Over 99% of personal injury cases are settled, most before the case is even filed. In recent decades, large insurance corporations such as State Farm, Allstate, and Geico have optimized their systems of claim evaluation, enabling them to increase their profits to the tune of millions of dollars.
Beginning in the 90s, with the help of consulting giants such as McKinsey, car insurance providers began dividing auto injury claims into categories for the purposes of simplifying their methods of resolving these cases. This process, known as claims segmentation, has helped the insurance companies streamline the handling of their growing injury claim caseload and ultimately minimize claims payments. Instituted by Allstate in 1995, the Claims Core Process Redesign, or CCPR, was the first of these systems that are now commonplace among the insurance conglomerates.
Since its implementation, bodily injury claims for car accidents have decreased in favor of property damage claims concerning the vehicle. When vehicle damage is sufficient to bring a property damage claim, the trend has been that such claims are now more likely to be brought rather than bothering with a personal injury claim against these large insurers and their software programs designed to minimize payouts. By creating these categories, including divisions such as First Call Settlements and Minor Impact Soft Tissue (MIST) cases, insurers have been able to lower their liability and stabilize their approach to personal injury claims.
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