Insurers
Venue intelligence for insurers
The same claim resolves at a different pace in different courts. Venue intelligence measures that pace from filed records so reserving can start from the court, not from a book-wide average.
Who this is for
Claims executives, reserving actuaries and litigation management
Your job is to hold an adequate reserve across a book of open litigated claims, and to know which venues are making that reserve drift. A single book-wide duration assumption hides the venues that run slow or fast. You need the venue difference as a number you can apply file by file.
- 79.9 mo
- 77.3 mo
- 47.7 mo
- 33 mo
- 13.9 mo
- 13.9 mo
- 13.6 mo
- 13.4 mo
- 11.7 mo
- 11.2 mo
What a venue reading measures
A venue reading states, for a court and a case type, how long matters take from filing to disposition and to trial, how many remain pending beyond three years, and how that compares with the national position. For federal courts these figures are published by the U.S. Courts and are shown on this site for every district. For state courts and for case-type segments, the reading is built from filed records and carries its own band.
The reading is made per case type because the pace of a motor vehicle claim in a court says little about a products claim in the same court.
How reserving uses it
Duration is a reserving input in two places. It sets the period over which defence cost accrues, and it sets when a payment is expected. A venue that runs slower than the book assumption extends both. Applying the venue band file by file shows which open claims carry more time than the reserve assumes, and which carry less.
The practical use is a ranking. Sort open litigated claims by venue duration against the assumption in the reserve, and the files that need a second look rise to the top. The band, not a point, is the input, so a reserve review can test the slow end of each venue as well as the middle.
Comparing venues for the same claim
Where a claim can be heard in more than one court, the venue comparison puts the two readings side by side with their bands. Where it cannot, the comparison still shows how far the assigned court sits from the national position, which is the starting point for an explanation to a reserving committee.
What this number means
The figure above describes how long civil cases in each district took in the reporting period. It is a court-level reference point. A venue reading for a claim adds the case type and is stated as a band, and it is one input to the reserve, not a forecast of one file.
Read next
Questions readers ask
What is venue intelligence for insurers?
It is a reading of how long matters take, and how they tend to resolve, in a specific court and case type, measured from filed records and stated as a band. Claims and reserving teams use it to start a reserve from the court rather than from a book-wide average.
How does venue duration affect a reserve?
Duration sets the period over which defence cost accrues and the date a payment is expected. A venue that runs slower than the reserve assumption extends both, so applying the venue band file by file shows which open claims carry more time than assumed.
Where do the federal district figures come from?
From the U.S. Courts Federal Court Management Statistics, as published for each district. The source and reporting period are shown beside every figure on the district pages and in the federal duration explorer.
Next step
Read your claims, venues and dockets from the record.
Tell the Intelligence desk what you hold. You receive a written report from the filed record, with every figure labelled.
Request an assessment