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The Importance Of The Pre Bind Claims Review In The Reinsurance Context

Reinsurance companies faced with a new submission often review loss runs and other financial data to determine the effectiveness of an account. However, numbers only tell half the story and in order to get a complete picture of a cedent’s submission, it is important to have an understanding of the claims department. What is the company’s reserve philosophy? What kind of systems do they have in place? How are claims staff measured? Conducting a comprehensive pre-bind review is an important step to help minimize the risk.

In this post, the Claims SPOT explores the importance of the Pre-Bind review in the Reinsurance context.

by Marc Lanzkowsky••2
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Social Media And Claims Investigation: Do You Know About Foursquare?

Undoubtedly, you’ve read plenty of articles or have been to numerous presentations regarding the use of social media to investigate claimants. At this point, the novelty of Facebook and MySpace has worn off. The same can be said about Twitter. Everyone knows at this point to take a look at those platforms when searching a claimant’s background. Enough said. However, seemingly with every new day comes a new social media application. One relatively new application that you should also take a look at during your claims investigation is Foursquare.

Learn more from out latest contributor, Christian Stegmaier, JD and look for more articles from Christian in the weeks to come.

by Christian Stegmaier••0
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6 Steps To Reduce Expenses For Medical Experts As Suggested By The Expert

The traditional method for preparing an expert is to send them the entire record and let them review for possible issues. Dr. Philip Lanzkowsky, a medical expert providing opinions and testimony on cases for both plaintiff’s and the defense, raises some practical questions and provides a series of suggestions as to how those expert costs can be reduced.

Read more in this interesting post of expense reduction of medical expert costs as suggested by the expert.

by Philip Lanzkowsky••2
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The Need For Claim Auditing In Catastrophe Loss Situations Such As The Gulf Tragedy

The tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon and the aftermath seem to be a topic of constant conversation. From an insurance perspective there is a large amount of criticism being brought to bear on the claims process. The massive administrative organization that has been established to handle what are already tens of thousands of claims is an undertaking that could be fraught with problems. In today’s post from The Claims SPOT we discuss how auditing in the Catastrophe situation is an important part of the process to ensure claims are paid quickly and appropriately while at the same time preventing fraud.

Take a look and join the conversation.

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by Marc Lanzkowsky••0
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Change Hats With Someone And Free Your Mind To Make Your Claims Operation Better

Don’t limit what you can imagine by what you know – look to others to help improve your claims department.

In Trading Places: A Smart Way to Change Your Mind, Harvard Business Review contributor, Bill Taylor discusses the “power of a whole new mindset about innovation.” The article goes into what happened when two CEO’s switched companies for a day and the learning that came from the new perspectives they had. The Claims SPOT discusses how having claims adjusters switch roles with different disciplines can be a new way to expand their skills. Having managers sit with other business divisions, such as underwriting or actuarial, can be a great way to get a better understanding of the entire insurance process outside of claims. And lastly, looking outside of claims and insurance altogether to change hats and free your mind to new ways to make your operation better.

by Marc Lanzkowsky••2
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The Claims Writing Workshop: Write How You Speak! Just Leave Out The Color Commentary

From our new contributor Dr. Gary Blake, we learn about writing and claims. Dr. Blake is a Port Washington, NY-based writing consultant who presents claims writing webinars and seminars throughout the United States. In his first post on The Claims SPOT, Dr. Blake discusses writing the way you speak without the color commentary. As he states, “write using the model of speech’s simplicity, directness, and warmth. Just don’t mirror speech’s unplanned distraction and tendency to ramble. “

by Gary Blake••1
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3 Settlement Techniques That Will Help Move A Case To Resolution

As a claims professional, you know you have cases that will ultimately settle, and can settle, but for some reason or another you just can’t get there. Recently I came across a great blog dedicated to providing different ideas and solutions surrounding the settlement process. Settlement Perspectives, written by John DeGroote, provides insights and “thoughts on how to resolve disputes and get your deal done.”

In today’s post I comment on three techniques suggested by John – Managing Expectations, Decision Trees and Offers of Judgment – and show how more out-of the-box approaches can be a useful way to move a case to resolution and settle claims faster and cheaper.

by Marc Lanzkowsky••4
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2 Chores that should not be neglected to become a stronger claims organization

Lets face it – no one really likes to do mundane things. Nonetheless, it’s those very chores that have to be done regularly to ensure a strong organization. Like cutting grass, the longer you let it go the worse it is for your grass, and the harder it will be to fix the mess that has been created. There are certainly enough chores that need to be done in the world of claims that no one likes to do. You know what they are – those things that you would prefer to not have to get to. They can include writing notes on files, keeping a diary and paying bills. But as any good claims handler knows, if you fail to do those tasks regularly not only won’t your grass grow, but you will have quite a clean-up.

Two chores that can really help claim departments grow nice healthy grass are in the areas of training and managerial assessments. Learn a few chores that have to be done but will help grow your organization.

by Marc Lanzkowsky••0