Crawford & Company® expands business interruption claims capabilities following UK Supreme Court ruling

Crawford & Company® expands business interruption claims capabilities following UK Supreme Court ruling

New business interruption (BI) portal goes live plus increase in number of BI-related specialists in Crawford Forensic Accounting Services team

LONDON (21 January 2021) Crawford & Company® (NYSE: CRD-A and CRD-B), the world’s largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers and corporations, has gone live with its new, business interruption (BI) claims portal on Monday 18 January. This new portal facilitates the processing of BI-related claims following the recent judgement passed down by the UK Supreme Court.

On January 15, 2021, the UK Supreme Court issued its judgment in the COVID-19 business interruption test case brought by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The test case was designed to help provide clarity around business interruption cover following a surge in related claims resulting from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The ruling found substantially in favour of the FCA’s argument that clauses relating to ‘disease’ and ‘prevention of access’ in a sample of policies meant that such coverage did apply in the case of COVID-19.

In preparation for a potential surge in claims following the ruling, Crawford created an online BI portal to enable affected policyholders to upload the information required to support and conclude their claims. The digital solution is designed to significantly enhance the ability to process such data and support the faster review and settlement of these claims.

The portal is now live, is accessible 24/7 and provides regular updates to policyholders on the progress of their claim, as well as access to claims specialists during the process. The system is augmented by robotic process automation technology which is built into the portal to support the rapid processing of claims data.

In addition to the portal, Crawford has undertaken a recruitment drive to bolster the breadth and depth of its BI claims capabilities and expanded the Crawford Forensic Accounting Services team.

The drive has seen the appointment of two directors, two managers – including a COVID-19 surge manager – and a number of financial claims analysts, as well as specialist lawyers, all with extensive experience in handling BI-related claims.

Commenting on these developments, Andrew King, head of Crawford Forensic Accounting Services, UK & Ireland said: “While the full implications of the Supreme Court ruling will take time to emerge, we are anticipating a marked increase in BI-related claims and there is already clear evidence of this. Through our BI claims portal, Crawford has created a digital solution to facilitate the efficient and speedy processing of the wealth of claims information this will generate. However, we must not ignore the complexity of these claims and we have invested significantly in expanding our specialist BI expertise in recent months. This ensures that we are fully hands-on at every stage to help ensure a swift and effective resolution of genuine COVID-19-related claims.”