Insurance Group (FCCI), a premier provider of comprehensive property and casualty insurance for the commercial business owner, and Guidewire Software®, a leading global provider of solutions to property and casualty insurers, today announced that FCCI has successfully deployed Guidewire ClaimCenter® as its all-in-one claims system. FCCI has elected to implement ClaimCenter using a phased approach with this initial deployment supporting commercial auto claims. Expansion to include all FCCI lines of business is currently underway, with full deployment expected in 2009. When fully deployed, ClaimCenter will support 260 FCCI users and have the capacity to handle 2,000 or more new claims per month. This project marks the 30th successful implementation of a Guidewire web-based core insurance system since Guidewire’s initial system launch in 2003.

FCCI sought a single, modern claims system to replace its three legacy systems and gain the functionality and flexibility to support end-to-end claims processing for all lines of business. The project includes 12 key integration points between ClaimCenter and internal FCCI processes and systems, including policy administration, document management, check printing, and the data warehouse, as well as between FCCI and external business partners such as ISO and select preferred vendors.

“FCCI values the reputation we’ve earned for fast and fair claim settlement,” said Garth Crow, vice president claims. “Deploying ClaimCenter makes us even more efficient, translating to even better service for our customers.”

Seamless integration with FCCI’s policy administration system enables ClaimCenter users to easily confirm coverages, simplifying the former process. In addition, ClaimCenter’s convenient desktop diary system recommends, monitors – and escalates as necessary - adjusting tasks and timeframes. Further improvements and cost savings are achieved through the fully integrated ISO ClaimSearch function which provides a streamlined method to request and receive ISO reports. Should a claim progress to litigation, ClaimCenter’s litigation management capabilities provide a powerful one stop resource to track and handle all litigation related matters – including specific litigation calendar capabilities. Consolidating the FCCI operation to a single claim handling system enables improved claim adjusting efficiency, consistency, accuracy, and speed – resulting in benefits to FCCI’s adjusters, independent agents and policyholders alike.

ClaimCenter also enables FCCI to:

• Gain real-time visibility into its day-to-day claims inventory and status;

• Respond to regulatory and business change in less time;

• Reduce adjuster training times from several weeks (for multiple systems) to two-three days for ClaimCenter; and

• Streamline maintenance costs through system consolidation.

“In addition to their ClaimCenter solution, Guidewire brought very knowledgeable and professional resources to our project,” said Brenda Davis, chief information officer, FCCI. “With Guidewire's assistance, FCCI was able to own this project. We gained the expertise to configure, maintain and further integrate our new system. Thanks to Guidewire, FCCI is self-sufficient now and can make adjustments as our business needs evolve.”

Guidewire’s chief executive officer, John Raguin added, “ In the past, the P&C industry has experienced far too many large scale IT project failures, many as a result of vendor over commitment and/or under delivery. Guidewire has been working very hard since our inception to restore the industry’s faith in technology vendors. It is particularly gratifying for us to see our 30th implementation go into production.” He continued, “Each and every customer success is a cause for celebration at Guidewire. We are thrilled to congratulate FCCI on their successful project and we thank them for helping us mark this milestone in our company’s history.”

Guidewire has deployed claims management, billing, and policy administrations systems throughout the United States, Canada, the U.K., Russia, and Australia, with numerous additional implementations currently underway. Carriers of all sizes and all lines of business utilize Guidewire technology to improve mission-critical core insurance operations. Some of Guidewire’s in-production customers include: Hastings Mutual, Canal Insurance, CNA, Boulder Claims, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, Employers Direct Insurance Company, Homeserve, Merastar, Montana State Fund, New Mexico Mutual, PURE High Net Worth Insurance, Rosgosstrakh, Suncorp, Sequoia, and SUA.

Guidewire ClaimCenter is a leading end-to-end claims system for property and casualty and workers’ compensation insurance. ClaimCenter’s flexible business rules enable claims organizations to optimize and monitor the claim process. Claims executives can define, enforce, and continually refine their preferred claim handling practices. In addition, a modern technology architecture, providing 100% web client, and web services interface enable lower total cost of ownership in any environment.