Business News: Liberty Mutual and Duck Creek, Marsh, Cognizant and One Inc.

Liberty Mutual has contracted with Duck Creek Technologies to merge two legacy systems into a single fully-integrated workers’ compensation management system.

The Boston-based carrier said Duck Creek will lead a multi-year effort that will blend functional and technical capabilities with a focus on long-term partnerships. Liberty Mutual uses Helmsman Management Services as its third-party administrator.

“Duck Creek is a technology leader with a mature SaaS product, empowering us to develop a custom solution with a codeless configuration – which we believe is the future of how our systems should be run,” stated Kevin De Sa, vice president and senior director of technology for Liberty Mutual.

Duck Creek, also based in Boston, provides a suite of software-as-a-service products to insurance carriers that includes administration systems for claims, rating, billing, distribution management and reinsurance management.

Marsh, an international broker and risk adviser, announced the designation of 17 cybersecurity service providers worthy of its new Cyber Catalyst designation, which it says will “bring greater clarity in a crowded cybersecurity marketplace.”

Marsh announced in March that it was working with Allianz, AXA XL, Beazley, CFC, Munich Re, Sompo International and Zurich North America to identify solutions that were effective in reducing cyber risk. Those carriers collectively had $4 billion in cyber insurance premiums. Microsoft served as a technical advisor, Marsh said.

In a press release this week, Marsh said it has bestowed the Cyber Catalyst designation on:

• Aruba Policy Enforcement Firewall
• BigID Data Privacy Protection and Automated Compliance
• CrowdStrike Adversary Emulation Penetration Testing
• Crowdstrike Falcon Complete
• Digital Guardian Data Protection Platform
• FireEye Email Security
• FireEye Endpoint Security
• Forescout Device Visibility and Control Platform
• HackerOne Bounty
• HPE Silicon Root of Trust
• KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training and Simulated Phishing Platform
• Mimecast Secure Email Gateway with Targeted Threat Protection
• Perspecta Labs SecureSmart critical infrastructure monitoring solution
• RSA SecurID Suite
• Trustwave DbProtect
• Virsec Security Platform
• Zingbox IoT Guardian

“Cyber Catalyst is a ground-breaking approach to help organizations make well-informed decisions in the complex $125 billion cybersecurity marketplace,” stated Tom Reagan, US cyber practice leader for Marsh. “This year’s class of 17 Cyber Catalyst designated solutions leverages the experience and insights of the insurance industry to broaden the discussion around best practices and drive improved cyber risk management outcomes.”

Cognizant announced the release of an “artificial intelligence powered software platform” that it says will enable property insurers to process large numbers of claims stemming from natural disasters and other catastrophes in record time.

The software firm, based in Teaneck, New Jersey, said its Cognizant Property Insights product is offered as a software-as-a-service solution. It will combine satellite and aerial imagery and property data and with machine learning technology to assess damage caused by hurricanes, tornados, floods, wildfires and other disasters in just four to five days.

Cognizant said the system applies artificial intelligence to before-and-after imagery in a partnership with Pitney Bowes. The company said the solution will reduce handling expenses to insurers by half compared to traditional processing.

Cognizant said insurers in Texas, Florida, New York, and Massachusetts have beta-tested the product for the past several months. Velocity Risk Underwriters is using Property Insights to speed claim processing, the firm said.

One Inc., a digital payments platform, said it has released an updated version of its ClaimsPay product to include payments using Automated Clearinghouse (AHC), ClaimsCard instant payments and direct to debit cards.

“These expedited payment methods allow insurance companies to close claims faster and at a lower cost than solely relying on the traditional process of mailing out paper checks,” the Folsom, California-based company said in a press release.

ClaimsPay enables insurers to send one-off and automated repeat payments to a single claimant or multiple vendors, providers, and insureds. The platform allows the vendors and providers, as well as the policyholders, to easily select preferred payment methods.

The company said Embark General, a long-term customer, implemented the latest version of ClaimsPay to help reduce the time and expense of existing claims processes.

“After years of working with One Inc. for inbound payments, we were delighted to add digital claims payments to our system and expand our payment options, while reducing the burden of the entire claims process,” stated Raimundo Ruiz, president and chief executive officer at Embark General.