Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been selected to license and implement its claims solution at Affirmative Insurance Company, a distributor and producer of personal non-standard automobile insurance, as part of the insurer's transformation program aimed at helping centralize and automate its claims-handling operations.

Accenture will replace Affirmative's current claims system with Accenture Claim Components Solution, a robust Web-based technology designed to help insurers improve the efficiency of their claims-handling operations through the automation of routine tasks. At Affirmative, the solution will support core claims transactions from first notification of loss through final payment.

?As with most carriers, claims handling represents our single-largest opportunity for our insurance business to drive significant gains in both our business performance and service to our customers,? said Sean McPadden, executive vice president and chief underwriting officer of Affirmative. ?The strong track-record, deep functionality and great flexibility of the Accenture Claim Components Solution made it an ideal solution to support us in transforming and consolidating our claims operations.?

The implementation of Accenture Claim Components Solution at Affirmative represents the first application of the technology within the non-standard auto insurance market, which covers drivers who find it difficult to obtain insurance from standard insurance companies due to their driving record, their lack of prior insurance, or other factors. Currently, Accenture Claim Components Solution is used by five of the top 10 U.S. insurance carriers and helps process approximately one-third of all property and casualty insurance claims in the United States.

?The claim is a decisive moment for both the customer and insurer,? said John Del Santo, managing director of Accenture's insurance practice in North America. ?For insurers that have grown through acquisition, consolidating claims operations is often one of the highest priorities due to the potential for increased efficiencies and consistently better customer service. By working to streamline and automate claims handling, Affirmative is focusing on a critical area for helping to improve performance and customer service.?

In addition to the license of the Accenture Claim Components Solution, which is built with Microsoft .Net 2.0 technology, Accenture is providing outsourced application maintenance and infrastructure services to Affirmative under a broad information technology transformation initiative, which the insurer began last year.

About Affirmative Insurance Holdings

Affirmative Insurance Holdings, Inc. is a distributor and producer of personal non-standard automobile insurance policies to individual consumers in highly targeted geographic markets. Affirmative currently offers products and services in 13 states, including Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, California and Florida.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 158,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture
Sean Conway, 917-452-6444
Sean.K.Conway@accenture.com