It’s been an interesting year and 2025 is shaping up to be another exciting year for … 5 Actionable Strategies for Emerging Trends and Challenges for Claims Departments in 2025Read more
Customer Service
Streamlining the First Notice of Loss (FNOL) Process: Best Practices and Technologies
In the fast-paced world of insurance claims, the First Notice of Loss (FNOL) process is the … Streamlining the First Notice of Loss (FNOL) Process: Best Practices and TechnologiesRead more
5 Business Basics Every Claims Person Should Live By
Ideas from successful business can be adopted in claims very easily if one takes the time to look. As we all know, claims folks have little time to look and that is where I hope the Claims SPOT can help. Sometimes claims organizations get so involved in the day-to-day that they have little time do the basics. However, concentrating on doing the write thing from a business perspective is the best way to succeed in claims. Expanding on Donna Flagg’s recent article Five Things They Don’t Teach You In Business School, we explore how those five things apply in the claims world. It’s common sense time in our most recent post.
Why Can’t We All Get Along? Making The Agent A Partner In The Claims Process
Creating a strategic advantage through improved agent carrier relations
The relationship between claim adjusters and agents can be an adversarial one. Each side often finds itself correcting issues created by the other side. Agents may set the wrong coverage expectation for a customer, leaving the adjuster to deliver the bad news. Adjusters may get overloaded and not return phone calls in a timely manner, resulting in a complaint to the agent’s office. In the worst case scenario, adjusters and agents may badmouth each other to customers, putting customers in the middle. Clearly, agencies have a role to play in the claim process. Enabling agents and their staff to perform their role efficiently with empathy and professionalism can benefit customers, agents, and the claims department. Read more this week from Melissa Loew.
Increasing Claims Satisfaction Doesn’t Mean Increasing Staff
Is it possible to increase claim satisfaction and decrease cost at the same time? Many claim representatives say no. Some view that satisfaction is driven by the ratio of adjusters to claims – having more people to handle claims means higher satisfaction, although also higher loss adjustment expense. Some believe that higher settlement amounts result in higher satisfaction and higher loss costs.
As the Claims SPOT welcomes new contributing author, Melissa Loew, see how customer satisfaction can be addressed in tight staffing markets.
Better claim reports can help improve producer/carrier communications (take our poll)
Improved producer carrier relationships can be a competitive advantage to help increase profitability in tough economic times. According to the survey, a key differentiator for carriers to attract more business from their producers is in the areas of claims handling and technology. Most modern claims systems can create automated customized reports. Producers should be able to ask for specific reports and have them electronically scheduled for delivery. Better reporting will go a long way to improving relationships, and can only help increase profitability and enhance service to the policy holders.