Meet Red River Mutual

A Cloud-Powered and Pricing Transformation Story

See How They Did It

The Challenge
Red River Mutual sought to modernize its technology infrastructure to support rapid growth and enhance pricing capabilities.
The Solution
Streamlining for growth was the driving force behind Red River Mutual’s migration of InsuranceSuite to Guidewire Cloud. By gaining access to a broader technology partner ecosystem, which includes Guidewire PricingCenter, Red River Mutual has simplified system updates, enabling faster market implementation on multiple fronts.

Accomplishments That Count

< 6

WEEKS - UPDATES TAKE WEEKS INSTEAD OF MONTHS TO A YEAR

5X

DWP GROWTH

+6

NPS

Red River Mutual

„The greatest value Guidewire brings is its ability to position us for long-term growth by enabling us to build operational capabilities that are scalable, agile, and insight-driven. With continuous cloud updates that enhance performance and unlock new customer-facing features, real-time analytics for smarter decision-making, and the flexibility to adapt quickly, we’re laying a strong foundation for sustainable innovation in an ever-evolving market."

Jennifer Ewankiw, Vice President, Sales and Strategic Excellence

Red River Mutual

How Red River Mutual Engages, Innovates, and Grows Efficiently

Business Benefits

Faster system updates (reduced from months to weeks)
Enhanced pricing capabilities with rapid deployment
Improved customer service through integrated communications

The Story

Since 1875, Red River Mutual has been working hard to protect the livelihoods of Canadians on the Prairies. The insurer’s goal has always been to provide competitive insurance products that meet the changing needs of Canadians. In 2013, Red River Mutual knew it needed to make a change to its foundational technology to better serve customers. That is where the relationship with Guidewire began. In 2017, Red River Mutual went live with an on-premises version of InsuranceSuite.

Since that time, Red River Mutual has continued to grow as a regional insurer. Its focus on delivering personalized service and listening to feedback from its customers and broker partners has helped it stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. The strategic partnership with Guidewire supports this commitment by enabling greater operational efficiency, agility, and access to modern tools that help the company respond quicker to the industry’s needs.

That is why Red River Mutual decided, in 2021, to migrate to Guidewire Cloud. "We wanted to make sure we weren't in the business of managing infrastructure," explained Arun Abraham, VP of Information Systems and Technology.

„Guidewire Cloud helps us level the playing field with larger insurers."

Arun Abraham

VP of Information Systems and Technology

It was also then that Red River Mutual made the decision to evolve its pricing strategy. “Prior to this time, we had no actuaries on staff,” noted Amanda Evenson, Vice President of Data & Analytics. “We had a strategic focus on growth and we knew that a data and analytics team would need to be created.”

While Red River Mutual was building its team, it decided to implement PricingCenter. “We didn’t want our actuaries wasting time building models from scratch,” said Evenson.

It was also very important for Red River Mutual to have a tool that would be quick and easy to learn by those who were onboarding. “One of the early wins with PricingCenter was when we brought on a co-op student and within weeks that student was working on the system effectively.”

Having the right team, with the right technology was key to Red River Mutual setting itself up for future growth. "We really have to push ourselves to compete with competitors that are heavily invested in analytics and pricing models," said Evenson.

„PricingCenter enables our actuaries to focus on value generation rather than building tools from scratch."

Amanda Evenson

Head of Analytics

"The experience for both our business and technology teams has been very positive with this shift to the cloud," noted Abraham. “The company has seen significant improvements in operational efficiency, customer service, and market competitiveness.”

The benefits extend beyond just pricing and efficiency. Through the Guidewire Marketplace, Red River Mutual has integrated with partners such as Hi Marley, which enables more real-time interaction with policyholders. “The 24 hour texting capability that customers now have has provided so much value,” said Abraham. Claims can be reported and monitored beyond the 8:00 am to 4:00 pm workday. And the numbers speak for themselves.

„Since implementing a seamless integration between Hi Marley, we've seen a six-point increase in our Net Promoter Score (NPS) over the past 24 months, reflecting stronger customer satisfaction and engagement."

Lyndon Friesen

Senior Vice President (SVP) of Insurance Operations & Service

Other Marketplace partners that Red River has experienced benefits with include CoreLogic, CoForge, Norima Consulting, Opta’s iClarify, SMARTCommunications, and NewGen.