Business interruption claim technology catches up with the times

Technology is playing a more important role in business interruption insurance and claims.

“We've deployed some new technology that's very mobile-enabled and social media-focused,” said Brian Flynn, Atlanta-based global chief information officer and executive vice president at claims manager Crawford & Co.

Crawford's GTS SLM system for global technical services strategic loss management allows buyers, insurers and claims handlers to communicate documentation needs to process a claim, he said.

In addition, off-the-shelf “software has been developed to track the participants' financial documents and the analysis needed to resolve a claim,” said Monica Ningen, Armonk-New York-based head property underwriter for the U.S. and Canada at Swiss Re Americas.

Using such a system, businesses can compare their business interruption values against industry averages, she said.

“Technology has changed the nature of many claims,” Gerald Kissner, associate vice president of large property and catastrophe claims at CNA Financial Corp., said of more robust systems that allow sharing and backing up of documentation on business interruption claims.