I am not in claims but I work closely with them for a large P&C carrier. The attention to detail in files and in letters is horrendous. Is it an issue of claims attracting the lowest common denominator or is there something else at work? I don’t know but it is often a point of contention with policyholders and agents. This does not help with the perception of insurance carriers and the industry in general
The true irony is that we continue to have newer, faster and better ways to communicate and the quality of the communication contines to deteriorate. (Better ways to say nothing.)
Until the industry addresses this problem in a substantiative way, it will persist and continue to be the primary cause for increasing litigation.
If carriers want to reverse this trend, they must be willing to be part of the solution and provide their people some training. No one is going to do this for them, certainly not the schools.
The real reason that there has been a significant deterioration in the ability of the file handler, and some in management, is that the “form” letter has been adopted to the “one size fits all” category.
Modification of a form letter, whether as a Reservation of Rights or as a Denial of Coverage and/or Claim is very difficult for a lot of the people who are relatively new to claims. Meaning those with 10 years of experience or less as a claims supervisor.
Legal requirements, the possibility of the writer not being able to articulate the message, the possible mis-information that could be conveyed, all of the above and more, are creating more litigation as a result of the ineptness of the process. A generic letter that does not out line the cause, is not what a competent claims file handler wants in the hands of a claimant counsel, or an insureds counsel, that mis-states the position of the company, or deletes what should be conveyed as the form may have been inadvertently selected.
We have real problems in this area. And, we lack skilled managers who are willing to tell the people at the top this needs addressed, and now. 3rd party bad faith claims are, for the large part, driven from these simple form errors. Once the suit is in hand is not the time to correct the defect. Doing it now saves everyone time and resources.
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I am not in claims but I work closely with them for a large P&C carrier. The attention to detail in files and in letters is horrendous. Is it an issue of claims attracting the lowest common denominator or is there something else at work? I don’t know but it is often a point of contention with policyholders and agents. This does not help with the perception of insurance carriers and the industry in general
The true irony is that we continue to have newer, faster and better ways to communicate and the quality of the communication contines to deteriorate. (Better ways to say nothing.)
Until the industry addresses this problem in a substantiative way, it will persist and continue to be the primary cause for increasing litigation.
If carriers want to reverse this trend, they must be willing to be part of the solution and provide their people some training. No one is going to do this for them, certainly not the schools.
The real reason that there has been a significant deterioration in the ability of the file handler, and some in management, is that the “form” letter has been adopted to the “one size fits all” category.
Modification of a form letter, whether as a Reservation of Rights or as a Denial of Coverage and/or Claim is very difficult for a lot of the people who are relatively new to claims. Meaning those with 10 years of experience or less as a claims supervisor.
Legal requirements, the possibility of the writer not being able to articulate the message, the possible mis-information that could be conveyed, all of the above and more, are creating more litigation as a result of the ineptness of the process. A generic letter that does not out line the cause, is not what a competent claims file handler wants in the hands of a claimant counsel, or an insureds counsel, that mis-states the position of the company, or deletes what should be conveyed as the form may have been inadvertently selected.
We have real problems in this area. And, we lack skilled managers who are willing to tell the people at the top this needs addressed, and now. 3rd party bad faith claims are, for the large part, driven from these simple form errors. Once the suit is in hand is not the time to correct the defect. Doing it now saves everyone time and resources.