Colossus, Xactimate, AI, and Other Insurance Adjustment Software: Maximizing Auto Accident Claim Settlement Offers

This CLE course will examine Colossus and similar claims adjustment software used by insurers to evaluate auto accident claims. The panelist, James Mathis—who implemented the program on which is the basis of TEACH (Total Evaluation and Claim Handling) and Colossus and taught Colossus to insurers—will discuss recent updates using artificial intelligence and recurring legal challenges, as well as offer best practices for obtaining higher settlement offers from insurance adjusters and defense counsel that rely on this software.

The vast majority of all insurers use Colossus and similar software, including TEACH, to assess bodily injury claim values and limit defense settlement offers in auto accident claims. The largest U.S. insurer of automobiles, State Farm, uses the TEACH protocol, implemented by Mr. Mathis.

Plaintiff's counsel should understand how the software works, its limitations, and how it impacts insurer settlement offers to claimants. Plaintiff's counsel should also be knowledgeable about the other processes and software affecting settlement authority, such as the medical management software each insurer uses (Decision Point, Medico, MBRS, and its underlying database, Ingenix), and understand the significance of "active" versus "passive" treatment procedures.

Plaintiff's counsel today should also be sensitive to each insurer's claim practice procedure programs, including ACE (Advancing Claims Excellence), CCPR (Claim Core Procedure Review), ACME (Advancing Claim Management Excellence), MIST (Minor Impact Soft Tissue), and many others.

Counsel should examine controlling factors, such as the accuracy of all injury diagnoses and complete diagnoses, recognized complaints, and otherwise unaccounted pain and suffering damages. There are 10,750 value drivers; 7,000 severity drivers; and multipliers that increase the impact of these drivers in determining the settlement authority for each claim.

Listen as our authoritative panelist guides personal injury counsel on Colossus and similar software and processes used by the insurance industry to evaluate claims. The panel will discuss legal challenges and offer best practices for obtaining higher settlement offers from insurance adjusters and defense counsel who rely on this software.