By: Stephen Kern, Casualty Claims Manager
It has always been PLM’s priority to provide not only advanced insurance knowledge and experience for the wood industry, but also exemplary customer service. This is especially true of claims, as we strive to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our customers and the promise that we will be there for them through some of their toughest times. To meet the communication demands of today’s environment and create a better ease of doing business for our customers, we have revamped some of our claims procedures. In our fast track unit, we have already made several changes and will continue to utilize successful processes, implement new strategies and monitor our results.
Business communications is one area undergoing changes. In order to improve our customer relations, whether with insureds, brokers or claimants, we have implemented tighter standards for initial contact on new claims, mandatory acknowledgement correspondence on all fast track and casualty claims, and same day responses. We will continually monitor, adjust or reiterate these business communication goals as we get feedback from our customers. There are also quarterly quality control reviews in place that emphasize the business communications piece to make sure these objectives are being met.
We have revamped some procedures in regards to how we serve our larger accounts. While we do not have as many claims reps as some other companies, our size allows for a more personalized approach and for our customers to gain familiarity with our representatives. To further build this relationship, we now have additional designated account representatives for our larger, more intricate accounts. These accounts typically have high frequency in claims volume, so this personalized relationship with a specific account representative, who has a deep understanding of the account, provides an ease of doing business for both the PLM representative and the customer.
We are also streamlining our physical damage claim process. Instead of relying on dollar thresholds for assigning appraisers to inspect vehicles, we now have a triage tool. This allows the claims handler to gather additional information from the insured and work with the customer to utilize the most efficient method to resolve their claim. For instance, many insureds submit their claim with an estimate as part of their internal process after an accident. As long as the vehicle does not appear to be a total loss, we are now using that estimate, and many times working with their shop of choice, to expedite the claim rather than relying on a physical inspection. While physical inspections via an independent appraiser are sometimes warranted, utilizing other methods for resolution bring down the expenses associated with the claim for the insured and typically allow the claim to be handled in a more timely manner.
All of these new processes mentioned have already made a difference in the bottom line for fast track claims, along with creating a more customer friendly process. As we continue to get feedback from our customers, we will reevaluate our processes and find new ways to increase the ease of doing business for our customers while providing them with top notch customer service.
