The pandemic of poor claims experience.
The covid pandemic has laid waste to all kinds of businesses and the insurance industry is now the latest victim. 2020 was fairly quiet with fewer claims as most of us laid low for the storm to pass. Kinda like the eye of the hurricane. Now with the storm upon us, everything has changed.
I’ve always held the belief that the majority of claims our customer had filed were handled quickly and fairly. All of my peers would agree that poor communication from an adjuster is generally the root of poor claims experience. Rarely an unfair claims decision by a rogue adjuster or lack of understanding with how an insurance policy works can also destroy the relationship between an insured and insurer.
The problem.
The pandemic has pushed insurance companies and their claim departments into new territory. The obvious impacts were moving to remote work, changes in how claims are handled (adjusted), and maintaining relationships virtually. Adding to an already challenging landscape, insurers are also dealing with staffing shortages, contractor price increases, and an increase in large catastrophic events. Add all of this up and we find that claims adjusters are overworked and under trained. When faced with an insured that is in a stressful claims’ situation already, the claims experience deteriorates rapidly.
There is good news.
I have heard from all our insurers that they are aggressively hiring new adjusters to improve claims service and responsiveness. Implementing new ways to handle claims, using independent adjusters, and investing in digital options are some of the short- and long-term solutions companies are looking at as well.
Our agency is committed to assisting our customers navigate through this claims experience crisis. If you are in need of help, let us know your concerns, and we will do all we can to move you forward.