Posted On: February 11, 2006, 2:16 pm CST

Posted By: John G

LL,
I may not have made it clear in my first post, but here goes. The agent must be able to see claims info and have access to it, I do not mean that all claims are handled or taken by the agent. But ANY good agent will provide answers to their customers that have spent 3 weeks on the phone and only been able to determine that the voice mail system is inadequate. Most carriers now want the claims called in by the insured, and I am all for this, but agents must be able to answer questions when the client calls in frustration looking for nothing more than someone to say the adjustor has not turned in the report yet. If more companies beefed up their systems to allow agents the ability to look at the status of a claim it would reduce the calls to the company by half. It simply amazes me at how many companies are now saying that they will send the info to the customers and that they can take it to the agent, "the agent has no right to the claims info". I believe that as the agent for the client, I not only have a right to see it, I have a duty to the client and the company to make sure everything is kosher. I handled thousands of cat claims in 2004 and 2005 and had adjustors that short changed folks and then I had customers throwing $50,000 back at us for overpayment (yes it really happens). As far as selling new business after a cat loss, a good agent will do what he can, but the current affected customers should be priority. So to answer your question, YES the agent should be involved in the claims process, not to become the claims center, but to help the customer 3 months after the loss when they have seen the adjustor but heard nothing. It is also critical that the agent be able to see claims data, when he is rewritting or moving business that is non renewed. The customer may have been paid out a total loss, but fixed the home for less than half of the payout, you must take precautions in situations like this or you are going to get a cancel notice from the new carrier when they run a clue report. As an agent I do not work for any company, I work for the customer and need to be able to answer the clients questions when the companies are to busy to. Remember we are selling claims service. If my agent told me that they could not help me with a claim, I end that relationship NOW and find another agent that works for me. It is unfortunate that some agents are only out for the sale, they will suffer when they do have a cat loss, and their customers will look for another agent if they are not taken care of.