IRG News & Views

Insurance Recovery Group forms new division, Insurance Subrogation Group

Insurance Recovery Group (IRG), a firm that has successfully recouped more than $1.5 billion dollars for insurers and large self-insureds, announces that it is launching a new division, Insurance Subrogation Group (ISG). ISG will be dedicated to providing subrogation services for commercial and personal automobile (PIP and uninsured), workers compensation and property insurance. Services will include First Notice of Loss programs in addition to second look/closed file reviews, overflow services and arbitration submissions on a national level.

According to David A. Jollin, President and CEO of IRG, "The new division will expand on Insurance Recovery Group's core competency, which is identifying, investigating, and recovering claims dollars through legal and regulatory processes." He adds that, although IRG has offered workers compensation subrogation services to select clients in the past, the new division expands the scope of the operation and creates a dedicated unit with deep expertise.

Jollin announced the following executive team to spearhead ISG:

John J. Connolly - President
Previously, Connolly was a commodity broker on The New York Board and senior advisor for several hedge funds specializing in commodity risk management. John has served as COO and CFO of other subrogation operations.

Neil Salters, Esq. - COO
Salters has extensive experience in designing and managing insurance company and subrogation operations, having held senior positions at Continental, CNA and GAN North America, and was a senior trial partner of his own law firm.

Mark Nevils, Esq., CSRP - Senior Vice President, National Director of Claims and Subrogation.
Nevils is an attorney highly experienced in property and casualty subrogation and recovery business including auditing, investigation, and litigation. Nevils currently oversees IRG’s client recovery in multiple jurisdictions.

Candace LaChapelle, CWCP - Vice President of Business Development.
LaChapelle has extensive experience in operational management and marketing of workers' compensation and recovery related services. LaChapelle currently manages all marketing operations for IRG.

Insurance Recovery Group (IRG) is a national subrogation (Insurance Subrogation Group), second injury fund (SIF), COLA recovery, and cost containment company operating in the insurance industry, including property, auto, and workers compensation recoveries. Its staff of expert attorneys and claims recovery managers help clients to reduce administrative expenses, improve claims handling efficiency and substantially increased recovery opportunities.

Georgia: Single Expert Focus Pays Off -- IRG taps abandoned claim for $3 Million recovery

IRG has unlocked tremendous recovery in claims that others have overlooked or abandoned. In one recent case, IRG identified, pursued, and achieved Subsequent Injury Trust Fund (SITF) acceptance of a claim with an estimated total reimbursement value of over $3 Million - a claim which the carrier had previously abandoned as having no SITF potential.

IRG identified this key claim when it was invited by the client to take one more look at claims that had already been reviewed for potential SITF by in-house adjusters, attorneys, and other vendors in advance of the approaching SITF deadline. In its week long review, IRG found this and several other claims that to its expert eye looked like they represented significant recovery potential. Without IRG's expert evaluation, this claim, which involved a claimant with a cervical spine injury who was permanently and totally disabled and medicals estimated at $78,000 per year for the rest of the claimant's life, would not have been pursued for recovery. However, through IRG's expert assessment of the file, the claim’s untapped potential was identified and ultimately realized.

Coventry Workers' Comp Services and Impairment Resources LLC Announce Strategic Alliance

We are pleased to announce that our new joint venture with Impairment Resources is off to a booming start. Coventry Workers' Comp Services (CWCS), a division of Coventry Health Care, Inc., has just announced a strategic alliance with Impairment Resources, LLC to offer a suite of tools designed to ensure accurate impairment ratings for its clients.

Below, find the full text of release issued by CWCS:

Coventry Workers' Comp Services and Impairment Resources LLC Announce Strategic Alliance
Services of national impairment expert to enhance CWCS solutions that drive accurate impairment ratings

Franklin ,TN – April 15, 2009 – Coventry Workers' Comp Services (CWCS), a division of Coventry Health Care, Inc., has announced a strategic alliance with Impairment Resources, LLC to offer a suite of tools designed to ensure accurate impairment ratings for its clients. Impairment ratings are a key cost driver in workers’ compensation cases. CWCS can for the first time help clients regain confidence with regards to the impairment ratings.

"Studies have conclusively demonstrated that the majority of impairment ratings are incorrect, and the average incorrect rating is nearly three times higher than is appropriate," stated Christopher Brigham, M.D., Chairman and Founder of Impairment Resources. "Our goal is to assist Coventry Workers’ Comp Services by providing fair, reliable impairment evaluations, while demonstrating the integrity, service, and excellence for which the company is known."

Impairment Resources will afford CWCS unique professional and technological abilities, including a suite of services that will allow client adjusters and risk managers the ability to measure or assess ratings and to access expert physician reviews. These services are complimented by Internet-based educational resources, tools for all Editions of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, and expert consultation services that can also be effectively used to ensure accurate ratings.

"By implementing the disciplined impairment rating program offered by Impairment Resources, we will now be able to offer clinical expertise to adjusters who have been dealing with imprecise and inconsistent legal interpretations of impairment," said Derrick Amato, Chief Operating Officer, Clinical Services, CWCS. "By partnering with the nation's leading expert, we expect the clients who take advantage of this systematic approach to disability impairment rating will realize significant cost reductions.”

About Coventry Workers’ Comp Services
Coventry Workers’ Comp Services, a division of Coventry Health Care, Inc., is the leading provider of cost and care management solutions for property and casualty insurance carriers, (workers’ compensation and auto insurers), third-party administrators and self-insured employers. We design best-in-class products and services to help our partners restore the health and productivity of injured workers and insureds as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. We accomplish this by developing and maintaining consultative, trusting partnerships with our clients and stakeholders, built on a foundation of innovative and customized solutions that support the claims management process.

Go to www.coventrywcs.com for more information.

About Impairment Resources, LLC
Impairment Resources, LLC, the nation's leading resource on impairment evaluation, offers a comprehensive suite of cost containment services that address long term indemnity costs, which now represent over 20 billion dollars of workers' compensation benefit expenditures. Founder Christopher Brigham, MD is an internationally recognized expert on the AMA Guides and author of nearly two hundred publications on impairment assessment. The firm has offices in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

Go to www.impairment.com for more information.