Jennifer Lee, director of claims, risk management, AvalonBay Communities
In the real estate industry, claims activity is often viewed as an unavoidable cost of doing business. But as portfolios expand across geographies, property types, and vendor networks, the way claims are handled becomes a critical factor in financial performance, operational accountability, and long-term risk exposure.
For growing organizations, the challenge is rarely about any single claim. It’s about whether the claims process itself has matured alongside the business. When incident reporting is inconsistent, documentation is incomplete, or communication between stakeholders breaks down, the organization loses the ability to evaluate exposure early, defend claims effectively, and prevent repeat losses.
That was the challenge Jennifer Lee, director of claims, risk management, for AvalonBay Communities, set out to address within her organization’s complex casualty portfolio.
Recognizing a Process Maturity Challenge
When Lee evaluated her organization’s claims function, she identified an opportunity that many growing real estate companies face: claims were being handled effectively at the individual matter level, but the broader process lacked consistency, visibility, and strategic oversight.
As the portfolio expanded, the limitations of a primarily reactive claims model became more apparent. Delayed reporting or incomplete documentation made it harder to evaluate exposure early, defend claims, identify root causes, and prevent repeat incidents. Inconsistent communication between property teams, insurance partners, legal counsel, third-party administrators, and internal leadership created inefficiencies and increased the potential for higher claim costs.
Without stronger claims analytics, Lee noted, it was difficult to identify trends across locations, vendors, property types, claim types, and recurring loss drivers.
Lee’s solution focused on creating a more structured, proactive, and accountable claims management process — one that brought consistency to how claims were reported, documented, reviewed, escalated, and analyzed, while giving leadership better visibility into trends and exposure.
She began by strengthening the front end of the process. That meant clarifying expectations around incident reporting, documentation, investigation, escalation, and communication. Lee worked closely with property teams to ensure the process was practical for the field while reinforcing that early reporting and strong documentation are essential to evaluating exposure and defending claims.
Cross-functional collaboration was central to the approach. Lee partnered with property operations, legal counsel, insurance carriers, brokers, third-party administrators, and internal leadership to improve communication and accountability throughout the life of a claim.
Another pillar of the solution was claims data. Lee began reviewing trends by location, loss type, severity, frequency, vendor involvement, and recurring operational issues — allowing the organization to move beyond reviewing claims one at a time and instead identify where risk was repeating and where intervention could have the greatest impact.
The inspiration for the approach came from a broader view of what a claims program should accomplish.
The solution produced measurable improvements in claim oversight, cost control, operational accountability, and risk visibility. &