A Brief Interview with Laura Pierman, VP of Claims Operations for Amerisure

by Nick Lamparelli and Insurance Nerds (an official media partner of Connected Claims USA 2019)

As part of the Connected Claims conference being hosted by Insurance Nexus, we will be conducting a series of brief interviews with speakers and/or presenters from this conference. In the first in the series, we asked Laura Pierman, VP of Claims for Amerisure about her work and her session at Connected Claims. (Insurance Nerds is a marketing partner for this conference. Use discount code CLMNERDS200 to register here to get $200 off your registration)

  1. Laura, can you tell us about your role at Amerisure? 
    As the Vice President of Claim Operations, I get to be involved in the strategic direction of the department.  In addition, I have a varied team reporting through my organization.  Claim Intake, SIU, Subrogation, Data, and Analytics as well as Claim Technology, all are handled within my area of the department. I have a tremendous amount of ability to affect change and improve how we service our customers in a wide variety of ways.  I love that my job constantly evolves and changes from day-to-day.

  2. What do you love the most about your job?  
    The aspect of my role that I enjoy the most is the ability to impact to affect change through the use of technology.  In the situation we find ourselves in today, that is exciting and constantly evolving.  At Amerisure, providing service second to none is our driving force.  It used to be that providing a high level of service and being efficient were at odds.  In today’s technology-driven environment, becoming more efficient can lead to improved levels of service.  The benefits of technology are endless and that is energizing to me.

  3. What are some of the challenges of your role?  
    The pace of change occurring today is so fast that there are times that it feels like you can’t catch your breath—the need to move faster and get technology out to those who need it is accelerating at a pace that seems unattainable even a few years ago.  Trying to keep focus and make the right decisions at a fast pace are the biggest challenges I feel.

  4. What are some of the things that keep you up at night as a claims leader?  
    One of my biggest concerns is data security.  As a claims organization, we have a tremendous amount of data, much of it is sensitive data.  We also have a lot of third party vendors that work on our behalf and also have access to that same sensitive data.  Making sure all controls are in place and that we have taken all the necessary steps to protect that is extremely important to me.  My fear is that even with all the right protections in place, bad things can happen.  The other thing that keeps me up at night is “are we making the right decisions that the right time when it comes to Insurtech opportunities?”.  Are we too late?  Are we too early?  Is something better just on the horizon?   The uncertainty in technology decisions can feel overwhelming at times.

  5. What advice would you give to someone who is considering claims as a potential long-term career option? 
    This is a tremendous time to get into claims.  The skills needed and the variety of opportunities that are available is amazing.  When I entered the industry the career path was to be an adjuster, then a supervisor and then move into a management role.  Now, the ability to fill so many other roles needed in the claims word is much more varied and exciting.

  6. What will be your session at the Insurance Nexus Connected Claims USA Summit in Chicago on June 5th & 6th
    I plan to speak about the transition from Waterfall to Agile business project management.  This is something I am currently living and find tremendously exciting.

  7. Who should attend and what will they learn?  
    I think anyone interested in levering technology advancements in their organization would benefit.  Becoming more agile is not just related to technology but organizational agility is becoming more and more important.  How to start the process and identify projects or teams where this can be approach can be piloted will be something I discuss.  I have always enjoyed the “lessons learned” from others at these conferences and I hope I can repay the favor in my session.