1. Microsoft Windows Server System
Customer Solution Case Study
Insurance Company Streamlines Claims
Processing with Web Services–based Solution
Overview “Web services give us a great deal of agility. Our
Country/Region: United States
Industry: Financial Services
managers can make decisions for the good of the
business without worrying about whether technology
Customer Profile
The Farmers Insurance Group of
can keep up.”
Companies is the third largest home and Matthew Matter, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Farmers Insurance
auto insurer in the United States.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, the third largest home
Farmers provides a range of insurance
services to more than 10 million and auto insurer in the United States, wanted to expedite
households. automobile claims processing and improve the customer’s
Business Situation experience after an accident. Although Farmers had implemented
Farmers wanted to streamline its claims many standards and efficiencies in its claims-settlement process,
management process to eliminate
inefficiencies. It wanted to monitor repair some aspects were still manual, paper-based, and complex.
shop performance, make better use of Farmers turned to Microsoft® Certified Partner ProcessClaims and
claims staff, and quickly add new
functionality to key systems. its material-damage management software, ClaimsPort. ClaimsPort
integrates seamlessly with Farmers’s claims-processing system
Solution
The ProcessClaims ClaimsPort solution, through use of the Microsoft .NET Framework. The automated,
based on the Microsoft® .NET Framework, Web-based solution gives Farmers the ability to remotely monitor
has automated Farmers’s claims-
processing system, providing an all-digital repair facilities, eliminate manual handoffs, reduce cycle time, and
workflow and the ability to track make the claims-settlement process more satisfactory for
performance.
customers.
Benefits
 Four-hour claim settlement
 Greater staff efficiencies
 Greater customer satisfaction
 Improved repair shop oversight
 Increased business agility

2. Microsoft Windows Server System
Customer Solution Case Study
Insurance Company Streamlines Claims
Processing with Web Services–based Solution

3. Situation “However, there was no data integration
For insurance companies, making claims between the body shops and Farmers. We
settlement as fast and convenient as wanted live data interactions to eliminate as
possible is imperative, because the likelihood many delays as possible between the
of the customer changing companies multiple stages of estimation and repair
decreases significantly with a positive work.”
experience.
Farmers also wanted the ability to analyze
The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, and compare the estimates, repair
the third largest home and auto insurer in the completion times, and other attributes of
United States, provides home, auto, various repair facilities so that it could
business, and life insurance, as well as recommend the top-performing facilities to
financial services, to more than 10 million customers who requested them. Farmers
households. Farmers continuously strives for tracked this information by using
greater efficiency and productivity as to spreadsheets and other simple tools, but the
maintain a competitive edge in a crowded company still did not have timely access to
marketplace. the detailed information that it needed.
In 1992, Farmers took a major step in Lastly, Farmers wanted the ability to
improving its claims process when it created electronically review all claims information in
the Farmers Circle of Dependability (COD) a central location so that it could accelerate
program. Through this preferred vendor the estimation and payment of small, routine
program, Farmers identifies repair shops that repairs and allow field adjusters to focus their
focus on quality and customer service. Shops valuable time on more complex repairs.
admitted into Farmers’s COD meet certain
equipment and staff-training requirements, In summary, Farmers was searching for a
agree to provide estimates in a digital format, solution that could:
complete repairs in a timely manner, and
provide a positive customer experience.  Improve management and connectivity to
Through this program, Farmers has been able approved repair facilities.
to expedite the settlement process with  Automate workflow to reduce internal
minimal intervention by Farmers staff. touch points.
 Fulfill Farmers’s specific performance
However, even with an approved set of repair expectations.
shops that adhere to Farmers high standards,  Provide more robust data analytics.
the claims process remained manual and  Integrate seamlessly with internal
paper-based. Communications about each enterprise systems.
claim traveled from department to
department at Farmers, and then from
Farmers to body shops to customers, often as Solution
faxes, phone calls, and paper documents. Farmers evaluated the products of the
market-leading material-damage
“The Circle of Dependability program was a management companies and chose
good first step in eliminating a great many ProcessClaims of Manhattan Beach,
unknowns and inefficiencies from claims California, for several reasons.
processing,” says Matthew Matter, Director of
Strategic Initiatives at Farmers Insurance.

4. “The ProcessClaims solution has great seen how an ASP environment combined with
workflow capability as well as great statistics- a Web services architecture can provide the
collection capability,” says Mike Hickey, flexibility we need to protect our technology
National Director of Auto Physical Damage for investments,” Matter says. “Equally
Farmers Insurance. “The ProcessClaims impressive was the ability of ProcessClaims
software also provides tremendous to deploy such a mature and robust
customization abilities, which we required to integration in only 90 days.”
integrate the solution with our claims-
processing system. It also has the ability to The Microsoft .NET Framework is an integral
integrate with a variety of third-party component of the Microsoft Windows
estimating software packages, which is ServerTM 2003 operating system and provides
important to us because it increases the a programming model and runtime for Web
number of body shops that we can work services, Web applications, and smart client
with.” applications.
ProcessClaims, part of the Microsoft ® ProcessClaims created ClaimsPort by using
Insurance Value Chain, provides a .NET and the Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET
configurable standards-based solution that 2003 development system. ProcessClaims
can be applied to diverse business processes evaluated both Visual Studio .NET 2003 (in
without the cost and lengthy development particular, Visual C#® .NET 2003) and Java;
cycles of large-scale, custom integration in the end, C# proved to be the superior
efforts. Insurance Value Chain solutions allow language due to better performance,
insurers to offer new products and serve scalability, development tools, and ease of
current policyholders more quickly and more conversion.
efficiently. These solutions also address
privacy, security, and compliance issues, “Integrating our product with Farmers’s
making it easier for carriers to comply with claims management system was a breeze,”
myriad federal and state regulations. says Simon Politakis, Chief Architect for
ProcessClaims. “Using Visual Studio .NET, we
Faster Integration with Web Services created XML schemas that defined the data
Another thing Farmers liked about the format to be exchanged between our
ProcessClaims solution was its use of Web respective systems; a Web service for
services. Web services are programmable Farmers to use in sending its data to us; and
application components that can be a client to call a Web service to send the
accessed over the Internet with standard appraisal, photos, and other supporting
Web protocols. Farmers wanted to use Web documents back to Farmers. The Microsoft
services and the Microsoft .NET Framework .NET Framework provided us with the classes
to extend the functionality of its current we needed to quickly and easily implement
enterprise claims systems and to integrate security and error handling,” he adds. “Also,
ClaimsPort into its claims system in a fraction because Web services can be used
of the time and cost of traditional synchronously, there was no need to create
development methods. control log files.”
Web services also enabled Farmers to create ClaimsPort runs on the Microsoft Windows
a solution that operated on an application Server 2003 operating system, part of the
service provider (ASP) model and was thus Microsoft Windows Server SystemTM
easy and cost-effective to deploy. “We’ve integrated server infrastructure software. The

5. application stores information in a Microsoft automatically to the most appropriate
SQL ServerTM 2000 database. company representative. That individual can
then make notes and communicate with the
Rethinking and Redesigning the Process shop—all electronically. After approval of the
Following the implementation of the repair estimate, the claim is routed
ProcessClaims technology, Farmers has automatically for payment processing.
redesigned how it handles claims in its COD
program and reduced the time required to The shop makes the repair, returns the car to
process them. When a customer telephones its owner, and closes the claim. ClaimsPort
Farmers with news of an accident, the call then consolidates all the documentation for
center representative retrieves the the claim in an electronic document and
customer’s account information from sends it to Farmers for archival in the FileNet
Farmers’s claims-processing system, called document management system.
the Customer Restoration Network (CRN). The
ClaimsPort solution is tightly integrated with At each stage of the claims process, the
Farmers’s CRN system so that company solution provides each user with a list of
representatives have one easy-to-use predefined tasks, time limits, and actions to
interface for accessing and recording all facilitate the user’s daily activities. Because
claims information. the solution uses Web services at all
integration points, the transfer of data
After the customer service representative between adjusters, repair shops, estimating
records the accident details, they make a software packages, and other parties is easy
repair shop assignment in CRN and send to implement.
pertinent loss information by means of Web
services to ClaimsPort. ClaimsPort, Management receives reports detailing not
simultaneously and in real time, electronically only estimate content, but also appraisal
notifies the repair facility and internally performance, auditing performance, and
directs the claims volume among the performance reports on all groups using
appropriate Farmers personnel. Within its ClaimsPort. With these reports, Farmers can
centralized claims-processing environment, monitor and compare the performance and
Farmers has created work groups that turnaround times of its repair shops, claims
specialize in handling specific types of claims. representatives, and field adjusters.
The repair shop, which also accesses
ClaimsPort through a browser, receives the
assignment and is ready when the customer Benefits
arrives at the shop. The shop then digitally Moving claims processing to a standardized
photographs the damage and compiles an configurable solution has automated
estimate. Farmers’s old manual, time-intensive
process; enabled rapid, electronic transfer of
The repair shop uploads all the details about data from party to party; reduced cycle time;
the estimate—including photos, labor rates, and given Farmers a way to compare and
parts costs, and so on—into an electronic file thus improve the performance of repair
and sends the file to Farmers for approval. shops and claims representatives. The Web
Before any Farmers personnel even see the services architecture also gives Farmers
estimate, it is run through a customized set increased business agility by giving the
of business rules that flags any irregularities. company a way to extend outdated
This tool allows Farmers to route the estimate

6. quot;ClaimsPort allows us to applications that can’t adapt quickly to
market needs. “Our response time to simple claims is now
better measure the within four hours, thanks to the Process-
overall service that Metrics for Comparison and Improvement Claims solution,” Hickey says. “ClaimsPort
One consistent unified process provides the allows our claims personnel to organize their
repair shops are quantitative data and analytics that allow day and more efficiently utilize their time.”
providing so we can Farmers to monitor and compare the
performance of repair shops and claims Of course, all these efficiencies translate into
make better business representatives for the purpose of continuous cars being returned more quickly to
decisions in choosing improvement. Farmers’s customers. “We know that with
ClaimsPort we are approving estimates faster
facilities.” “The repair shops are an extension of and paying shops faster, all of which
Mike Hickey
Farmers,” Hickey says. “If customers are contributes to getting customers their cars
National Director of Auto Physical Damage unhappy with a vendor, they’re unhappy with faster,” says Matter. “This application has
Claims Farmers. ClaimsPort allows us to better allowed Farmers to be much more responsive
Farmers Insurance
measure the overall service that shops are to customer needs.”
providing so we can make better business
decisions in choosing facilities.” Heightened Business Agility
Farmers has designed a best-in-class solution
Process Improvements for Shortened Cycle that extends its CRN claims management
Times application. “The Microsoft .NET Framework
By automating its claims-resolution process, connects applications such as ClaimsPort to
Farmers has been able to make several big applications to help companies like
organizational and process improvements Farmers improve their business model faster,
that would otherwise have been impossible. less expensively, and more effectively than
Previously, the company’s COD claims- can be accomplished by any other means,”
processing business model was organized by according to Paul Farber, Chief Executive
geography. The new technology has allowed Officer of ProcessClaims.
Farmers to change its model to achieve
significant gains in productivity. Now Farmers In addition to the claims-processing solution,
can receive claims centrally (in Oklahoma Farmers and ProcessClaims have just
City, Oklahoma) and push them to any completed a rental invoice application that
available resource. As a result, Farmers can allows rental car vendors to post bills to a
now handle an increased volume of claims portal. The bills are then automatically
with the same staff. passed to the appropriate person at Farmers
for approval and then to accounts payable for
Farmers has the ability to examine and rate payment. “We’ve been able to reduce our
claims by using automated rules. rental car payment process between 30 and
Representatives in the Oklahoma City office 40 percent,” Hickey says. “We couldn’t have
handle small, routine claims electronically. done this without Web services and the
Farmers’s personnel can view the new claims Microsoft .NET Framework.”
that they will be addressing that day and sort
the claims according to complexity. The “Web services give us a great deal of agility,”
representatives can review and approve Matter says. “Our managers can make
minor repairs to shops without involving field decisions for the good of the business
adjusters, maximizing the use of those without worrying about whether technology
valuable resources. can keep up. We no longer need to hew to a

7. For More Information two-year release cycle for major applications. Microsoft Windows Server System
For more information about Microsoft The development time is so fast and easy Windows Server System is designed to
products and services, call the Microsoft with Web services that we can continuously support end-to-end solutions built on
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- roll out new features rather than adhere to Windows Server 2003. Windows Server
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft annual rollouts.” System creates an infrastructure based on
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- integrated innovation, Microsoft’s holistic
2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of- approach to building products and solutions
hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone that are intrinsically designed to work
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in together and interact seamlessly with other
the United States or (905) 568-9641 in data and applications across your IT
Canada. Outside the 50 United States and environment. This allows you to reduce the
Canada, please contact your local costs of ongoing operations, deliver a more
Microsoft subsidiary. To access information secure and reliable IT infrastructure, and
using the World Wide Web, go to: drive valuable new capabilities for the future
www.microsoft.com growth of your business.
For more information about ProcessClaims For more information about Windows Server
products and services, call (310) 937- System, go to:
4040 or visit the Web site at: www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem
www.processclaims.com
For more information about and services,
visit the Web site at: www.farmers.com
Software and Services  Technologies
 Microsoft Windows Server System − Microsoft .NET Framework
− Microsoft Windows Server 2003 − Web services
Enterprise Edition
− Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Partners
 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003  ProcessClaims
© 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case
study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Microsoft, Visual C#, Visual Studio, Windows, the Windows logo,
Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in
the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual
companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
Document published June 2004