Can you define what you are buying and why?

1. Do the economic sponsor and the people doing review and corrections own the same objective?

• 0 points: Nobody owns the full inspection-to-accepted-file workflow.
• 1 point: A sponsor wants faster or cheaper production, but reviewer capacity and correction costs have no named owner.
• 2 points: A sponsor, technical acceptance owner and delivery lead are named; reviewer time and decision responsibilities are allocated.
• 3 points: Those owners have jointly approved the baseline, pilot resources, success measures and stop/go process, including who bears correction costs.

Evidence to show: A signed project charter, responsibility map and reviewer-capacity allocation.

Research context: In its April 2026 claims podcast, FM describes involving adjusters in identifying automation opportunities and retaining their decision-making role. That is a carrier example, not an industry-wide performance benchmark. (fm.com)

2. Is “accepted file” defined independently of delivery? — Critical gate

• 0 points: A file counts as complete when it arrives or is uploaded.
• 1 point: Reviewers use informal expectations or the supplier’s definition of “carrier-ready”.
• 2 points: QA has approved the scope, required artefacts, pass/return/escalation rules and material-error definitions for the proposed workflow.
• 3 points: Reviewers have independently applied that standard to the same examples, resolved disagreements and documented the resulting acceptance rubric.

Evidence to show: A claim file acceptance checklist, worked examples and an approval record. Specify the estimate format, photographs, measurements, narrative, supporting documents, exceptions and approval status required for the selected loss type.

Important distinction: Here, acceptance means passing a production-quality standard. It does not mean accepting coverage, approving payment or closing the claim.

Research context: Citizens’ published managed-repair guidance specifies sketches, estimates, photographs and supporting documentation. It is a concrete carrier-programme example—not a universal checklist for every insurer. (citizensfla.com)

3. Can you calculate total cost per accepted file for a matched cohort?

• 0 points: You know only the quoted production fee or departmental budget.
• 1 point: You have estimated review effort, but costs and accepted-file counts do not refer to the same cohort.
• 2 points: A matched sample includes production, retained review, corrections, exceptions, attributable reinspection and implementation allocations; unresolved files remain visible.
• 3 points: Finance and operations have reconciled a sufficiently resolved cohort, checked double counting and separated released capacity from demonstrable budget savings.

Evidence to show: A cohort-level cost waterfall, labour assumptions, invoice reconciliation and unresolved-file register.

Our proposed calculation:

Total cost per accepted file = all attributable production-workflow costs for the defined cohort ÷ unique files in that cohort that pass the agreed acceptance standard.

Include costs incurred on failed attempts and unresolved files. Label an unfinished cohort’s result provisional. If no files are accepted, report the spend and zero acceptances; do not present a cost-per-acceptance figure.