2010

INNOVATIONS 2010 – 90% IMPROVEMENTS IN CONVERSION RATES WITH I-SIGN

i-sign, Premex Group's document collection and sign up service has improved solicitors' conversion rates by as much as 90%, a factor which led to the business winning the 'Best Associated Industry' at the Personal Injury Awards 2010.

I-sign has helped customers keep more of their clients by providing a suite of document collection services including CFA agreements, questionnaires, insurance and identity checks.

Gordon Healiss, managing director of i-sign, explains. "Using i-sign as a sign up service is essential if a firm wants to derive maximum value from their acquisition costs by increasing client retention. We specialise in the personal injury sector and all 350 of our agents have knowledge and experience to make the collection and signature process as seamless as possible. With documents typically returned within three days and an online agency appointment booking service that sees agents visiting the claimant the very same day, this has proven to be a popular product."

INNOVATIONS 2010 – DRIVING SLA IMPROVEMENTS

Premex Group has driven through a range of innovations in 2010 to help smooth the claims and legal services markets' transition into a new fixed cost personal injury regime.

The requirement for both solicitors and insurers to submit information electronically to the Ministry of Justice's fixed cost RTA claims portal has risen to the top of the service agenda and Premex spent months in advance of the portal's implementation carrying out testing and research so it could deliver a process that was fit for purpose.

In August Premex Services launched a system enabling customers to receive all information electronically so that they could interface with the MOJ's claims portal, substantially reducing their own processing cycle and keeping within the fixed cost timescales mandated by government.

The net result of this and our other innovations is that service level agreements have advanced and overall case handling cycle times have been cut by an average of 14 days. In the last year we have developed our report writing software, X-Port to ensure that expert reports are consistent and accurate, while Vu has just celebrated its 1^st anniversary being used by both medical experts (to upload availability) and by instructing parties to book appointments.  Customers can now book from over 30,000 appointments online.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET NEWS ROUNDUP

It took the insurance trade media a couple of weeks to notice that the Discount Rate was officially under review but this certainly got the defendant lobby talking amongst themselves with the actuaries pulling out their calculators first off. Laura McMaster an insurance partner at the actuarial firm LCP, said: "To illustrate, a typical lump sum settlement of £6m agreed on a 2.5% discount rate could increase to around £7.2m on a 1% discount rate and to around £9.0m on a -0.5% discount rate."

Insurance Times rounded on the topic on 2^nd December in a subscriber only article and pointed to a potentially dark future for insurers. It suggested that a combination of the increase in numbers of Periodical Payment Orders being made by judges; their calculation now being linked to a faster inflating index ever since the Thompstone v Tameside judgement in 2008; and the potential of a reduced discount rate might mean premium inflation is essential to help them top up liability reserves. It appears the actuarial profession is warning the insurance industry to consider this seriously.

Meanwhile, at what had effectively become rolling Jackson reform newsdesks, the Lawyer's Katie Dowell reported how it happened by giving the drama from a journalist's perspective, including an exciting Whitehall press conference called at a moment's notice. Interestingly, Guardian columnist Neil Rose suggested that a better venue for the announcement might have been Tory Central Office.

As the dust began to settle, Linda Lee's impassioned plea to the profession in last week's Law Society Gazette certainly added some perspective and it's clear that 2011 will be something of a red letter year for legal services.

PERSONAL INJURY AWARDS

In mid-November, Premex was recognised at a prestigious legal ceremony in London. The Personal Injury Awards celebrate best practice in the area of claimant personal injury law, and Premex Services took home the crown of Medical Agency of the Year. The evening's success was then doubled with the award of the 'Best Associated Industry' prize for the company's i-sign document collection service.

The success came hot on the heels of Premex's 'Most Innovative use of Software' award at the Claims Technology Awards earlier this year for its medical scheduling system Vu.

Donald Fowler, managing director of Premex Services said: "This award is a huge testament to all the hard work that has been put in by everyone at Premex. Our achievements epitomise our values - the use of innovative technology to enhance customer service was the platform for our nomination and it is great that the industry we work in has recognised the commitments we have made."

Gordon Healiss, managing director of i-sign, added: "Our customers in legal services have recognised the value that our strategic partnership approach can provide. This award is a proud moment for us and we hope to continue the momentum that has brought the business so far already."

Happy Birthday to Vu

It's already been a year since Vu, Premex's web based instruction and appointment booking system, went live. 

Recognised by the industry as the Most Innovative Use of Software (Medical Agency) at this year's Claims Technology Awards, Vu is enabling customer to reduce both case lifecycles and costs, as well as client attritions rates, whilst the added speed and convenience that Vu brings is improving client satisfaction. 

What a 1^st year… 

Reductions in case lifecycles by up to 14 days

Over 30,000 nationwide appointment slots online

More than 100,000 satisfied clients attending convenient medico-legal appointment in the last 12 months

This month we are celebrating its success and you can share in the fun too.  For every instruction made in November via Vu, an entry will be made into a prize draw, to take place in December with the winner receiving another marvellous technological advancement an Apple i-Pad just in time for Christmas. 

If you would like to use Vu - then please contact Premex on 01204 478320

Please click here to submit an instruction via Vu.