Guidewire ClaimCenter® deployed as key component in strategy to modernise core operations and standardise claims settlement processes across organization
LONDON, England, 05 November, 2008 – At the IEA & Marketforce Future of General Insurance 8th Annual Conference, Rosgosstrakh (RGS), Russia’s largest insurance provider, and Guidewire Software®, a leading global provider of solutions to general insurance companies, today announced that RGS has been successfully in production with Guidewire’s industry leading ClaimCenter system for over one year. RGS now relies on Guidewire ClaimCenter® to support the complete claims process for its Auto, Property, Personal Accident, Animals, and Life lines of business. Today, more than 3,000 users process over 50% of all RGS claims with ClaimCenter. The company’s total annual claims volume averages 1.5 million claims. Additional ClaimCenter deployments to other RGS regions continue, with 58 of 89 regions scheduled to be in production by the end of 2008 and full deployment to all regions scheduled for Q2 2009.
RGS selected Guidewire ClaimCenter as part of the company’s strategy to transform its claims handling operations based on the highest global standards and using best-of-breed technology. RGS believes that excellent customer service requires perfect claims handling and high quality handling consistency across its entire country. With its initial 6-month ClaimCenter deployment project (completed in May 2007) and numerous subsequent roll-outs of ClaimCenter, the RGS claims organisation now has consistent processes in place, is working with paperless (electronic) claims files, and can view more and higher quality claims data in real-time for improved operational efficiencies. The company is on track to meet its primary project objectives and is seeing reduced adjuster training times and costs and a reduction in claims settlement times to 1 day for simple claims.
“We chose Guidewire to help us raise claims settlement quality, gain visibility and consistency in our settlement processes, and reduce our operating costs � across our regions,” said Ekaterina Gelfand, chief project officer at RGS. “Guidewire has not disappointed us – the benefits we are seeing with ClaimCenter increase with each roll-out we do. We have centralised all non-client facing operations which allow shared services to be efficiently performed and managed and cost effectively executed. This now enables our appraisers, adjusters and field staff to focus on providing the best possible service to our clients.”
“This project was very challenging in terms of what we wanted to accomplish, the vast geography we were working with, and the fact that we selected a vendor in Guidewire who had no previous experience in Russia and whose product wasn’t yet available in Russian,” said Ekaterina Gelfand. “Together we have made the impossible a reality. Guidewire was open and honest with us and they kept their promises. This, along with the determination and talent of our team, ClaimCenter’s flexibility, and strong RGS management vision and support, enabled us to succeed.”
Guidewire ClaimCenter is a leading end-to-end claims system for general insurance. ClaimCenter’s flexible business rules enable claims organisations to optimise and monitor the claim process. Claims executives can define, enforce and continually refine their preferred claim handling practices. In addition, ClaimCenter uses a modern technology architecture, including a 100% Web client and Web services interface that enable lower total cost of ownership in any environment.
“We are pleased to work in close collaboration with RGS in helping RGS achieve its claims transformation vision,” said John Raguin, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software. “This project, the scope of which cannot be underestimated, has enabled Guidewire to demonstrate that ClaimCenter can be implemented on schedule in a new territory for us � one that is far from our headquarters. Many specific product attributes were required to make this project successful, of which localising ClaimCenter into Russian is just one example.”
About Rosgosstrakh
Rosgosstrakh (RGS) is the only nationwide insurance company in Russia with almost 87 years of experience operating on this scale. It is the largest Russian insurer offering the classic lines of insurance cover in terms of collected premiums, the size of its corporate network, assets and revenues.
RGS is a universal insurance company. With its license from the Russian Ministry of Finance for practically all types of insurance, RGS offers its clients a broad range of insurance and reinsurance contracts. A well-balanced investment portfolio, diversified insurance and financial expertise, and a reliable system of reinsurance in Russia and abroad represent the trinity that guarantees RGS’s ability to settle claims of any type.
Today RGS is a vertically integrated holding company, which incorporates close to 3,000 branches, regional agencies, sales and claims-handling offices covering every one of Russia’s 86 regions, as well as two specialized companies – RGS-Life and RGS-Med. Over 100,000 employees, including 60,000 agents work for RGS. All elements of the RGS Group of Companies are integrated under a single supervisory management.
Market surveys show that RGS has the best brand recognition among Russian insurance companies and that Russian citizens regard Rosgosstrakh as the most reliable insurance partner in the market. RGS offers its services to more than 20 million individuals and over 200,000 corporate clients including various businesses, key financial and industrial giants. The RGS Group of Companies is one of the fastest-growing corporations in Russia. In three years it has moved up the insurers’ rankings table from Number 54 to Number 1. In 2004 RGS was recognized as the leader of the Russian insurance market and has held the position since.
About Guidewire Software
Guidewire Software is a leading global provider of technology solutions to property and casualty and workers’ compensation insurers. Guidewire delivers proven software to run core insurance operations, including billing, underwriting, policy, and claim management. The Guidewire Insurance Suite™ consists of Guidewire ClaimCenter, Guidewire PolicyCenter®, and Guidewire BillingCenter™, which provide a modern, web-based platform for all lines of business. Guidewire is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, and Toronto. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com.
