Monday 15 June 2026
- Company news
Introducing our Claims Value Proposition
When it comes to making headlines in the insurance world, it’s usually the dramatic and dangerous events that grab all the attention. But, while natural disasters, for example, caused $108bn worth of damage to US businesses in 2023, that is dwarfed by the $143bn in losses experienced in the US casualty insurance market.
While they may not often make the headlines, liability losses make up a significant proportion of that $143bn in claims costs and
these losses have been growing by 16% on average over the last five years. Getting better control over these costs is vital to insurers but also their clients, if sharp spikes in the cost of insurance are to be avoided.
Much of the cost of any claim is to be found in the time it takes to investigate, remediate and settle the claim. The quicker this process begins, the lower the long term financial, physical and reputational cost the incident has on a business.
“Four key principles govern every aspect of our claims proposition: expertise, fairness, transparency and continuous improvement. The expertise element is so important in our line of work because it provides an early and clear understanding of the event and its impact, as well as informing our response. Two things will always limit the damage and cost of the loss event – efficiency and expertise,” says Gavin Bridges, Chief Claims Officer at Tokio Marine HCC International (TMHCCI).
“You have to move quickly when managing claims because time lost or gained makes all the difference, particularly in liability where legal and medical costs play a prominent role. You need to get a really clear picture of the whole situation, all the players involved and every possible outcome as quickly as possible. And to get that, you need expertise, lots of it!”
Gavin Bridges explains that, at TMHCCI, each category of claim is managed by a specialist team, all of whom have risk and sector-specific expertise, vital to get a clear understanding of a situation and to map out a response. But with a variety of claims arising from the more than 100 different risk categories that TMHCCI underwrites, it’s often necessary to bring in external expertise to protect the client’s position.
“If it’s a claim for property damage following a storm, we might engage with a range of specialists – from structural engineers to forensic accountants – to secure a complete understanding of the physical and financial damage and create a plan for how we’re going to get our client back on their feet,” he says.
“But for liability claims, particularly those involving serious injury, completely different skillsets are required so we’d want to bring in expert medical and legal advice, for example. Every claim is unique, so we tailor the support and the expertise we provide accordingly.”
In all but the most complex cases, the claims process at TMHCC starts within 24 hours of notification when a dedicated handler is appointed to oversee the claim, manage all third parties and help the client through the process.
“This early appointment is important because any kind of confusion or miscommunication can cause significant delays in the claims process. We know that transparency at every stage of the claim is crucial and this oversight ensures that everyone is up to date at all times and clear on what the next steps are going to be,” Gavin Bridges says.
“The number one goal is to settle the claim as quickly and fairly as possible and we’ll tap into whatever resource and expertise necessary to make that happen.”
Whether it’s a Professional Indemnity, Marine Liability or even a Product Recall claim, targeted expertise, brought in at the earliest stages, will always bring the expertise required to settle the claim fairly and efficiently, every time.
