Often, the claims department is an area of the insuranceindustry that many try to ignore. It tends to be a lot like yourvehicle's spare tire–it's not thought of until it's absolutelyessential to continue the journey. This leads me to ask whetherthere is a way to alter that perception. Is it possible to turn theoften dirty and ill-maintained spare tire into a marketingopportunity?

A few insurers have admirably attempted this revolutionary task.Their efforts have consisted of lettering a company vehicle to rushout to an accident scene or disaster area, allowing their salesforce or adjusters to issue checks to handle the initial steps ofthe claim process.

These are noble efforts, but are they revolutionary? Honestly, Ido not think so.

Dating all the way back to the days of the original Lloyd'scoffeehouse, has the claim process ever truly changed? Not really.It's gotten faster and more efficient, but so has the rest of thebusiness world. That's not revolutionary, that's survival.

The reason no company has been truly revolutionary varies.

Some companies have focused only on conventional marketing andbranding, some on greater automation, and some on differentiatingtheir policies. Still others have focused on the “delay, deny anddefend” approach.

Many companies utilize a mix of all these strategies. Theseapproaches have varying degrees of merit and success, but none ofthem are truly revolutionary. None of them significantly change ourway of handling a claim.

To be truly revolutionary requires unconventional thinking.

Many insurers have their attention fixed on the company that iscurrently generating the greatest return on investment. Thisapproach to modern conventional management is flawed.

The company actually generating the greatest return oninvestment constantly changes. By simply following the company thatis currently “on top,” a culture of inconsistency is fostered andperpetuated.

This inconsistency within the corporate culture of the followingcompany frustrates the natural ingenuity and creativity of thatorganization. Therefore, all the follower can do is follow.

The following company has not done anything to foster its owncreativity and ingenuity. It becomes dependent on the rest of theindustry for new ideas. If every company in the industry is afollower, the best we will ever have is a circle of outfits movingin place and never being innovative or revolutionary.

So this leads me to ask, what change could turn the claimsprocess into a marketing opportunity? What could differentiate onecompany from the rest of the industry? One answer is actually quitesimple:

o Start preparing for the actual claim, not just the process,before the claim ever occurs.

Stop trying to simply be the fastest company to react. Startbeing the company that has done their homework and is preparedahead of time.

The life of a claim starts with the application and movesthrough the underwriting process. Once the policy is issued andeffective, the policy is a prime target for a claim.

Unfortunately, the industry currently stops right there. Thecurrent approach is to sit back, wait and hope for the best.Why?

The claims department knows what information is necessary toprocess a claim before it occurs. Why not go ahead and prepare forthe claim?

Instead of advertising that your insurance company jumps higherand faster than the next company, advertise that your company isready for the loss before it even occurs.

For example, imagine having a total loss to an automobile, wherethe company already has a preliminary value on file for theparticular vehicle. The moment the claim is turned in, all theywould have to do is confirm the current mileage and condition ofthe vehicle and move forward with the claim.

Another example is if there is a theft of personal propertyclaim, the company already has an inventory of the items and couldquickly–if not instantly–generate the value of the claim.

This approach can even impact liability claims. The insurercould already have photographs of where a slip-and-fall or otheron-premises loss occurs before it ever happens.

So, how does this idea work out in the real world?

o Fill the void.

The company desiring to be revolutionary and implement thisprocess has to fill the gap between the underwriting and claimsdepartments. Call this new department what you want, but I believe“client services” is a good choice.

Once a policy comes in and is underwritten, it leaves theunderwriting department and instead of sitting dormant, the policygoes to the client services department, which begins working withthe policyholder to gather information based on the coverages theclient purchased.

If it's a homeowners' policy, the client services departmentgathers photographs of the structure and a floor plan. They workwith the policyholder to gather information as to their personalinventory and that sort of thing. That way, after the insured hasbeen through a traumatic event which has given rise to a claim, theclaims process does not add to that trauma.

Since the client services department has already gathered mostof the insured's information after the policy came in, the claimsdepartment is now able to much more affectively and quickly deliveron the policy's promises. In other words:

o Reaction has now been replaced by proaction.

Won't this approach cost more? It shouldn't, because all we aredoing is shifting the handling of information from one time toanother. We are now gathering information before the event, asopposed to after it.

Also, this approach will assist the underwriting department tomore accurately price the risk. It will reduce much of the frictionbetween the insurer and the insured because the insurer'sassessment of the value is based on better information.

This approach gives the insurance company the opportunity toproperly set a policyholder's expectations of the loss valuationand handling, before a claim ever occurs. By implementing thisprocess, a company will see:

o Reduced stress and anxiety for both the policyholder and theclaims department.

o Improved claim-cycle time.

o Reduced expenses.

Meanwhile, the insurance company will be providing a service tothe insured by proactively gathering their inventory and propertyassessment in case of a loss–all of which lead to the biggestbenefit of all:

o Creation of value-added marketing opportunities.

Instead of being the spare tire in the trunk, the claimsdepartment is now the heated leather seat assuring the driver ofwhy they bought the vehicle in the first place.