The excessive paperwork used to process claims at Brakeland Insurance

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The conclusion that this argument draws is that too much paperwork, rather than an increase in accidents, has caused declining profits at Brakeland. The evidence is based on another company, Sterling. To weaken this argument, we need to find an answer that shows either why an increase in accidents is responsible for declining profits, OR show that Sterling is not a relevant comparison to Brakeland. (D) does the latter. If Sterling is insuring cars for corporations, then most of those cars would be corporately owned, not privately owned—in other words, a situation that would not apply to Brakeland, which primarily insures privately owned car. We don't know how insurance claims on corporately owned cars might differ from those on privately owned cars, but the very fact that it's an entirely different sector of the economy indicates that it's not a particularly good comparison.

Answer choice (A) only tells us about a situation at Brakeland, so it doesn’t question our evidence. It also does not show that the increase in accidents is the cause of the declining profits, so it does not work as a weakener in this case.

(B) compares the customer-service ratings at the two companies, but this is not enough to show that Sterling is not a good comparison to Brakeland. The two companies have been compared in terms of the claims they pay out and the number of cars in accidents they insure, not their customer satisfaction. This is out of the scope of the original question.

(C) follows logically from the evidence given, that both Brakeland and Sterling have insured more vehicles that have been in accidents. Nevertheless, it does not provide a reason that Sterling is not a good comparison to Brakeland, nor does it show that the rise in accidents is responsible for declining Brakeland profits.

Finally, (E) explains a new management initiative at Brakeland, but this is irrelevant to the argument made, that paperwork is responsible for the declining profits. It also does not challenge the evidence comparing Brakeland and Sterling, so it cannot be a strong weakener.