WorkflowCasualty, Injury & Litigation Claims

Case Reserve Adequacy Review

Case reserve adequacy review on every open injury file, every quarter, with the reason behind each dollar

Reserves set right sooner, with fewer late step-ups as files develop.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo47documentsreread on one file since its last review — 312 pages of notes, records, bills and suit papers
demo20monthssurgery sat in the medical records and not in the reserve, shown on the reserve history
target214of 214open injury files reread before each reserving meeting
target1nightfrom a surgeon’s note to a recommended reserve, not 141 days
In short

What is Case Reserve Adequacy Review?

It is the review of each open claim’s case reserve against what the file now shows, so the reserve reflects probable ultimate cost on the known facts. Case Reserve Adequacy Review rereads every open bodily-injury file before each reserving meeting and recommends a case reserve as a waterfall of steps, each tied to the page it came from.

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Updated

The problem

Why case reserves on injury files rise in late steps

A case reserve on a bodily-injury file is set in the first days, from an ER bill and a police report. After that it moves when something forces it: a letter of representation, an MRI, a demand, a suit. Each late step-up lands as adverse development quarters after the fact that should have moved it was already in the file.

Before each quarterly reserving meeting, an adjuster carrying more than a hundred open injury files can reread only some of them end to end. The rest are reviewed by exception. A pain-management note that says “refer for surgical consultation” or a surgeon’s consult that says “candidate for fusion” sits in the medical records until the demand arrives — and California’s paid-not-billed rule or a Medicare conditional payment can move the number in a known direction that nobody priced.

demo141daysmedian time a recommended surgery sat in the file before the reserve moved
demo36%of what an accident-year 2022 file finally cost was its opening reserve
typical$7.3Bof adverse development in other liability in 2025, most from recent accident years
Where one file’s reserve review hours goestimated
By hand7 days
With the solution1.6 days
  • Rereading what is new in the file3 → 0.5 d
  • Totalling specials and pricing future care1 → 0.3 d
  • Checking value against closed files1 → 0.3 d
  • Setting the expense reserve to counsel’s budget0.5 → 0.1 d
  • Guideline check and the reserve note1 → 0.3 d
  • Manager approval above authority0.5 → 0.3 d

Estimated split for one developing bodily-injury file at the quarterly review, by hand and with the solution.

How it works

How a file is reviewed

Seven agents reread every open injury file and build the reserve waterfall; the adjuster accepts each step.

What comes in
Claim file in47 new documents · notes, records, bills, demands, suit
Agents at work
File rereaderwhat changed
Then
Medical and future care analyst
Wage loss estimator
Value and venue reviewer
Litigation expense reviewer
Then
Guideline checker
Then
Reserve recommenderwaterfall + history
A person decides
Casualty adjusteraccepts each step
What comes out
Recommended reserve with reasons
What changed since last review
Quarterly meeting pack
One case, step by step

One injury file, from the overnight reread to an approved reserve

Jordan Pace was rear-ended by a Larch Ridge Distribution box truck in Sacramento in March 2024. The case reserve has stepped up four times. Here is the Q4 2026 review of that file, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 01Before the meeting

    The whole quarter, already reread

    Marcus Delgado · Senior casualty adjuster

    All 214 open bodily-injury files in Western Casualty Claims were reread between 8 and 11 October. 46 have a recommended change and 168 hold. Marcus filters to his own nine, or to files above adjuster authority, or to files with three or more step-ups.

    “46 have a recommended change; 168 hold. Reserving meeting Tue 20 Oct, 10:00.”

  2. 02Morning

    Jordan Pace’s file, as a reserve waterfall

    Marcus Delgado · Senior casualty adjuster

    CA-24-018733, Jordan Pace v. Larch Ridge Distribution LLC: C5-6 disc herniation, suit filed 6 Aug 2026, limit $1,000,000, last reviewed 14 Aug 2026. The waterfall runs from today’s $185,000 case reserve through six steps to a recommended $392,800, with Marcus’s $250,000 authority drawn across it.

    “Reread today 02:14 · 7 agents · 47 documents”

  3. 03One click

    “Reread the file” — and every step runs in view

    The agents

    The file rereader goes through 47 documents added since 14 Aug — 312 pages: 21 medical, 14 bills, 6 letters, 6 litigation. The medical and future care analyst totals specials billed at $71,850 against $57,650 paid and applies California’s paid-not-billed rule. Wage loss, value and venue, litigation expense and the guideline check follow, and the bars build one by one.

  4. 04What changed

    The surgeon’s note, with the passages that move the reserve

    Marcus Delgado · Senior casualty adjuster

    Dr. Lena Moravec’s progress note of 22 Sep 2026: failed conservative care, C5-6 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion scheduled for 4 November, off work 12 to 16 weeks, then light duty. Each marked passage carries a margin note that links to its waterfall step.

    Margin note: “Future surgery step: +$95,000 — scheduled, not proposed.”

  5. 05Step 3 of 6

    Future surgery: +$95,000, priced line by line

    Medical and future care analyst

    The fusion is priced from the Sacramento future care cost table of 1 Jul 2026: surgeon $14,500, facility with implant $52,300, anesthesia $4,900, 24 post-op therapy visits $4,800, follow-up visits and imaging $3,100, and a $15,400 allowance for adjacent-segment care. Both sources are one click away.

    “Prices only care named by a treating provider.”

  6. 06The history

    Every past change, and what was known at the time

    Reserve recommender

    Under the waterfall, the reserve history shows four step-ups in 31 months, from $15,000 to $185,000 — 26 times the opening reserve. Change 4 on 19 Nov 2025 priced the $650,000 demand. Five weeks earlier, a surgical consult had already called Jordan Pace a candidate for C5-6 fusion.

    “Surgery in the records, not in the reserve · 20 months”

  7. 07Accepted

    Six steps accepted, one at a time

    Marcus Delgado · Senior casualty adjuster

    Marcus accepts the surgery step, then the rest. The recommended case reserve is $392,800: indemnity $335,800 and expense $57,000, 39.3% of the $1,000,000 limit. Any step he adjusts keeps his reason in the reserve note.

    “Above your $250,000 authority. When every step is accepted it goes to Priya Natarajan with the reserve note.”

  8. 08Send for approval

    The reserve note, drafted with every reason

    Marcus Delgado · Senior casualty adjuster

    The reserve note is already written: the fusion now scheduled, new medical billed and reduced to amounts paid, wage loss for 16 weeks off and 6 weeks light duty, general damages from closed fusion cases in Sacramento County, defense expense through mediation with trial not reserved. It closes with when surgery was first raised and that neither earlier change reserved it.

  9. 09Above authority

    Not a new number — what changed

    Priya Natarajan · Casualty claim manager

    Priya sees each step with the agent that built it and Marcus’s acceptance, the stair-steps on the file — five changes in 31 months — and the two guideline exceptions this change resolves: surgery in the medical records and not reserved since 21 Jan 2025, and no review within 30 days of the 22 Sep surgeon’s note. She approves at 10:42; the reserve posts to the claim file and the file moves to the meeting pack.

    She can approve $392,800 or return it with a question.

  10. 10Tue 20 Oct, 10:00

    The reserving meeting pack, built from every file

    Tom Whitford · Claims reserving analyst

    214 files, $41.2M of case reserves carried, 46 recommended changes — 38 up, 8 down — for a net +$2,860,000, 6.9% of carried. Moves above $100,000 are listed with their trigger and approval, three go to the large-loss committee, and the file page for Jordan Pace shows the stair-steps and the reserve note. Elaine Brooks chairs.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who sets, approves or answers for a case reserve.

The same file, seen by the four people who carry it into the reserving meeting — what their quarter looked like, and what it looks like now.

MD
Marcus DelgadoSenior casualty adjuster · $250,000 authority
Casualty adjuster
Before
Carries 112 open injury files and knows some of them moved, but has not had a day to read them end to end.
Now
Starts each quarter from a waterfall on every file, with the page behind each step, and decides step by step.
PN
Priya NatarajanCasualty claim manager · $500,000 authority
Claim manager
Before
Gets a new number and a short note, and has to ask what changed.
Now
Sees each step, who accepted it, the stair-steps on the file and the guideline exceptions it resolves, then approves or returns it with a question.
TW
Tom WhitfordClaims reserving analyst
Reserving analyst
Before
Builds the quarterly pack by hand and reconciles case reserves with actuarial.
Now
Opens a pack with totals by line, every move above $100,000 with its trigger, and a file page with the stair-steps and the reserve note.
EB
Elaine BrooksChairs the reserving meeting and the large-loss committee
VP, casualty claims
Before
Learns where reserves were set too thin when the step-ups arrive as adverse development.
Now
Sees where reserves step up, what triggered them and how long the fact sat in the file first.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents reread every open injury file and build the reserve waterfall; the adjuster accepts each step.

File rereader

Reads every note, diary, letter, medical record and bill added since the last review, in full, and lists each material fact with its date and page: surgery proposed or scheduled, attorney, demand, suit, wage loss, Medicare entitlement.

  • Read-only on the claim file
  • Every fact cites a page
  • Never summarises away a treatment recommendation
Medical and future care analyst

Totals specials billed and paid, applies the state rule for past medicals, and prices treatment the providers recommend or schedule from the cost table for the venue.

  • Prices only care named by a treating provider
  • Never diagnoses or second-guesses a treating provider
Wage loss estimator

Works out lost earnings to date and expected, from wage statements and the providers’ work restrictions.

  • Never assumes time off a provider has not given
Value and venue reviewer

Sets the general-damages range from the carrier’s own closed files with the same injury group and county over the last five years.

  • Shows the files behind every range
  • With fewer than 10 files, leaves the step unpriced for the adjuster
  • Never predicts a verdict
Litigation expense reviewer

Reads suit papers and defense counsel’s budget and sets the expense step.

  • Never approves counsel’s budget
Guideline checker

Tests each file against the six reserving rules: surgery not reserved, suit without an expense reserve, the 30-day review clock, reserve below specials paid, Medicare conditional payments and limits demands.

  • Never waives a rule
Reserve recommender

Builds the waterfall from the current case reserve, one step per change the other agents found, reads the reserve history to mark facts that were in the file but not in the reserve, drafts the reserve note and routes above authority.

  • Never posts a reserve
  • Never contacts claimants or counsel
  • Recommends — the adjuster accepts each step, a manager approves above authority
Casualty adjuster

Accepts each step; manager approves above authority. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any file, step or past change

Adjusters and managers can ask about a file in plain words — or tell it what to set. Every answer points to its source.

Why does the fusion add $95,000 to the reserve?

Because it is no longer a possibility. Dr. Moravec’s note of 22 Sep 2026 says the C5-6 fusion is scheduled for 4 November at Capitol Valley Surgery Center. The Sacramento cost table prices a one-level cervical fusion at $95,000: surgeon $14,500, facility $52,300, anesthesia $4,900, post-op therapy $4,800, follow-up $3,100 and a $15,400 allowance for adjacent-segment care.

When did this file first mention surgery?

On 21 Jan 2025. Dr. Shah’s procedure note after the second injection says “refer for surgical consultation if relief is not sustained”. The reserve was raised 13 days later, to $85,000, without it. On 14 Oct 2025 the surgeon called Jordan Pace a “candidate for C5-6 fusion” who wished to defer; the November change priced the $650,000 demand instead. Surgery has been in the file for 20 months.

Which files are out of line with the guidelines?

19 exceptions on 18 of the 214 files, against six rules. The largest group: 5 files with no review within 30 days of a new material fact, and 4 with surgery in the medical records but not in the reserve — including Jordan Pace.

Set general damages for Jordan Pace at $45,000 and note why

Done. General damages is now +$45,000 instead of +$55,000, with the reason “venue experience differs from closed files”. The 23 closed fusion files still show a $150,000 median, so the note says your figure sits below it. The recommended reserve is now $382,800 — still above your authority, so it goes to Priya.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The reserve waterfallFrom today’s case reserve to a recommended one in six steps, each with its evidence, beside the adjuster’s files in this quarter’s review.
The file rereadSeven agents run in view: documents read, specials totalled, the surgery priced, wage loss, value, expense and the guideline check.
What changed since the last review47 documents and 312 pages, each passage that moves the reserve marked and linked to its waterfall step.
The reserve historyEvery past change and what was known at the time — and the fact in the file that the change did not reserve.
Every step acceptedThe recommended case reserve with indemnity, expense and share of the limit, and where it goes for approval.
Send for approvalAbove the adjuster’s authority, the file goes to the claim manager with the waterfall and the drafted reserve note.
The manager’s approvalEach step with its agent and the adjuster’s acceptance, the stair-steps on the file and the guideline exceptions resolved.
Approved and postedApproved by the claim manager and posted to the claim file; the file moves to the meeting pack.
The quarter’s review listAll 214 open bodily-injury files with current and recommended reserve, change, step-ups and last review, filterable by up, down, above authority and 3+ step-ups.
Where reserves step upOpening reserve as a share of final cost by accident year, what triggered each step-up and how long the fact sat in the file first.
Files out of line with the guidelines19 exceptions on 18 files against six reserving rules, each with the fix the review recommends.
The reserving meeting packTotals by line, moves above $100,000 with trigger and approval, where the review stands, and a file page with the stair-steps and the reserve note.
Your reserving rulesReview cadence, authority limits, state rules, future care cost tables and the closed files behind the value step.
Governance

Built for reserves you can defend: cited, accepted, approved, on the record.

Every step cites its pageEach waterfall step names the documents behind it — the surgeon’s note, the cost table, the bill review ledger, counsel’s budget — and nothing enters a step without one.
The adjuster accepts every stepAgents recommend; the casualty adjuster accepts or adjusts each step. An adjusted step keeps its reason in the reserve note and on the audit trail.
Authority limits route the approvalAbove the adjuster’s $250,000 a claim manager approves; above $500,000, or half the limit, the large-loss committee. Above authority, the reserve posts to the claim file only after that approval.
Agents never post or contactAgents never post a reserve, change a payment, or contact claimants or counsel. The claim file is read, not edited.
Stair-steps in plain viewThe reserve history shows every past change with who set it, the note, what was known at the time — and any fact that was in the file but not in the reserve.
Every change on the recordEach recommendation, acceptance, adjustment and approval is recorded with who and when, and the quarterly pack lists every change with its reason for actuarial and auditors.
Configuration

Your reserving guidelines, not ours

Review cadence, authority limits, state rules and cost tables are settings. Every change is saved as a new rule version with who and when.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Reread every open bodily-injury fileEach quarterEach month · Each quarter · Each half-year
Review after a new material factWithin 30 daysWithin 14 · 30 · 45 days
Recommend a change when it moves more than$10,000 or 10%A dollar amount you set · or 5 · 10 · 15 · 20 %
Casualty adjuster authority$250,000$150,000 · $250,000 · $350,000
Casualty claim manager authority$500,000$400,000 · $500,000 · $750,000
Past medicals at the amounts paidOnOn · Off
Closed files used for the value stepLast 5 yearsLast 3 · 5 · 7 years
Fewest closed files to show a range10 files10 · 15 · 20 files
Connections

Works with the claim file you already keep

Claim notes and diariesevery note and letter since the last review
Medical records and bill reviewspecials billed and paid, treatment recommended or scheduled
Demands and litigationdemands, suit papers, counsel’s budget and legal bills
Reserve and payment historyevery change since 2021, who set it and why
Closed bodily-injury filesgeneral damages by injury group and county
Reserving guidelinesrules, authority limits, state rules and cost tables
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
214of 214
open injury files reread before each reserving meeting
214 of 214 files
Q4 2026 review
target
1night
from a surgeon's note to a recommended reserve, not 141 days
Today141 days
With agentsovernight
typical
$7.3B
of adverse development in other liability in 2025, most from recent years

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample claim data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (S&P Global Market Intelligence via Insurance Journal, Apr 2026 — $7.3B of other-liability adverse development in 2025). People, companies and claims named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What casualty claims teams ask us.

What is case reserve adequacy review?

It is the review of each open claim’s case reserve against what the file now shows, so the reserve reflects probable ultimate cost on the known facts. Case Reserve Adequacy Review rereads every open bodily-injury file before each reserving meeting and recommends a case reserve as a waterfall of steps, each tied to the page it came from.

How does it catch reserve stair-stepping?

The reserve history shows every past change with what was known at the time, and marks any fact that was already in the file but not in the reserve. In the working solution, it shows that surgery was first raised in a pain-management note on 21 Jan 2025 and no change since has reserved it.

How does it price future medical care?

The medical and future care analyst prices only treatment a treating provider recommends or schedules, from your future care cost tables for the venue. It totals specials billed and paid and applies state rules such as California’s limit of past medicals to amounts paid.

Does the AI change reserves in our claim system?

No. Agents never post a reserve, change a payment or contact claimants or counsel. The adjuster accepts or adjusts each step, a claim manager approves above the adjuster’s authority, and above authority the reserve posts to the claim file only after that approval.

Do adjusters stay in control of the number?

Yes. Every step is accepted or adjusted by the adjuster, and an adjusted step keeps its reason in the reserve note and on the audit trail. The value step shows the closed files behind its range, and with fewer than ten it is left unpriced for the adjuster.

Can we use our own reserving guidelines and authority limits?

Yes. Review cadence, the review clock after a new material fact, the threshold for recommending a change, authority limits, state rules, cost tables and the closed-file window are all settings, and each change is saved as a new rule version.

What goes into the quarterly reserving meeting pack?

Totals by line, carried case reserves, recommended changes up and down with the net change, every move above $100,000 with its trigger and approval, where the review stands, and a file page with the stair-steps and the reserve note.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your reserving guidelines, cost tables, authority limits and a sample of open and closed files — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own files first.

See it on
your open injury files.

We’ll run Case Reserve Adequacy Review on a sample of your own open bodily-injury files.