Large Loss Report to Members
Looking back over the 20 year experience of the Mutual, we see a tradition of not only supporting learning at our Member institutions, but also supporting learning as a mutual. A significant source of learning for Unimutual has been our claims experience. The Mutual has learned many lessons from the almost $100 million paid out in claims over this period.
We recognise that in these difficult financial times, there is substantial competition for financial resources across the sector. The sector is witnessing an imperative to optimise the limited funding available for special projects or unscheduled maintenance, as there are numerous demands on unallocated funds. Across the sector, we note that higher education institutions are finding it more difficult to fully fund loss control and risk mitigation actions due to budget pressures. The Mutual believes that it can assist Members in building business cases which are successful in finding ways to get a "bigger bang for their risk management buck" by leveraging off the experience of the sector. Through the sharing of risk and loss control management expertise and expanding the lessons learned through understanding the past loss experience of the Mutual, we can better assist Members to more efficiently spend their risk management dollars.
There are examples where a collegial focus on losses and their drivers has produced some promising results. Recent initiatives involving increased reporting of research freezer losses in Unimutual Updates and the introduction of the Unimutual Research Freezer Seminar have proven very useful facilitating the sharing of loss prevention and loss reduction strategies for research freezer incidents. Preliminary examination of the Mutual's loss data indicates an improvement in research freezer loss experience over the last protection year compared to the previous period.
Another new initiative which again is based on learning lessons from our losses will shortly commence. We intend to develop a claims summary report for resolved matters valued at over $100,000, which is to be sent to the affected Members. These narrative reports will be submitted to the Member suffering the loss, upon final resolution of all large value claims. It will provide useful information for the Member in understanding the history of the loss and how it can be prevented in the future. Key points in the report will contain a brief summary of the loss event; any root cause analysis conducted by either Unimutual or the Member, and recommendations for risk control strategies designed to reduce the likelihood of future losses at the Member institution. We hope that the report will help to identify efficient and effective risk mitigations and provide the framework of a cost/benefit business case for improved risk management activities.
We hope that such summary reporting of significant matters will assist Members in identifying future risk mitigation actions to prevent similar losses at their campus/institution and foster corrective actions or programming which will reduce the long-term cost of risk for the Member. Such reporting will be incorporated in to the standard claims methodology and will form the basis for future risk management training and information sharing. We look forward to receiving your feedback on this initiative and any recommendations you may have for the future programming which will result.
