Graham Newman, European Product Marketing Manager, FINEOS
The sixth annual FINEOS Claims Global Summit got under way yesterday in the balmy and ever-so-slightly damp environs of Powerscourt Estate, County Wicklow, just south of Dublin in Ireland. This is the first year that FINEOS has held its popular annual Claims Summit in its home country. The Powerscourt estate is a spectacular and historic setting for a global conference. The 1,000 acre estate first had a castle in 1300 and became a magnificent Palladian mansion in the 18th. century. Its 47 acres of formal gardens are strongly influenced by Renaissance landscape gardeners and it is said that the architect who re-modelled the gardens in the 19th. century suffered from such severe gout that he had to be wheeled around supervising the work in a wheelbarrow clutching a bottle of sherry to see him through. When the sherry was finished work stopped for the day. Apparently, we are not adopting such a regime at the claims summit.
Yesterday began with both work and play with FINEOS led workshops by the FINEOS Corporate University for some and for others a golf tournament on the hotel’s golf course for those wishing to recreate the excitement of last week’s Ryder Cup.
After last year’s record breaking attendance it is very pleasing to see that this year’s has continued that upward trend with another record attendance. Almost 100 delegates representing 40 organisations and drawn from the senior ranks of insurance and claims executives have come from four continents and 10 countries. Delegates from America, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and China have made the trip to attend and hear from their peers and from FINEOS about the latest thinking in claims and developments in claims technology. For the first time we are also providing simultaneous translation facilities at the conference for our Chinese guests. We welcome our first London Market executives to this year’s conference, reflecting the success FINEOS is achieving in that oldest and famous of insurance markets. This is a truly global conference and the sheer spread of attendance is testimony to its universal relevance and appeal. The rise in interest is surely a reflection of the growing recognition of the contribution a first-class claims operation makes to an insurer’s brand value, its retention rates and to its ultimate success.
The sessions for this year’s conference will all relate to the theme of “Achieving Claims Excellence” reflecting the growing recognition that excellent claims performance adds to the success of the insurance business. Each session will fall into one of the three main categories:
- industry thought leadership
- customer case studies
- FINEOS-led educational and update sessions.
In addition to the thought leadership the conference will be showcasing updates on the FINEOS product and will have some very focused breakout sessions to help customers better realise the value of the FINEOS claims product and the associated professional services.
Another first for this year’s Claims Summit is that all the sessions are being filmed and a continuous video stream is being supplied to FINEOS staff globally to keep them all fully involved.
After the Opening Welcome Reception which took place last night in McGill’s Bar we are looking forward to a busy few days with a full and interesting schedule and opportunities for networking with all of the attendees. Keep tuned for our daily updates!
