Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. just strengthened its position as a leader in claims and productivity management solutions to major employers with its acquisition of York Risk Services Group. The acquisition was completed on September 4, 2019.
Current and past Sedgwick clients include Fortune 100 companies such as Target, Kroger, FedEx, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, according to published reports. Sedgwick assists clients in claims relating to:
- Workers’ compensation
- Short and long-term disability, FMLA and other employee absence programs
- General, automobile and professional liability
- Injury management
- Healthcare professional liability
- Medicare compliance
- Financial sector (credit card programs, consumer warranties, etc.)
Sedgwick CMS employs 21,000 colleagues in 65 countries. It was founded in California in 1969 as a regional third party administrator (TPA) named National Compensation Services.
York Risk Services Group is also a TPA that works with corporations, the insurance industry and public entities to manage risk. Related services include claims administration, managed care and absence management. York uses a data-driven and compassionate approach to reduce risk and getting people and organizations back to health, work and productivity.
Claims management services at York cover a wide range of insurance lines, including automobile liability, general liability, product liability, environmental liability, professional liability, property, and workers’ compensation.
York was founded in 1962 and has more than 5,000 employees. It was the #3 ranked U.S. third party administrator (TPA) based on annual revenue as of 2015.
York clients include more than 5,800 public entities and public entity pools; more than 300 program administrators/MGAs/carriers, more than 50 carriers and more than 500 self-insured/high deductible clients.
Sedgwick Acquires York: Meaning for Panel Counsel Members
Panel counsel law firms that have the good fortune to work with both Sedgwick and York may not need to worry too much.
Insurance defense law firms that work with York but not Sedgwick will want to stay alert to potential defense counsel changes. Any defense firms that rely on York for a significant portion of their revenue may want to start thinking of launching a business development for purposes of diversification.
Serving as defense counsel to a TPA can be different from other panel counsel programs, because the corporation (i.e., the TPA’s client, like a Target or Kroger) often specifies the law firms to use on their account. The TPA just follows the lead of their corporate client.
In any event, it is always a good time to be looking for new clients in the insurance defense sector. Sedgwick’s acquisition of York reflects a trend of consolidation within the insurance industry. Click on the link to also read our related article titled, “P&C Insurance Industry Mergers & Acquisitions.”
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