Guidewire Congratulates 2012 Innovation Award Winners - Accident Fund, Hanover Insurance, and Jewelers Mutual

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), a provider of flexible core system software to Property/Casualty (P/C) insurers, congratulates the winners of its 2012 Innovation Awards: Accident Fund Holdings, Inc., The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., and Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company. Each winning company earned this recognition based on its innovative use or implementation of Guidewire’s underwriting and policy administration, claims management or billing system, resulting in key business value delivered to their respective organizations.

“On behalf of the entire Guidewire team, I congratulate this year’s Innovation Award winners (Accident Fund Holdings, The Hanover, and Jewelers Mutual) and honorable mentions (the co-operators, LV=, and Suncorp) for demonstrating a deep commitment to innovation and for their successful projects”

All Guidewire customers, whether in the process of implementing or extending their production-proven capabilities, were eligible for consideration. The awards were organized into three categories: Process Innovation, Product Innovation, and Service Innovation. For the first time, honorable mention winners were selected due to the high quality and volume of entries, and they include: the co-operators Group Ltd. (Process Innovation), LV= (Service Innovation), and Suncorp Group (Product Innovation). Winners were announced during Guidewire’s eighth annual user conference – Connections 2012. The recognized projects demonstrate Guidewire technology at work helping these insurers deliver insurance their way. The 2012 winners are:

Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. (Process Innovation) – Early warning system that helps drive injured workers to the right care at the right time

Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. (AFHI) implemented a cost containment program with a specific focus on using technology to optimize claim outcomes. Essential to the success of the program was the seamless integration of external data sources within ClaimCenter and the use of medical informatics to trigger activity-driven workflows.

Through custom configuration of ClaimCenter, AFHI operating companies can monitor the treatments and medical providers in near real-time. Claims adjusters are now able to identify experienced occupational medical providers and focus care when possible to ensure a timely and productive return to work for its injured workers. The final solution is an early warning system that helps drive injured workers to the right care at the right time.

Benefits of the program include early identification of high risk claims, improved policyholder satisfaction, and in some cases, a reduction in claim costs in excess of 20%. AFHI has been an in-production ClaimCenter customer since 2010.

For additional information on AFHI, visit www.afhi.com.

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (Product Innovation) – Rapid implementation of a new mobile claims adjuster tablet application and business process enhancement

The Hanover Insurance Group saw an opportunity to provide automation and technology to its Property Adjuster team but had a limited timeframe to prove value for an investment. The Hanover created a claims adjuster mobile application leveraging Guidewire's Edge architecture. The framework provided the major components of a fully functional application. With minimal configuration, the HTML5-based web application was optimized for the iPad, integrated seamlessly with Hanover's existing ClaimCenter application, and now provides valuable real-time functionality to this mobile user community.

Initially, The Hanover anticipated four to six months to build the system from design to production. By using Guidewire's framework, the company’s technology team was able to integrate, customize, and implement an iPad application for its Property Adjuster team within 10 weeks, providing them with real-time, immediate access to insured information while adjusting a claim. With this solution, significant time improvement has been made in accessing claimant data, enabling quicker adjusting and closing of claims, which is creating value and benefitting The Hanover’s agents’ and insureds’ experience. The Hanover has been an in-production ClaimCenter customer since 2007 and an in-production BillingCenter customer since 2011.

For additional information on The Hanover, visit www.hanover.com.

Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company (Service Innovation) – Business transformation and eCommerce system integration extending Guidewire’s transactional capabilities to online points of sale

As part of a Business Transformation initiative that has completely redefined how Jewelers Mutual services its customers, the company implemented Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ and simultaneously rebranded its Personal Lines Insurance product. As part of the rebranding initiative, Jewelers Mutual created a new Personal Lines eCommerce platform based on its business strategies and input from its policyholders. Jewelers Mutual’s new eCommerce system enhanced its Personal Lines quote, application, policy change, renewal, billing and payment processes, which customers use to service their jewelry-insurance needs via the web.

By integrating the proven transactional capabilities in Guidewire PolicyCenter, BillingCenter and ClaimCenter with its new eCommerce system, Jewelers Mutual is now providing robust self-service and transactional capabilities to many online points of sale, where its insurance offerings are made right at the time jewelry items are being purchased. This has also resulted in the addition of many features that allow the company to provide more responsive service to customers leading to an improved customer experience. For example, automation of the Auto-Pay feature has increased ‘opt-ins’ to nearly 50% of all new business applications. Jewelers Mutual has been an in-production InsuranceSuite customer since 2012.

For more information on Jewelers Mutual, visit www.jewelersmutual.com.

“On behalf of the entire Guidewire team, I congratulate this year’s Innovation Award winners (Accident Fund Holdings, The Hanover, and Jewelers Mutual) and honorable mentions (the co-operators, LV=, and Suncorp) for demonstrating a deep commitment to innovation and for their successful projects,” said Marcus Ryu, chief executive officer, Guidewire. “We are especially pleased to see Guidewire customers leveraging our technology to drive real benefits which include improved customer service and business processes that support their immediate and future strategic goals.”

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software is a provider of core system software to the global Property/Casualty (general) insurance industry. Designed to be flexible and scalable, Guidewire solutions give insurers the capability to deliver excellent service, increase market share and lower operating costs. Guidewire InsuranceSuite™, consisting of Guidewire PolicyCenter®, Guidewire ClaimCenter® and Guidewire BillingCenter® spans the key functional areas in insurance – underwriting and policy administration, claims management, and billing. Guidewire is headquartered in Foster City, California, with offices in Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com.

NOTE: Guidewire, Guidewire Software, Guidewire ClaimCenter, Guidewire PolicyCenter, Guidewire BillingCenter, Guidewire Insurance Suite, Deliver Insurance Your Way, and the Guidewire logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Guidewire Software, Inc.