Claims hiring is down. That means you need to build good relationships with vendors so you have trustworthy help when you need it.

By benchmarking subrogation results, insurers can improve processes and stop cramping their combined ratio.

Employees and managers must have standards to go by, but declaring a detailed set of rules can lead to problems. Abiding by a written corporate ethical code may work better.

You wouldn't drive a high-performance car by looking in the rear view, would you?

While insurers' IT budgets are lean overall, claims departments may be a cut above.