Digital insurer Lemonade has hired a former USAA executive to be its new chief claims officer.
Sean Burgess was previously chief claims officer at USAA, and worked more than 25 years at the company, which insures and provides financial products for members of the military and their families. At Lemonade, Burgess will oversee the company’s key claims functions across the U.S. and EU, and report to Gavin Blair, SVP, Customer Operations.
Shai Wininger, Lemonade CEO and cofounder, noted in prepared remarks that Burgess “led one of the best claims teams in the world” at USAA, and said his hiring is a major milestone for Lemonade, a New York-based InsurTech founded in 2015.
Burgess’ “knowledge, coupled with our technology, will allow Lemonade to continue redefining what a state-of-the-art 21st century claims organization looks like,” Wininger said in prepared remarks.
At USAA, Burgess led a team that built and managed some of the company’s digital-first products, including touchless auto claims experiences. During his tenure, USAA doubled in size, becoming the third-largest homeowners and fifth-largest auto insurer in the U.S., Lemonade noted.
Burgess is succeeding Jim Hageman, Lemonade‘s first chief claims officer from when the company was founded six years ago. Before Lemonade, Hageman was a claims executive at ACE Group (now part of Chubb) and a VP of Continuous Performance Improvement at The Hartford, according to his LinkedIn page. His future plans are unclear.
Lemonade started in home insurance but it is also now in the renters, pet and auto insurance markets. It recently announced plans to buy pay-per-mile auto insurance InsurTech Metromile as it gears up to enter the auto insurance market. The company launched its Lemonade Car product in October.
Lemonade lost $66.4 million during the 2020 third quarter, up from a $31 million net loss a year ago. The company has booked $177 million in net losses through the first nine months of 2021.
Source: Lemonade