Managing large and complex claims in China to safeguard the bottom line

Swiss Re China’s Claims team invited clients to a seminar in early 2010 to share expertise and know-how on managing large and complex claims in this booming market.

Sharing expertise and know-how

In a fast growing market like China, improving claims managers’ technical skills is high on the agenda for many insurance companies. Always ready to answer the client’s call for support, Swiss Re China recently hosted a claims seminar entitled “Managing large and complex claims” that included real case studies and even a site visit.

Some 24 insurance professional from claims, underwriting and reinsurance departments of 15 insurance companies attended this interactive event in Shanghai.  As feedback was clearly positive, more of such get-togethers will be held going forward.  

Corinna Cheng, Swiss Re’s head of the Greater China Claims Team, highlighted in her opening speech that the aim of organizing such an event was two fold. One is to share knowledge and claims' best practice for win-win solutions. The other is to provide a platform to gradually building up a network among claims professional in China market.

In the seminar, Wendy Xu, Assistant Vice President of Claims & Liabilities from Swiss Re China, used case studies to share her experiences of dealing with Machinery Breakdown claims, and to illustrate the potential claims management issues that insurance companies may face in this area.  The audience found the cases particularly interesting, creating a lot of interaction and discussion among the participants especially on the interpretation of contract wording.

Most major Chinese cities have underground transportation systems under construction, but not every claims manager experience throughout the entire claims cycle of this highly complex and specialised area. Simon Sheng, Vice President of Claims and Liability of Swiss Re in China, had the audience entranced with a unique and live metro claim case from Taiwan. The case highlighted not only the technical issues on causation, but the challenge from the court’s interpretation of the Insurance Law against the contract coverage.

Discussion held among professionals

Part of the seminar was held in the Shanghai office of Belfor Recovery Services, where participants discussed how to effectively mitigate insurance loss following severe fire, and how it can be done professionally. Belfor is a third party service provider specialised in this area.

Participants' feedbacks

Throughout the seminar, all participants took a very active part in learning, discussing and sharing. Overall feedback from participants was very positive and proved that there is real demand in the industry for such platforms to exchange market knowledge.

From the feedback received, participants were particularly impressed with the sharing of new international trends and techniques in claims management, and the lively discussion sessions were also appreciated as a means to helping participants understand the different views and perspectives on every issue.

One happy participant put it in a nutshell with this comment: “This seminar is just like providing charcoal to people during the heavy snow in winter!”

"Managing large and complex claims" seminar participants

Inquiries

Should you require more information on managing large and complex claims in China, please feel free to contact the Claims & Liabilities team of Swiss Re directly (details top right).

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