Professional Engineer Alex Nolan discusses the development and launch of Donan's newest service line: Lightning Investigation.
How did Donan identify a need for this kind of service?
Donan has done forensic engineering investigations for decades. During heat waves, we would receive calls to look at HVAC units and found that speed to site was crucial. When it is over 100 degrees and your HVAC unit is out, as an insured, you want things resolved as fast as possible.
On top of the speed-to-site issue, we found that cost/benefit was also a concern for some of our clients. The hourly rate for an engineer was just too high compared to the loss amount of a typical HVAC claim.
Lastly, there was the deconstructive testing problem. Roughly a third of the time, deconstructive testing of the compressor is necessary to accurately diagnose the cause of damage or failure. Because our engineers could not do this in the field, the compressor would have to be sent to a lab in those cases. That meant increased costs for our clients and longer turnaround times for their customers. Neither of which were good things.
How does Donan's Lightning Investigation service line address these issues?
Speed was a big focus. While an engineer may be booked out 5 to 7 days with projects of varying degrees of complexity, our techs are focused solely on HVAC investigations. Everything they do—readings, measurements, photos, deconstructive testing if necessary—is performed on-site with results collected via a mobile app. Even the report writing is done in the field via the app, meaning our clients receive reports within 24 hours of the site visit. That turnaround time is something we are really proud of.
We also had to address cost, and our biggest achievement in this area was having all fixed-price services. We accomplished this in a couple of ways.
First, we were strategic when hiring our staff. We identified the key geographic areas for placement that would reduce travel time. We hired technicians with significant experience, specifically in troubleshooting.
Second, we mastered deconstructive testing in the field. Our vehicles feature patent-pending equipment that allows the tech to safely and efficiently cut the compressor open for mode of failure analysis. We actually have a patent pending on the mount design. This is pretty awesome stuff.
What's the one thing you would want claims handlers to know about Lightning Investigation?
I would want them to know that it's worth it. We provide accurate answers in a really short time frame and make it as easy for our clients as possible. Plus, for every 350 investigations we do, we help our clients manage roughly $1 million in loss costs.
To find out more about Lightning Investigation, visit donan.com or call 800-482-5611.
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