Why we are called ACE... Advancing Claims Excellence

In 1998 I created a new business called A.C.E. Training & Consulting. For more than twenty years, we conducted corporate training programs and events for a diverse range of clients and industries. The ACE stood for Achieving Corporate Excellence. Sessions were conducted with groups ranging in size from 10 to 100 delegates, although occasionally we would work with groups as big as 600.

The business also involved running brain storming sessions, workshops on customer service, time management and improving teamwork. ACE has run more than 1000 team sessions with clients including BHP, Nike, ANZ, Citipower, Brown Brothers and Toyota.

Then in 2020, due to Covid19, the business had to pause. Businesses could no longer conduct conferences or meet in groups. There was a rare opportunity to do something new.

Three years earlier I had learned first hand how stressful, time consuming and complicated dealing with an insurance claim can be. We had achieved a good outcome with the insurance company but it had taken a lot of hard work, research and time.

Friends and family had recognised my ability to research information about insurance policies, building codes, and industry guidelines. People were contacting me and asking for help with their problems. Several close friends had told me stories about their disputes or issues with their insurance claim. In many cases people simply gave up or they had a poor outcome. I was encouraged to start a business that could help people with their insurance claims.

As the shutdowns due to Covid19 continued I decided to research the concept of insurance claims advocacy. I spoke with a consultant in Sydney and he advised me to read a book by an American law professor. The name of the book is Delay Deny Defend. I purchased it and started reading.

The book provides a detailed account of the history of insurance and how some companies attempt to maximise profit for the benefit of shareholders rather than policy holders. The book contains lots of stories and case studies about insurance disputes. Then I read something incredible.

According to the book, a consulting firm called McKinsey and Co was hired to revamp the claims process with a goal of reducing payouts for claims. A systematic program to re-engineer every aspect of the claims process was implemented by redefining every step of the claims process and creating a new systematic claims process with the explicit goal of reducing payments. The program had a name... it was called the ACE program Advancing Claims Excellence. The book details how the ACE process was a way of doing business. There was a goal for the term ACE to disappear from usage but its effects were to be long lasting. The goal of the ACE program was to make the insurance company more profitable at the expense of the insured.

Advancing Claims Excellence

I had been pondering what to call the new advocacy business. Some people think I called the new business ACE to save on stationery. Perhaps there is some merit to this assertion but the truth is I loved the irony.

I was creating a new business to help people get the best result for their insurance claim. The goal of the business is to to help people by Advancing Claims Excellence for the insured as opposed to the insurer. The sentiment was perfect and the term was no longer being used by the insurance companies.

ACE was reborn... from Achieving Corporate Excellence to Advancing Claims Excellence.