By Anson Ross Thompson, chief executive officer and president, The Thompson Group

Last week I had two separate claims that I solved using a simple solution: my iPhone.

From time to time I'll get a call from a claimant with a request for some help. Since I'm in my car 94.87656 percent of the time with very little access to our management system, I struggle to get updated information about ongoing claims.

My solution? Call the adjuster or claims manager, then call the claimant and combine the calls using my iPhone.

In the first situation, the claimant had slipped and fallen at one of our client's locations and was concerned that none of the medical bills had been paid yet. Since he was getting a few collection notices, he was very concerned and angry that we had failed to take care of this situation.

It sounded strange to me because the claim was about 90 days old and the carrier is usually very prompt with its claim payments. I asked the claimant if he was going to be available later that day. He said, “Damn right I'll be available!”

Then I called the adjuster on the claim, indicated the claimant's level of frustration, and then called the claimant back with the adjuster on the line. I opened the call with a narrative from both sides and then shut up.

Amazingly, it turned out that the carrier had paid $10,000 of medical bills and was finalizing the rest of the liability claim. The claimant was very apologetic for his poor attitude and thanked the adjuster and me for our help.

The other claim involved an attorney for my client who was trying to finalize some paperwork required by the carrier. In this situation, I put my client and the client's counsel on the phone using the “combine” feature, then sent an email to the carrier giving an update on their progress. This claims looks to be nearing an end as well.

Combining calls is a simple feature on most smart phones. If you have yet to use this tool, try it. It might make your life a little easier.

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