ServiceMaster Clean, First Notice Systems Team to Mitigate Water Damage Claims

August 5, 2004

First Notice Systems Inc., a provider in claim reporting solutions for the insurance industry, and ServiceMaster Clean, a home cleaning and insurance industry restoration expert and a division of the ServiceMaster Company, announced a new alliance that lets homeowners insurance carriers immediately act on time-sensitive water damage claims.

By offering insurance claimants the option to use ServiceMaster Clean’s national network of restoration professionals when a claim is first reported, this joint service reportedly improves customer satisfaction and reduces insurers’ exposure to costly losses.

“We’re very pleased with the results of connecting ServiceMaster Clean to the claim reporting service we have with First Notice Systems,” said Gale Harder, assistant vice president of Claims at General Casualty Insurance Companies. “Being able to immediately enlist a restoration specialist for any type of water loss means that we have a chance to contain damage before it gets worse. This service is very convenient for our policyholders who are looking for a restoration solution that’s available on short notice.”

Insurance carriers that utilize First Notice Systems’ outsourced claim-reporting services or its claim reporting software – ClaimCapture – can reportedly easily leverage this combined service.

Insurers determine up-front the conditions under which ServiceMaster Clean restoration specialists are offered to callers. For example, carriers often choose to extend this option only to policyholders with a certain type of coverage, loss type or loss severity. Once a caller is deemed eligible – a process that’s automated by First Notice’s claim reporting application – the customer service representative explains the program to the claimant using carrier-specific scripting.

If the caller expresses interest in ServiceMaster Clean, the claim information is instantly transmitted to one of ServiceMaster Clean’s Quality Restoration Vendor businesses, which calls back the insured within one hour to schedule an appointment at the damage site. The restoration specialist then arrives on site within four hours to stop water damage in its tracks.

In fact, ServiceMaster Clean, working with the Boston Consulting Group, reportedly found that 85 percent of damaged flooring is saved when homeowners’ claims are referred to them within two days of the loss date.

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