Firstly for a motor claim, please allow customers to contact the claims examiner directly for the progress of his claim and repair works to his/her vehicle.
Claims examiner should contact repairer and time frame should be given by Insurer to repairer for repair works.The time frame set should be adhered strictly by repairer.The assigned adjuster should do a proper assessment and not simply disallow any parts which require replacement.
The repairer in the panelship of Insurer should be guided accordingly by Insurer and to treat customers satisfaction as No.1 priorty.
Once repairer bill is submitted, Insurer should pay the bill immeditely to create strong business relationship with repairer and this will create a better result in respect of repair works. Only repairer which provide such service will be retained in the panelship.
And often-times how much control does an agent have over the claim process? Little to none. Yet who is hurt the most by unsatisfied customers? You got it, agents!I hope someone in the claims dept reads this story!
I used to be a strong defender of most carriers and the claims handling departments, but in the last few years I have lost most of my faith that most carriers try to do the right thing and properly adjust claims. Many carriers seem to be accepting inferior products from their claims personnel whether they are IA or staff. Instead of choosing the proper claims staff or company they go with someone’s brother-in-law, who knows nothing about quality claims adjusting; or who is buying the most perks. many people like to knock down the individual claims adjusters but the real responsibilty lies with the carrier management or IA management. Adjusters are only as good as their mentors and direct managers.
This had to be a study by some advanced degree egghead who needed a government grant to continue his/her studies. I have heard more worthless studies being made but this ranks in the top two. It could only be financed by our government because only they are stupid enough not to realize what a waste of time and money this survey was to all except the recipient of the grant. ANYONE with any knowledge of the real world knows the answer to this survey. It is a sad commentary on the knowledge of people that this is newsworthy.
I still believe most are trying to do the right thing. It doesn’t help that our educational system is failing (have you tried get a high school graduate – and some college grads – to write a coherent letter), insurance is not a glamorous profession, young people have unrealistic expectations of what they’re going to earn and are as loyal to companies are companies are to them and there’s a pressure to pay quickly countered by the pressure to not overpay (requiring copious amounts of documentation). It’s a more difficult job than they’re given credit for but at the same time you have states such as California saying it’s a non-exempt job so people don’t/can’t put in a minute more than their 7.5 unless they’re getting paid overtime. And most companies look at claims as if that’s the reason any money leaves the company rather than looking at underwriting practices driving what is being paid.
It does seem like a no-brainer to say everyone wants to be paid more quickly and is unhappy when they think their payment has been delayed. You think?
Have been in claims for 35 years. The issues never change and this “study” is repetitious. The basic keys to success also remain unchanged.
1. prompt contact
2. empathy
3. set realisitc expectations then meet them.
4. communicate/warn of un-anticipated delays.
5. expedite payments.
Claims is one of the few “touch points” for customer service. Most professional claims people derive satisfaction from helping insureds get their problems resolved. They aren’t punching bags for insureds and agents who don’t understand the realities of getting repairs made.
Dave, I copied your reply for printing to put on the wall for discussion with any and all who will listen. Our company relies on these same steps and we inculcate our staff to live by that same code of conduct. It amazes me how often people take their eye off the ball over time and we have to revisit these issues. One comment about the story though, same as the rest….this did not seem like big news or even new news, only that J.D. Power put their imprimatur on them….
I myself have been in claims for over 30 years, the big change I have seen is that the carriers want a college degree, put that person through school, sit them behind a desk and go for it. As the old saying goes, these adjusters are not street smart. Now on the other hand if the agents would keep their nose out of claims things would go faster. There is one thing that an adjuster does not have time to do,take waisted calls and tring to process cliams.Being an adjuster is hard enough, you get no thank you from anybody, the pay sucks and you are abused on every claim, you dont have time for your own life because you have to work nights and weekends to get any work done.So if you never have workrd it, dont talk about it.You think Califorina is bad, come to Florida, work South Florida with all the fraud,the state will do nothing. Its all bullsh-t
I post late as now sleep late- just hung it up after 44++ yrs in claims – all comments valid – if carriers could put robots at the desks they would – as it is, they have assidulously tried to ‘clericalize’ the claims function ever since I came in when, by the way, women were not allowed to even handle claims, let alone run departments. Nothing against the gals here as they are more than able – point is no one works the streets for 20 plus years anymore before sitting down at a desk – so – the people part of claims gets short shrift and the ‘process’ part (all forms filled in? all pieces of paper in place? all questions answers, documented and vouchsafed?….sic transit gloria
There are two main reasons why the claim handling has been delayed as time go by. Most of carriers are hiring low wage inexperience adjusters to cut their expenses and the body shops are taking longer repairing the vehicles due to work overflow. Some of those adjusters just don’t have any basic commonsense. For example, I wouldn’t call insured at home during the daytime and leave message for the statement when most of people are not home. Why not calling at insured’s cell phone? Also, when insured returns call, it’s impossible to reach the adjuster unless agent get involve after insured file complaint, then, it will delay another 2 to 4 days. Adjusters should always follow up with messages or next procedures rather than keep waiting.
Hello.
Just adding my 2 cents..
You other folks are correct that the insureds/claimants need to contact their carriers first and not the agents.
Once you get past this issue, you then move onto the issue of insufficient claim staffing and, in some cases, out of date systems which tends to delay the entire process and lead to many of the reported negative consequences.
Also, the insureds sometimes seem to expect the carrier to do absolutely everything to fix their particular claim but often times this an unfair position which leads to reported negative consequences as well.
So..All of have things that we can work on getting better at so we’ll just continue to do our best.
At least that’s what insurers advertise on the Teevee. Contrary to that, we tell our clients who call a claim into my agency that they need to be prepared to discuss their claim with our claims department, and that includes a list of questions they may have regarding their claim, who they might want to use for restoration or repairs, and any other questions they may have. In other words, be prepared to start the process. At three days we call the claimant to make sure they are on track. At ten days we call again to see if everything is OK. At 30 days we send a followup questionnaire from my agency with a tearoff reply regarding claims satisfaction. Not surprisingly we get an almost 100% positive response to the claims process. On difficult claims I go out and meet the insureds and claim rep to provide positive support to BOTH. I cheat a little by making sure the claim rep feels respected so I can develop a long term relationship with him. Then when something really tough comes up I have an ally who can drop everything to help my client. If all this sounds familiar it should – it’s what agents used to do for their clients and respective insurance organizations. Do they teach this to new agents? I really don’t know. Who has the lowest lapse/can in my district? Well who do you think?
Gill fin, you are what an agent used to be before greed and corporate takeovers ruined life. I am sitting here thinking that my parents State Farm agent was like that and I am guessing you are an about to retire State Farm agent. You explained how it used to be and how it should be. As corporations grew and became ever more powerful and greedy they lost sight of what made them truly successful. Look at State Farm today. It is a shell of its former self because it lost sight of its moral obligation to its customers-as have all the insurance companies. It is better for the bottom line financially if they forego proper training and just make new hires instead of teaching the proper way to run a business. I congratulate you, Gill Fin, for keeping your morals high and doing whats right, not whats expedient.
I do what I do because I don’t know any other way to do what I do. But if I only wanted to maximize profits I would still do the same thing. Quality is where the money is. Service is where the money is.
Separating yourself from the also-rans is where the money is. I have been encouraged to go with the flow on every cockamamee idea thats come down the pike for fifteen years. Mass mailings, cold calls, auto shows, street fairs, mutual funds, banking, variable products blah blah blah. None of those things is near as important as answering the phone with a smile in your voice during business hours. Its not popular to know much about property and casualty insurance these days, even thought 95% of my paycheck comes from property and casualty insurance. If 95% of my paycheck comes from P & C, shouldn’t I allocate most of my time to that aspect of agency? That includes claims. How often do we discover that a client is unhappy due to some preventable matter that could be resolved with cheerful cooperation and better communication. Lastly, I don’t always tell my clients what they want to hear. But if they know I care enough to take the time to explain the contract then we rarely lose the client. Again, the money for all of us is in the quality of how we go about OUR business. Its ours anyway until we give it away by providing lousy service.
After 39 years in the insurance business, I feel qualified to state, as I have before,the insurance business is crooked. It wasn’t always this way;but,it is now.
these people are a menace. I had a risk that had a $20,000 contents claim, sprinkler leakage. Insured, thinking that insurance companies’ main objective is to rip people off, went to a public adjuster.
PA put the claim in at $81,000. Claim dragged on..and on..and on…Insured frantically called his broker…broker could do nothing…insured frantically called the wholesaler, your truly….my hands were tied. It took about a year to settle the claim due to the shenanigans of the public adjuster. I think it ended up being settled for $25,000.
As an agent I can wholeheartedly agree that customers want and expect to be treated with some consistency and timeliness. Once in awhile though you have a tug and pull between what a shop wants to repair and what the adjuster believes needs done to make the car whole again. That often is the issue and perhaps insurers need to communicate that better. http://www.phoenix-life-insurance.com
Boy, did you make a direct hit on what is wrong with adjusting today. Your blog sounded like it came right out of a company manual, without emotion, thought, or understanding. We are computer driven but this is going too far. Give a little personal thought to your blogs and contribute YOUR thoughts, not the writings of emotionless automatons who have no feelings except for their glee when they see how much money they made last year.
Our philisophy in handling claims at my agency is to stay on the adjuster and be agressive. Especially now that claims are reported directly.
Usually right after a claim is put in, I am immediately on the phone to the adjuster screaming mad, just so they know that I mean business. Everybody knows me at all the companies I represent. I advise my customers never to take the first offer, no matter what. And I insist that the adjuster keeps me in the loop at every posible stage of the claim.
Ive gone personally down to the company claims headquarters 30 miles away to personally yell at adjusters. I tell them, dont “adjust” it, pay it!!
I get results for my customers. And I give adjusters headaches, but by golly, it works every time.
One time when an adjuster paid too much on a claim for a client that I dont get much commision off of I almost rang her neck. She was in tears so I let off, but thats how it works with me. I am a lazy claims adjusters worst nightmare. I learned early if you dont call them every day with an attitude, they will take advantage of you.
Hi,
Firstly for a motor claim, please allow customers to contact the claims examiner directly for the progress of his claim and repair works to his/her vehicle.
Claims examiner should contact repairer and time frame should be given by Insurer to repairer for repair works.The time frame set should be adhered strictly by repairer.The assigned adjuster should do a proper assessment and not simply disallow any parts which require replacement.
The repairer in the panelship of Insurer should be guided accordingly by Insurer and to treat customers satisfaction as No.1 priorty.
Once repairer bill is submitted, Insurer should pay the bill immeditely to create strong business relationship with repairer and this will create a better result in respect of repair works. Only repairer which provide such service will be retained in the panelship.
and in other news, grass is green, the sky is blue, and Bob’s your uncle.
And often-times how much control does an agent have over the claim process? Little to none. Yet who is hurt the most by unsatisfied customers? You got it, agents!I hope someone in the claims dept reads this story!
Any reader here not already know this?
And we spent how much on this study?
I used to be a strong defender of most carriers and the claims handling departments, but in the last few years I have lost most of my faith that most carriers try to do the right thing and properly adjust claims. Many carriers seem to be accepting inferior products from their claims personnel whether they are IA or staff. Instead of choosing the proper claims staff or company they go with someone’s brother-in-law, who knows nothing about quality claims adjusting; or who is buying the most perks. many people like to knock down the individual claims adjusters but the real responsibilty lies with the carrier management or IA management. Adjusters are only as good as their mentors and direct managers.
This had to be a study by some advanced degree egghead who needed a government grant to continue his/her studies. I have heard more worthless studies being made but this ranks in the top two. It could only be financed by our government because only they are stupid enough not to realize what a waste of time and money this survey was to all except the recipient of the grant. ANYONE with any knowledge of the real world knows the answer to this survey. It is a sad commentary on the knowledge of people that this is newsworthy.
I still believe most are trying to do the right thing. It doesn’t help that our educational system is failing (have you tried get a high school graduate – and some college grads – to write a coherent letter), insurance is not a glamorous profession, young people have unrealistic expectations of what they’re going to earn and are as loyal to companies are companies are to them and there’s a pressure to pay quickly countered by the pressure to not overpay (requiring copious amounts of documentation). It’s a more difficult job than they’re given credit for but at the same time you have states such as California saying it’s a non-exempt job so people don’t/can’t put in a minute more than their 7.5 unless they’re getting paid overtime. And most companies look at claims as if that’s the reason any money leaves the company rather than looking at underwriting practices driving what is being paid.
It does seem like a no-brainer to say everyone wants to be paid more quickly and is unhappy when they think their payment has been delayed. You think?
Have been in claims for 35 years. The issues never change and this “study” is repetitious. The basic keys to success also remain unchanged.
1. prompt contact
2. empathy
3. set realisitc expectations then meet them.
4. communicate/warn of un-anticipated delays.
5. expedite payments.
Claims is one of the few “touch points” for customer service. Most professional claims people derive satisfaction from helping insureds get their problems resolved. They aren’t punching bags for insureds and agents who don’t understand the realities of getting repairs made.
Dave, I copied your reply for printing to put on the wall for discussion with any and all who will listen. Our company relies on these same steps and we inculcate our staff to live by that same code of conduct. It amazes me how often people take their eye off the ball over time and we have to revisit these issues. One comment about the story though, same as the rest….this did not seem like big news or even new news, only that J.D. Power put their imprimatur on them….
I myself have been in claims for over 30 years, the big change I have seen is that the carriers want a college degree, put that person through school, sit them behind a desk and go for it. As the old saying goes, these adjusters are not street smart. Now on the other hand if the agents would keep their nose out of claims things would go faster. There is one thing that an adjuster does not have time to do,take waisted calls and tring to process cliams.Being an adjuster is hard enough, you get no thank you from anybody, the pay sucks and you are abused on every claim, you dont have time for your own life because you have to work nights and weekends to get any work done.So if you never have workrd it, dont talk about it.You think Califorina is bad, come to Florida, work South Florida with all the fraud,the state will do nothing. Its all bullsh-t
I post late as now sleep late- just hung it up after 44++ yrs in claims – all comments valid – if carriers could put robots at the desks they would – as it is, they have assidulously tried to ‘clericalize’ the claims function ever since I came in when, by the way, women were not allowed to even handle claims, let alone run departments. Nothing against the gals here as they are more than able – point is no one works the streets for 20 plus years anymore before sitting down at a desk – so – the people part of claims gets short shrift and the ‘process’ part (all forms filled in? all pieces of paper in place? all questions answers, documented and vouchsafed?….sic transit gloria
There are two main reasons why the claim handling has been delayed as time go by. Most of carriers are hiring low wage inexperience adjusters to cut their expenses and the body shops are taking longer repairing the vehicles due to work overflow. Some of those adjusters just don’t have any basic commonsense. For example, I wouldn’t call insured at home during the daytime and leave message for the statement when most of people are not home. Why not calling at insured’s cell phone? Also, when insured returns call, it’s impossible to reach the adjuster unless agent get involve after insured file complaint, then, it will delay another 2 to 4 days. Adjusters should always follow up with messages or next procedures rather than keep waiting.
Hello.
Just adding my 2 cents..
You other folks are correct that the insureds/claimants need to contact their carriers first and not the agents.
Once you get past this issue, you then move onto the issue of insufficient claim staffing and, in some cases, out of date systems which tends to delay the entire process and lead to many of the reported negative consequences.
Also, the insureds sometimes seem to expect the carrier to do absolutely everything to fix their particular claim but often times this an unfair position which leads to reported negative consequences as well.
So..All of have things that we can work on getting better at so we’ll just continue to do our best.
Happy Holidays!
At least that’s what insurers advertise on the Teevee. Contrary to that, we tell our clients who call a claim into my agency that they need to be prepared to discuss their claim with our claims department, and that includes a list of questions they may have regarding their claim, who they might want to use for restoration or repairs, and any other questions they may have. In other words, be prepared to start the process. At three days we call the claimant to make sure they are on track. At ten days we call again to see if everything is OK. At 30 days we send a followup questionnaire from my agency with a tearoff reply regarding claims satisfaction. Not surprisingly we get an almost 100% positive response to the claims process. On difficult claims I go out and meet the insureds and claim rep to provide positive support to BOTH. I cheat a little by making sure the claim rep feels respected so I can develop a long term relationship with him. Then when something really tough comes up I have an ally who can drop everything to help my client. If all this sounds familiar it should – it’s what agents used to do for their clients and respective insurance organizations. Do they teach this to new agents? I really don’t know. Who has the lowest lapse/can in my district? Well who do you think?
Gill fin, you are what an agent used to be before greed and corporate takeovers ruined life. I am sitting here thinking that my parents State Farm agent was like that and I am guessing you are an about to retire State Farm agent. You explained how it used to be and how it should be. As corporations grew and became ever more powerful and greedy they lost sight of what made them truly successful. Look at State Farm today. It is a shell of its former self because it lost sight of its moral obligation to its customers-as have all the insurance companies. It is better for the bottom line financially if they forego proper training and just make new hires instead of teaching the proper way to run a business. I congratulate you, Gill Fin, for keeping your morals high and doing whats right, not whats expedient.
I do what I do because I don’t know any other way to do what I do. But if I only wanted to maximize profits I would still do the same thing. Quality is where the money is. Service is where the money is.
Separating yourself from the also-rans is where the money is. I have been encouraged to go with the flow on every cockamamee idea thats come down the pike for fifteen years. Mass mailings, cold calls, auto shows, street fairs, mutual funds, banking, variable products blah blah blah. None of those things is near as important as answering the phone with a smile in your voice during business hours. Its not popular to know much about property and casualty insurance these days, even thought 95% of my paycheck comes from property and casualty insurance. If 95% of my paycheck comes from P & C, shouldn’t I allocate most of my time to that aspect of agency? That includes claims. How often do we discover that a client is unhappy due to some preventable matter that could be resolved with cheerful cooperation and better communication. Lastly, I don’t always tell my clients what they want to hear. But if they know I care enough to take the time to explain the contract then we rarely lose the client. Again, the money for all of us is in the quality of how we go about OUR business. Its ours anyway until we give it away by providing lousy service.
After 39 years in the insurance business, I feel qualified to state, as I have before,the insurance business is crooked. It wasn’t always this way;but,it is now.
these people are a menace. I had a risk that had a $20,000 contents claim, sprinkler leakage. Insured, thinking that insurance companies’ main objective is to rip people off, went to a public adjuster.
PA put the claim in at $81,000. Claim dragged on..and on..and on…Insured frantically called his broker…broker could do nothing…insured frantically called the wholesaler, your truly….my hands were tied. It took about a year to settle the claim due to the shenanigans of the public adjuster. I think it ended up being settled for $25,000.
As an agent I can wholeheartedly agree that customers want and expect to be treated with some consistency and timeliness. Once in awhile though you have a tug and pull between what a shop wants to repair and what the adjuster believes needs done to make the car whole again. That often is the issue and perhaps insurers need to communicate that better. http://www.phoenix-life-insurance.com
Boy, did you make a direct hit on what is wrong with adjusting today. Your blog sounded like it came right out of a company manual, without emotion, thought, or understanding. We are computer driven but this is going too far. Give a little personal thought to your blogs and contribute YOUR thoughts, not the writings of emotionless automatons who have no feelings except for their glee when they see how much money they made last year.
Our philisophy in handling claims at my agency is to stay on the adjuster and be agressive. Especially now that claims are reported directly.
Usually right after a claim is put in, I am immediately on the phone to the adjuster screaming mad, just so they know that I mean business. Everybody knows me at all the companies I represent. I advise my customers never to take the first offer, no matter what. And I insist that the adjuster keeps me in the loop at every posible stage of the claim.
Ive gone personally down to the company claims headquarters 30 miles away to personally yell at adjusters. I tell them, dont “adjust” it, pay it!!
I get results for my customers. And I give adjusters headaches, but by golly, it works every time.
One time when an adjuster paid too much on a claim for a client that I dont get much commision off of I almost rang her neck. She was in tears so I let off, but thats how it works with me. I am a lazy claims adjusters worst nightmare. I learned early if you dont call them every day with an attitude, they will take advantage of you.
now THAT was funny. I love your sense of humor.