Talent attraction and retention top priority for claims officers

Ninety per cent of 62 property and casualty claims officers surveyed by Towers Perrin late last year said increased competition, consolidation and convergence are among the leading challenges facing their industry in 2008.
Survey respondents represented property and casualty insurance companies of varying types and sizes (and encompassing both personal and commercial lines): 37% were from companies with less than US$200 million in written premiums, 31% from companies with written premiums between US$200 million and US$750 million, and 32% from firms with more than US$750 million in written premiums.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents chose sophisticated analytics as the top emerging trend or issue bringing change to the claims industry, a Towers Perrin release says.
This trumped the more traditional issue of escalating claim severity (the second-ranked issue), followed by increasing technology needs and reliance on software.
“Expense and cost management remains a top concern for all carriers, although better technology solutions and sophisticated analytics are getting more emphasis as competition tightens,” the statement says.
Secondary challenges varied by respondent demographic. Larger carriers cited distribution and product management. Smaller carriers and carriers that write smaller accounts cited regulatory issues.
In terms of listing future priorities, attracting and retaining top talent was cited as the top priority for 82% of the companies surveyed.
Fifty-two per cent of claims officers pointed to the effective use of data and analytics as a main driver to meeting business objectives, ranking it second to attracting talent. This was closely followed by an interest in better ways to use technology in general (50%), the release continues.