What People Need to Know When Selecting an Insurance Company – “It’s all about Claims”
Although some forms of property & casualty insurance are required by the government and mortgagees, it is also a wise investment vehicle (pun intended) to protect your insurable assets. Unfortunately, very few consumers understand insurance and simply choose an insurance company based on coverage amounts and price. However, what they really are buying is claims service, which can vary considerably from one company to the next.
In some cases, small regional insurers may provide better claims service than larger ones. The regional insurer is in a “make it or break it” situation where reputation by word of mouth is important. Treating insureds and claimants properly is paramount to staying in business. Because of their limited territories, regional insurers may also have greater saturation of claims adjusters within the service territory.
The difference in service really varies when it comes to national coverage. Consumers who travel a lot may find that larger carriers provide the service that they require. While regional insurers have to locate and retain independent adjusters outside the service area using online directories such as Claims Pages, larger carriers can often times continue to service the claim using their own staff. In this way, they control both the financial expense and the insured’s personal experience with the claim.
Adjuster workload also has a significant impact on claims service. After a claim is reported to an insurance company, an adjuster is assigned to the case. That adjuster may have dozens, or in some cases hundreds, of pending claims with each competing for attention. While many of these may be in a holding pattern, waiting on documentation from others, the number of claims that an adjuster handles simultaneously diminishes his ability to conclude them.
The number of insurance adjusters assigned to the claim can also affect service. In recent years, insurers have begun splitting claims assignments into multiple parts. In most cases, one adjuster prepares the damage estimates while another adjuster actually negotiates the claim with the property owner. Some companies can have as many as five or six adjusters on one claim, with appraisers, investigators, negotiators, and litigators (just look at all the job titles in a Claims Pages directory.) Determining who’s in charge can be as difficult as finding Waldo, and can lead to poor customer service.
The bottom line… when choosing an insurer, consumers should ask about an insurance company’s claims service and look at outside sources such as JD Power’s Annual Claims Satisfaction Study. Anything less may leave you wanting for more.