Company: Electric Insurance Company
Company Description: Electric Insurance Company® is a national leading provider of personal and commercial lines insurance products. Established in 1966 specifically to serve GE employees, Electric Insurance now extends its superior personal lines products and outstanding service to discerning consumers inside and outside of the GE community.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year

Nomination Title: Electric Insurance Company, Customer Service Department of the Year, Claims Department

Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”  -Aristotle      
      
Insurance companies do not sell cogs or manufacture widgets; they make a promise to be there during customers’ time of need.  At Electric Insurance Company®, “Always On®” is not just our tag line; it’s our way of life.  If a catastrophic event wreaks havoc on our customers, we don’t have to flip a switch to crisis mode, because we’re “Always On®” to address their needs.          

The insurance industry has been the subject of much criticism and negative publicity related to its performance after recent catastrophic storms.  Unlike much of the industry, however, we’re proud of how we've handled our customers' needs in the wake of these events.   In 2011, Hurricane Irene tested us, but we were pleased with how we responded, and our customers reinforced this by giving us high marks on our Claims Survey.       
      
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy tested the entire insurance industry once again, resulting in billions of dollars of property damage and thousands of related claims. Electric Insurance received 40% more claims for Sandy than for Irene, but our preparation for the event and our near-flawless execution of our catastrophe plan during and after the event enabled us to achieve superior results for our customers:      
      
Metric                                                   2012                      Hurricane Irene      Superstorm Sandy      
Average Speed of Answer             9 seconds                    8 seconds                  7 seconds      
Likeliness to Renew                               99%                          100%                        99%      
Overall Claims Satisfaction                     99%                           99%                         99%      
Net Promoter Score                                 90                              93                            95      
         
The state of New York issued a report card that scored how well the largest insurance companies handled claims related to Superstorm Sandy.  Because we're not one of the largest insurers, we weren't required to report our results, but we wanted to compare:      
      
Metric                                                                   Largest Companies    Electric Insurance      
Percentage Resolved (as of 4/5/13)                            90%                            99%      
Average Cycle Time                                                   21 days                    14 days      
Complaints as Percentage of Claims                          0.85%                       0.28%      
Data from http://www.nyinsure.ny.gov/insurancereportcards.pdf         
      
Not only did we outperform the average, but we also resolved a greater percentage of claims by April 5 and had a far shorter cycle time!      
      
We pride ourselves on the personal touch we provide each customer.  We use mapping technology to determine whether customers may be impacted by a  storm, and we go the extra mile by calling our policyholders before a storm to provide them with crucial information.  This technology aided us and our customers when news clips aired the devastation to the Breezy Point, N.Y., neighborhood, where natural gas fires erupted.  We cross-referenced the information we obtained from local news reports against our mapping to determine the fires' potential impact on our customers.  We even informed one of our insureds about the loss to their secondary residence before they were able to contact us.  Unlike our competitors, we provide our adjusters the location of all of our customers in an area where we have a reported loss so the adjusters can visit those who have not filed a claim.  Our first priority is our policyholders’ well-being.      
         
At Electric Insurance, we continue to strive to be “Always On®” for our customers, especially in their time of need.  Excellence is indeed a habit.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:

Maureen Hegarty is the Vice President of Claim Operations for Electric Insurance Company®. She joined the company in 1989 and is responsible for all facets of its countrywide personal lines home, auto, and excess liability claims.

Throughout her career, Maureen has held a variety of managerial roles in underwriting, sales, service, and compliance which have provided her with a  broad perspective on insurance operations. Maureen earned the esteemed 2009  Women in Insurance Leadership Award from Insurance Networking News (INN)  magazine. Her leadership extends into Electric Insurance’s mentoring programs, women's network, and community service. She holds a B.A. from Ithaca College, NY.