Business News: NORCAL Mutual, CLARA Analytics, PURE

NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company announced that it is now offering coverage to health care professionals in Tennessee. This is the latest in NORCAL’s national expansion, which now reaches 39 states, including the District of Columbia.

NORCAL is policyholder-owned and physician-directed, and along its subsidiaries, insures more than 27,000 physicians nationwide. NORCAL also offers continuing medical education learning opportunities to help safeguard policyholder practices to all of its insureds.

CLARA analytics, a predictive analytics company for workers’ compensation, announced that it has spun off from its parent, LeanTaaS, to operate as an independent company. CLARA analytics uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help workers’ compensation claims teams get out in front of their claims with easy-to-use signals related to patient risk and provider quality.

CLARA provides an integrated AI/predictive modeling solution that focuses on identifying risk factors in claimants and on finding the best-performing doctors for those claimants. All solutions are delivered through a secure, HIPAA-compliant, SaaS solution that can be easily integrated with claims and network systems.

Since introducing its products to the market last year, CLARA analytics has added several new customers each quarter and has grown by 50 percent quarter-over-quarter with customers ranging from top 25 carriers to self-insured companies. Recently, a key partnership with Aon Benfield was announced to deliver cutting-edge AI tools to workers’ compensation insurers in the U.S., helping employees return to work as quickly as possible while decreasing loss ratios and improving operational efficiency.

The stand-alone company will be helmed by Lakshmikanthan, who is joined by Dr. Laura B. Gardner as chief scientist and VP of products, Gregory Moore as chief commercial officer and Leo Nacelli as chief architect. The CLARA analytics team also will move into a new office space as it continues to expand in order to accommodate future growth.

The PURE Group of Insurance Companies, which includes Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), the policyholder-owned property and casualty reciprocal insurer designed for high net worth individuals and families, recently announced the launch of PURE Starling. The offering provides coverage for individuals and families who suffer financial losses resulting from fraud and cyber fraud.

An optional endorsement to PURE’s Homeowners policy, PURE Starling provides broad coverage for fraud and cybercrime, including coverage for financial loss resulting from online and offline fraud, services to help assess and respond to cyber extortion threats and coverage to remove malware and reinstall software after an attack. Coverage limits of $100,000 and $250,000 are available. And, recognizing that high net worth individuals may require higher coverage limits to protect their family’s significant assets, the insurer will also make available a $1 millon coverage limit for members who take steps to reduce their risk by subscribing to a cyber monitoring service that actively monitors their home network and devices. Limits may be subject to underwriting requirements.

Highlights of PURE Starling include:

• Coverage for Online and Offline Fraud: Members will be reimbursed for their financial loss related to fraud, whether the crime is committed online or offline. Examples include social engineering of an authorized account user, criminal deception, unauthorized transfers, forgery or alteration of checks, acceptance of counterfeit money and more.
• Coverage for Cyber Extortion: In the event of a cyber extortion incident—a type of attack in which a cybercriminal demands money to prevent the damage or distribution of content or to restore access to the functionality of a device—this coverage will afford immediate access to crisis management advice from a subject matter expert to help best respond to the threat, and in the event a payment is made, reimburses the member for the amount of the payment.
• Coverage for System Attacks: This policy will provide coverage for the cost of a professional to reinstall damaged software, remove malicious code, reconfigure the device or system and replace electronic data that has been lost or corrupted as the result of a cyber attack.

In developing this coverage, PURE identified Rubica’s active cyber monitoring service as a risk management measure that gives PURE the confidence to offer a $1 million limit of coverage. The service, designed to address evolving cyber threats that high net worth individuals face today, helps prevent cyber fraud losses from happening in the first place.

By subscribing to Rubica and downloading the app on all of their devices, PURE members will join Rubica’s secure private network which is continually monitored by cyber experts to protect them from both known and unknown threats. Their concierge is also available to help educate members on cyber security best practices and answer questions or concerns. Rubica’s services are available to members and their family for an annual or monthly fee.

PURE Starling is currently available in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wyoming. Coverage will be introduced to additional states throughout 2017 and 2018.