Life Insurance, Health Insurance
PR Newswire | August 17, 2023
EvolutionIQ, the market-leading Claims Guidance platform for Disability, Workers' Compensation, and Property & Casualty lines of insurance, today announced that Principal Financial Group® has extended the use of EvolutionIQ's Claims Guidance platform into production for all of its disability insurance lines. Principal® is now the first carrier to extend EvolutionIQ across every segment of its group and individual disability product segments.
EvolutionIQ's machine learning understands complex bodily injury to help guide claim examiners to the right actions on claims. Principal has extended EvolutionIQ's impact to all disability coverage phases. With claim actions happening earlier across all parts of the recovery journey, a positive ripple-effect occurs through the entire process.
Data shows that EvolutionIQ enables Principal examiners to reduce unnecessary customer interactions by 64% on stable-bound claims, which are claims that will migrate to a mature status due to the longer recovery times expected. With fewer unnecessary interactions, customers are able to focus more time on recovery. Improved customer experience includes:
More accurate referrals to clinical and vocational experts – which eliminates delays when the help of a specialist is what is most needed to help with recovery.
Better identification of modified occupation opportunities or alternative occupations for those whose illness or injury means they will not be able to return to work in their original occupation.
Faster benefit payments for sick or injured customers whose claims are stable or designated as long-term. These customers also benefit as the need to check-in with claims teams is significantly reduced.
Matching senior examiners to more complex claims so that the right expertise is applied at first notice of injury.
"Principal is dedicated to providing unique, tech-driven solutions for employers that simplify the benefits experience, not just at onboarding or the claims payment experience, but as part of the entire process in between," said Kara Hoogensen, Senior Vice President & Head of Workplace Benefits at Principal Financial Group. "Our continued collaboration with EvolutionIQ has improved the experience for our customers."
Added EvolutionIQ co-Founder and co-CEO Michael Saltzman: "We are thrilled to continue to work with Principal across their disability product lines. They are committed to all forms of innovation that advance the interests of their customers and policy holders and we're honored to help them further their mission every day."
Principal first integrated with EvolutionIQ in 2021 with the successful pilot and production launch of EvolutionIQ's Group Mature module. In 2022, Principal became a strategic investor in EvolutionIQ's Series B funding round, joining existing strategic investors New York Life Ventures, Tokio Marine, Guardian and Sedgwick, and has now expanded its use to include Group Short Term Disability and Group Long-Term Disability Core modules, as well as EvolutionIQ's Individual Disability module.
About EvolutionIQ
EvolutionIQ is the market leading Claims Guidance platform in Group and Individual Disability, Property & Casualty, and Workers' Compensation lines of insurance. EvolutionIQ now counts the majority of the top 20 US Disability and Life carriers as clients. EvolutionIQ's proprietary Artificial Intelligence uses the entire claim file contents, historical claims, and external data to guide claim handlers to their most productive task across the entire claim block, every day. The system combines real-time predictive accuracy, clear guidance, and explainable AI to ensure adoption and business impact. As a result, claims organizations spend their efforts on claims they can impact – and their claimants get better, more tailored service. Insurers choose EvolutionIQ to increase their profitability and control over complex lines of business by integrating decision intelligence into every step of the claims handling process.
Read More
Core Insurance, Insurance Technology
PRnewswire | July 19, 2023
With the 2023 natural disaster season upon us, property and casualty (P&C) insurers are now, more than ever, aware of the increased strain recent catastrophes, like Hurricane Ian, have had on their business. Nearmap, a leading location intelligence and aerial imagery solutions provider, aims to alleviate some of that pressure by revolutionizing how P&C insurers respond to catastrophes. Today, the firm is announcing an enhanced post-catastrophe response solution, which combines industry-leading Nearmap ImpactResponse post-catastrophe imagery with two new products--Nearmap ImpactTriage AI and Nearmap ImpactAssessment AI. This new solution equips insurers with a more robust set of AI-derived property insights all in one place, enabling them to address damage and get a head start on claims.
Don Weigel, Chief Product Officer, said: "As we see a growing number of natural disasters, our role at Nearmap has expanded from monitoring the evolution of towns and cities to also supporting disaster response efforts. We have a unique combination of ultra-efficient cameras, fast imagery processing, and industry-leading deployment of AI. These new solutions allow Nearmap to be there supporting organizations at all stages as they respond to catastrophe, process claims, and help communities to recover."
Together, the post-catastrophe products from Nearmap provide industry-leading aerial imagery and AI-derived damage assessment data to support all stages of the post-catastrophe claims workflow.
Nearmap ImpactResponse
Nearmap ImpactResponse, the flagship post catastrophe product, delivers high-resolution, post-catastrophe aerial imagery faster than any other solution on the market.
With Nearmap ImpactResponse, in-person inspections—often dangerous, time-consuming, or prohibited—are no longer the most viable option.
The level of detail provided by Nearmap ImpactResponse is unprecedented, consistently delivering the sharpest post-catastrophe imagery at sub-3" per pixel since its launch in 2021.
Derived from Nearmap ImpactResponse imagery, come the two new products:
Nearmap ImpactTriage AI
Nearmap ImpactTriage AI provides damage classification that allows insurers to quickly identify impacted properties after disaster strikes. Delivered via API following a catastrophe, ImpactTriage AI data gives carriers a jumpstart toward recovery efforts—allowing them to prepare for claims and assign adjusters.
Nearmap ImpactTriage AI provides insurers a categorization of the damaged locations, enabling insurers to systematically prioritize and allocate limited resources.
A three-tier damage classification (No Damage, Partial Loss, and Total Loss) supports prioritization of resources and services according to damage severity.
A five-tier FEMA-based damage classification (No Damage, Affected, Minor, Major, and Destroyed) additionally supports more accurate estimates of financial impacts at the claim and event levels.
The new product supports insurers in their ability to automate claims, proactively process total losses, and deliver policyholder settlements before a claim is filed.
Nearmap ImpactAssessment AI
Nearmap ImpactAssessment AI is a robust collection of AI-derived condition and damage data that allows insurers to quickly and more accurately analyze vast amounts of post-catastrophe imagery and to pinpoint relevant details that could easily be missed in onsite or manual reviews.
Insurers can compare these insights with pre-catastrophe data, when available, to reduce fraud.
The set of AI-derived attributes includes roof damage, temporary and permanent repairs, structural damage, debris, wreckage, and more.
With disaster season in motion, the ability to rapidly scope impact, engage proactively with customers, process claims swiftly, and manage post-catastrophe costs are not only business essentials—they are promises to policyholders.
"After a hurricane, it's like a warzone," said Noel Bunol, Executive Vice President, Gulf States Insurance. "We can't get in there by vehicle. Nearmap imagery allows us to see the damage from above. We can view entire neighborhoods to see how hard they were affected; if powerlines are down and start to determine where to send resources."
About Nearmap
Nearmap provides easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, AI data sets, and geospatial tools. Using its own patented camera systems and processing software, Nearmap captures wide-scale urban areas in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand several times each year, making current content instantly available in the cloud via web app or API integration. Every day, Nearmap helps thousands of users conduct virtual site visits for deep, data-driven insights—enabling informed decisions, streamlined operations, and better financial performance. Founded in Australia in 2007, Nearmap is one of the largest aerial survey companies in the world.
Read More
Core Insurance, Risk Management
GlobeNewswire | August 31, 2023
Risk Strategies, a leading national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced that it has acquired Benefit Design Group LLC, a retail agency specializing in health, life and retirement solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Based in Portland, Oregon and led by Joel Biernat and Dennis Warneke, Benefit Design Group (BDG) is an independent insurance agency specializing in health insurance solutions for businesses, individuals and seniors. With a client base across Oregon and Washington, the firm serves businesses seeking tailored employee benefits programs across a wide range of industries, including aged care, education, hospitality and manufacturing, as well as individuals and seniors.
“As a national specialist in the increasingly complex world of employee benefits, we’re always seeking new partners who can add to both our geographic presence and expertise,” said John Greenbaum, National Employee Benefits Practice Leader, Risk Strategies. “It’s why we’re excited to bring Joel, Dennis and the BDG organization into the Risk Strategies family.”
BDG offers a broad array of products to its individual and group insurance clients including medical, dental, life insurance, Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, among others. BDG as constituted today, was formed in 2017 when Biernat merged the firm with Warneke’s company, The Warneke Group, LLC. That firm primarily specialized in providing services and products for employers offering group employee benefits to their employees.
“We’re extremely excited to join Risk Strategies,” said Biernat, President, Benefit Design Group. “We know that being part of a true specialty brokerage with national scale will bring a myriad of benefits to our people, business and especially our clients.”
The purchase of BDG adds to Risk Strategies’ presence in the Pacific Northwest. It builds upon the firm’s previous acquisition of the Fournier Group, a full-service commercial and personal lines retail insurance agency.
About Risk Strategies
Risk Strategies is the 9th largest privately held US brokerage firm offering comprehensive risk management advice, insurance and reinsurance placement for property & casualty, employee benefits, private client services, as well as consulting services and financial & wealth solutions. With more than 30 specialty practices, Risk Strategies serves commercial companies, nonprofits, public entities, and individuals, and has access to all major insurance markets. Risk Strategies has over 100 offices including Boston, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Grand Cayman, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Washington DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco. RiskStrategies.com.
Read More