Insurance Arbitration Up Sharply
Tuesday, February 11th, 2003 Auto Liability Property SubrogationUse of arbitration to resolve inter-company claims disputes between property-casualty insurance firms and self-insureds jumped nearly 25 percent last year, according to Arbitration Forums, Inc. of Tampa, Fla. The increase was driven in part by use of Internet transactions, which speed the arbitration process, the company said. AF, a nonprofit provider of inter-insurance dispute resolution services, resolved nearly $1.8 billion in inter-company claims disputes in 2002, up 24.3 percent from 2001, according to D. Kay Smith, chief executive officer of AF. The number of arbitration filings in 2002 also grew, increasing to nearly 400,000, an 11.3 percent jump from 2001 Ms. Smith said a study found that for every dollar a company spends on inter-company arbitration, the return on investment in 2001 was $20.63.
