Two in five businesses have suffered a business interruptionloss in the last five years, according to the 2017 RIMS Business Interruption Survey.

The biggest challenge for companies managing these businessinterruption (BI) claims: Accurately quantifying their losses.

Whether stemming from natural catastrophes, supply chain disruptions,cyber risks, or other factors, BI claims areamong the most important for organizations to resolve. Buteffectively managing these claims — including maximizing yourinsurance recovery — requires a clear strategy.

Here are three steps you can take to more efficiently andeffectively resolve your next BI claim:

1. Accurate pre-loss values

Proper values and limits are critical to a successful recovery.And your potential BI loss could be far greater than the propertydamage sustained in the event. Setting up an effective BI insuranceprogram requires an in-depth risk assessment of your business, itsoperations, and how a BI loss can impact your bottom line. Amongother factors, you should consider your supply chain interdependencies,redundant capacity, changing customer demands, and markettrends.

Once you have the results of this assessment, you can calculateyour BI value at risk and make smarter decisions about how muchinsurance coverage to buy, appropriate indemnity periods, and anynecessary coverage extensions. Following a loss, you can moreeffectively allocate internal resources and formulate mitigationsteps based on your specific needs — for example, temporarilyshifting manufacturing to alternate plants, using third-partymanufacturers, or relocating staff during renovations.

2. Create a support network

Before a loss, you should build a team of operation managers,forensic accountants, property claim advocates, claim projectmanagers, controllers, engineers, and others. Many insurancepolicies contain professional fees coverage specifically for theuse of these resources in the preparation and resolution ofinsurance claims.

After a loss, you can activate these resources to help you:

• Determine the total impact of a loss to your operations.
• Plan for the resumption of operations.
• Detail your losses.
• Calculate how much revenue was potentially lost.
• Present your financial impact calculations to insurers.

3. Build a response team

Beyond managing the insurance process, after a loss you'll needto answer several questions. How is our supply chain holding up? Dowe need to replace any specialized equipment? How can we ensuresafe and clean working conditions for our employees?

A response team — established before a loss — can help youaddress these and other issues. With proper training and testing,this team can quickly mobilize and access the right resources tohelp you more quickly return to normal operations.

Related: Here's how business interruption insurance isevolving

Edward McKenna is the U.S. Leader for the ForensicAccounting and Claims Services Practice at New YorkCity-based Marsh, aglobal insurance broker and risk management firm.He can be reached at [email protected]. Thisarticle first appeared on Marsh.com and is reprinted here withpermission. Visit the Marsh Risk in Contextblog for the original post.