Pacific Life Re’s Claims Rule Engine (CRE), powered by UnderwriteMe’s industry-leading technology, has been launched in the Australian market, to transform claims management for insurers, superannuation funds, and distributors.

The move follows the successful introduction of UnderwriteMe’s Underwriting Rules Engine (URE) last year.

CRE was designed to fully automate initial and ongoing assessments to support comprehensive straight-through claims-management capability, saving insurers roughly 1.5 to 2 hours of an assessor’s time by automating the data collection and administration processes. The technology provides consistent claims outcomes and is transparent for all parties, as it shows a clear visual breakdown of how the rules are constructed and how they lead to a final decision.

“Our CRE provides actual claims-assessment decisions, delivering fast and consistent outcomes for customers,” said Andrew Gill, managing director of Pacific Life Re in Australia. “We are confident that our Claims Rules Engine will take the market by storm, just as our Underwriting Rules Engine has done using the same UnderwriteMe technology.”

The platform has reflexive rules that collect relevant information to make informed return-to-work and rehabilitation recommendations and includes business analytics that capture extensive data to develop an information system that better understands trends in claims experience and how to best meet the needs of customers in their time of need, Pacific Life Re said.

Another key feature of the CRE is that it allows claims assessors to easily modify or change rules (within a controlled environment), empowering insurers to tailor bespoke claims journeys for their customers and funds without having to rely on external IT development.

The reinsurer recently completed its latest round of consumer testing for CRE – and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Participants scored the system more than 90% for ease of use, as it enabled them to complete and lodge complex income-protection claims in an average of 10 minutes. Insurer pilot testing is currently underway in Australia.