Protecting Citizens and Saving Taxpayer Dollars
Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is committed to driving down claim costs across all agencies in order to boost the quality of city services and save taxpayer dollars. That’s why the Comptroller launched ClaimStat: a data-driven approach to claims management that drills down on the thousands of claims to identify patterns and practices that lead to lawsuits against the City.
ClaimStat has incentivized agency heads to take a more analytical approach to claims costs—not only due to their expenses to the public, but also because claims can serve as indication that agencies are failing to serve the public properly.
Since the initial ClaimStat report was published in July 2014, the Comptroller has issued a series of “ClaimStat Alerts”; highlighting claims filed against the Department of Correction, claims filed by pedestrians injured by City-owned vehicles, claims filed due to injuries suffered at the City’s playgrounds, and claims filed due to defective roadways, including pothole-related claims.
In addition, under ClaimStat, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Comptroller’s Office have established a joint working group of senior managers who meet regularly and address issues and trends regarding claims involving law enforcement.
This initiative has allowed for unprecedented sharing of information between agencies, with the Comptroller’s Bureau of Law and Adjustment (BLA) unit providing claims information in real time to the NYPD, while also securing evidence that helps BLA decide whether to resolve worthy or reject frivolous claims far earlier in the traditional process.