Crawford & Co [NYSE:CRD-B] is one of the world's largest insurance claims management firms.  In the Caribbean, they have several offices and affiliates located throughout the various small island countries that make up this popular vacation getaway.

Hurricanes are an annual threat to all of these islands.  When a hurricane hits an island, a claims office that normally handles sixty claims in a month can suddenly receive 3,000 claims in a week.   To make the situation even more challenging, the damage from the storm will often make telephone and Internet service unreliable, and, as happened to the Nassau branch office during Hurricane Frances in 2004, the office too, can be destroyed.

To handle the massive influx of claims, Crawford will bring in experienced and talented claims adjusters from its offices around the world and will set up "Catastrophe offices" often in a hotel room or wherever emergency shelter is available.  Following Hurricane Ivan's assault on the Cayman Islands, Crawford set up its office on a dive boat.

Crawford also needs a unique database system to manage the chaotic situation that these catastrophes bring.

System Maker developed the Crawford Catastrophe Claims Management System (CCCMS) to meet these unique needs.  CCCMS was designed after months of working with the Caribbean offices to determine their special needs.  CCCMS can be run on a single laptop or it can be deployed on a network.  It stores and tracks the claims, loss reserves and payments, digital photographs of the damages, the adjusters' notes and formal reports to the insurers and also manages the billing process.

All of this is then synchronized to a central secure web site, where Crawford's clients can log on and review detailed reports on a summary basis or read and review the details for individual claims.  They can even view the digital photographs of the damages.

"Before CCCMS, it was like who's got the pen?" said Martin Taylor of Crawford.  Now with CCCMS, the process of managing the adjusters and claims is very well organized.  With daily reports showing what claims each adjuster has been assigned and how well each adjuster is progressing on the claim load, managers can easily follow the staff's progress and reassign work as needed to make the operation run smoothly.

CCCMS also provides detailed reporting to Crawford's clients.  When Crawford's management meets with the insurers, they bring with them a detailed listing of the claims and up-to-date analysis of the expected damages caused by the storm.  Since CCCMS also tracks billing on a claim-by-claim basis, Crawford can ensure that they invoice accurately for all their services and their clients get a detailed bordereau explaining the work done.