Travelers 2015 Annual Report Download - page 19

price Quantum Auto 2.0 more competitively while maintaining expected returns at appropriate levels
over time. By December 31, 2015, the Company was offering Quantum Auto 2.0 in all of the states in
which it had intended to introduce the product. All new accounts in these states are being written using
Quantum Auto 2.0, and the product is available to agents at their discretion for existing accounts.
CLAIMS MANAGEMENT
The Company’s claim functions are managed through its Claims Services organization, with
locations in the United States and in the other countries where it does business. With more than
11,000 employees, Claims Services employs a group of professionals with diverse skills, including claim
adjusters, appraisers, attorneys, investigators, engineers, accountants, system specialists and training,
management and support personnel. Approved external service providers, such as investigators,
attorneys and, in the rare circumstances when necessary, independent adjusters and appraisers, are
available for use as appropriate.
U.S. field claim management teams located in 21 claim centers and 53 satellite and specialty-only
offices in 45 states are organized to maintain focus on the specific claim characteristics unique to the
businesses within the Company’s business segments. Claim teams with specialized skills, required
licenses, resources and workflows are matched to the unique exposures of those businesses, with local
claims management dedicated to achieving optimal results within each segment. The Company’s home
office operations provide additional support in the form of workflow design, quality management,
information technology, advanced management information and data analysis, training, financial
reporting and control, and human resources strategy. This structure permits the Company to maintain
the economies of scale of a large, established company while retaining the agility to respond promptly
to the needs of customers, brokers, agents and underwriters. Claims management for International,
while generally provided locally by staff in the respective international locations due to local knowledge
of applicable laws and regulations, is also managed by the Company’s Claims Services organization in
the U.S. to leverage that knowledge base and to share best practices.
An integral part of the Company’s strategy to benefit customers and shareholders is its continuing
industry leadership in the fight against insurance fraud through its Investigative Services unit. The
Company has a nationwide staff of experts who investigate a wide array of insurance fraud schemes
using in-house forensic resources and other technological tools. This staff also has specialized expertise
in fire scene examinations, medical provider fraud schemes and data mining. The Company also
dedicates investigative resources to ensure that violations of law are reported to and prosecuted by law
enforcement agencies.
Claims Services uses technology, management information and data analysis to assist the Company
in reviewing its claim practices and results in order to evaluate and improve its claims management
performance. The Company’s claims management strategy is focused on segmentation of claims and
appropriate technical specialization to drive effective claim resolution. The Company continually
monitors its investment in claim resources to maintain an effective focus on claim outcomes and a
disciplined approach to continual improvement. The Company operates a state-of-the-art claims
training facility which offers hands-on experiential learning to help ensure that its claim professionals
are properly trained. In recent years, the Company has invested significant additional resources in many
of its claim handling operations and routinely monitors the effect of those investments to ensure a
consistent optimization among outcomes, cost and service.
Claims Services’ catastrophe response strategy is to respond to a significant catastrophic event
using its own personnel, enabling it to minimize reliance on independent adjusters and appraisers. The
Company has developed a large dedicated catastrophe response team and trained a large Enterprise
Response Team of existing employees who can be deployed on short notice in the event of a
catastrophe that generates claim volume exceeding the capacity of the dedicated catastrophe response
team. In recent years, these internal resources were successfully deployed to respond to a record
number of catastrophe claims.
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