Overview of incidents in ClaimCenter

The following section provides an overview of incident behavior in ClaimCenter.

What is an incident?

An incident is a collection of information about an item that was lost or damaged, such as:

  • A vehicle
  • A property (such as a house or a fence)
  • A person suffering one or more injuries

For example, a vehicle incident can store the following information:

  • Where was the point of collision?
  • Who was the driver?
  • What is the severity of the damage?
  • Were the airbags deployed?
  • Is the vehicle so damaged that it is considered a "total loss"?

Incident subtypes

Incidents are subtyped. The following are the supported incident subtypes in the Claim API:

Incident type Description
Injury Incident An injury suffered by a claimant
Fixed Property Incident A fixed property, such as a house

Property Contents Incident

 Storage location in which mobile property item loss occurred. Includes the individual items within the storage location, such as electronics, jewelry, furniture, and similar items.
Other Structure Incident Another structure on a property, including fences
Dwelling Incident A fixed property use for dwelling, such as a house
Living Expenses Incident Expenses incurred from the loss of use of a dwelling
Vehicle Incident A vehicle

Incidents and policy types

Every claim is attached to a policy with a specific policy type, such as PersonalAuto or HOPHomeowners. Every incident type is indirectly associated with one or more of these policy types. Incidents of a given type can be created only on claims with a matching policy type.

For example, vehicle incidents are associated with four policy types:

  • BusinessAuto
  • Businessowners
  • PersonalAuto
  • PersonalTravel

You can create vehicle incidents on a claim whose policy type is one of these types. You cannot create vehicle incidents on a claim whose policy type is not one of these types.

The association between incident type and policy type occurs in the Line of Business typelists. For more information on the Line of Business typelists, see the Configuration Guide.

Incidents and ClaimContacts

Incidents can have ClaimContacts associated with them. When a ClaimContact is associated with an incident, the ClaimContact also has a role defining the relationship.

For example, with a vehicle incident, a ClaimContact could be:

  • An owner
  • A driver
  • A passenger

For more information on ClaimContacts, see ClaimContacts.

Incidents and exposures

Every exposure is associated with an incident. You cannot create an exposure without an incident. For more information on exposures, see Exposures.