Claims Business: XTract, Thomas Miller, Kinetic, Bold Penguin

AXA XL’s insurance business has entered into a multiyear partnership and licensing agreement with Xtract to digitize the commercial auto claims management process.

“Xtract enables our claims team to quickly gather and evaluate all data that is available on an incident, vastly speeding up our decision-making process while also offering superior customer service to our brokers and clients,” AXA Chief Claims Officer Brent Hoffman said in a press release. “In partnering with Xtract, we are not only innovating our claims service but also preparing AXA XL for the future shift in mobility.”

Xtract captures a digital First Notice of Loss (FNOL) record of a claim by providing an intuitive mobile user interface. The software aggregates real-time crash data with other relevant data, including vehicle details, repair parts data and, if relevant, third-party information to provide a predictive damage triage. This enables fleets and claims handlers to make speedy and accurate decisions, AXA said.

The Xtract product also connects real-world incident data with mapping software and real-time weather reporting that provides a visual context to the incident and enables a swift liability decision.

The first AXA XL division to roll out Xtract to its clients is their Environmental Insurance business, which provides environmental service firms, including waste companies, hazardous materials haulers and environmental contractors, with tailored property and casualty insurance coverage.

XTract, based in London, was founded in 2017 by Michael Flanagan, who continues to serve as its chief executive officer. AXA is a Paris, France-based insurance carrier.

Thomas Miller Americas announced the launch of Fairlead Group, an internet-based platform that provides end-to-end management of private investigation services.

The company said it has developed an integrated system along with its partner, The Robinson Group, that allows users to assign and obtain investigative services. The platform provides an end-to-end management process that allows users to store their entire caseload and to access and analyze data in a “user-friendly way,” Thomas Miller said in a press release.

The new platform was borne out of a frustration with the existing surveillance product in the United States maritime industry, the company said in a press release. Relevant, high quality and credible reports are the first line of defense in responding to a personal injury claim, Thomas Miller said.

The Fairlead Group offers a desktop open source investigation of the plaintiff’s online profile and public records. The second step is physical surveillance and third step is a special investigations unit.

An aggressive plaintiff’s bar, the right to a jury, plaintiff-friendly statutory law and an absence of a cap on awards has created an exposure to high awards in the United States, Thomas Miller Group said. Thomas Miller Americas and the United Kingdom P&I Club can now provide a service lacking within the maritime claims industry and believes its service will improve claim results, the company said.

Bruce Kesterton, CEO of Thomas Miller, says: “In today’s environment, it’s more important than ever to develop and evolve innovative online platforms to serve our global members better and the industry as a whole,” stated Thomas Miller Chief Executive Officer Bruce Kesterton. “Identifying a real gap within investigation and surveillance services in the US maritime market, the Fairlead Group system is a comprehensive tool that will make a tangible difference, leading to better outcomes for marine operators involved in litigation in the region.”

Kinetic, a company that provides wearable technology to improve workplace safety, announced that it has secured $11.25 million in a Series A funding round.

The new investment will help New York City-based Kinetic grow and and expand its engineering, sales and marketing teams and support the development of a second generation of its Reflex wearable device, the company said in a press release.

Crosslink Capital, Primary Ventures and Nationwide’s venture capital team were joined in the KINETIC Series A round by new investors Prologis Ventures, the venture capital arm of Prologis, the global leader in logistics real estate, and Ubiquity Ventures.

The funding round was led by Crosslink Capital, an early investor.

“Keeping employees safe, whether it’s from a workplace injury or a virus, has become a primary objective of everyone from the warehouse operator to the operations executive,” stated Eric Chin, general partner at Crosslink Capital. “Demand for the KINETIC Reflex wearable device has increased exponentially, and this investment round will help KINETIC meet that demand.”

The Kinetic Reflex is a device worn on belts or waistbands of industrial workers that automatically detects unsafe work postures and provides users with real-time feedback to reduce injuries and create better work habits. The Reflex was recently updated with two features designed to keep workers safe from COVID-19.

Bold Penguin, a commercial insurance technology provider, has reached an agreement to purchase RiskGenius, which produces software that analyzes insurance contracts.

The acquisition will add RiskGenius’s data and analytics products, as well as its team, to Bold Penguin’s existing software-as-a-service platform, the Columbus, Ohio company said in a press release.

“Bold Penguin is obsessed with reducing the time it takes to quote and bind commercial insurance,” said Ilya Bodner, founder and chief executive officer.

The RiskGenius platform applies machine learning to insurance policies, allowing users to rapidly understand terms of coverage across a library of policy documents including policy review, compliance, competitive analysis and emerging risk assessments. This helps carriers and brokers efficiently assess, analyze, and compare policies and coverage language, the company said.

RiskGenius will become part of Bold Penguin’s insurance intelligence effort, which leverages data and has a focus on intuitive workflow processing. The two companies will combine efforts and identify plans to increase the velocity of features being produced.

RiskGenius was Bold Penguin’s second insurtech acquisition this year. In January, the company announced it had purchased Xagent, a multi-quote platform for the standard and surplus lines business insurance market.