Having a disaster affect a home is one of the worst things that can happen to a family. All at once, their basic needs become priorities—food, shelter and clothing. From our perspective, as long as everyone comes out uninjured, then it may be the luckiest day of their lives—because everything else can be replaced—or restored. This is where CRDN comes into their story.
Through years of experience and dedication to doing great work, combined with the passion to help and support people going through potentially one of the worst times of their lives, CRDN is more than just another service provider. CRDN team members are more like rescue workers helping families put the pieces back together.
One of the first questions racing through the mind of an insured who has just suffered a loss—whether a fire or flood in their home or damage resulting from a larger catastrophe—typically is, "Where am I going to sleep tonight?" What isn't immediately top of mind is what they are going to wear tomorrow. Or the next day. Or next week.
There is no doubt that garments and other fabric items in a home have become a large and fast-growing part of a contents claim. Simply consider the value of what's in your closet. If you are like most Americans, then you have at least one closet filled with clothes, shoes, belts and other garments. Also consider the value of window treatments, bedding, towels, purses and sentimental items, whether a wedding gown or cherished heirloom.
The impact of this situation affects countless contents claims across the U.S., leading to increased severity for insurers. Fortunately, as the textile restoration niche has become a common component and standardized service when dealing with contents losses, claims managers and adjusters are recognizing the benefits and capabilities of a textile expert for everyday loss situations such as a small fire or broken water pipe as well as large losses and special situations. On average, the restoration of garments and other textiles reduces severity by 80 percent compared to replacement. Beyond the cost savings, a professional textile specialist also can have a meaningful impact on customer satisfaction by providing fast response and empathy that demonstrate action by the carrier to the insured.
The textile restorer you assign a loss represents you and your company's brand. How they look and how they interact with your insured will have an impact on your reputation. Understanding the significance of thorough communication, establishing credibility and enhancing professionalism, CRDN is committed to dispatching a management-level professional to meet with an insured before on-site services begin.
The CRDN manager provides an introduction and thorough overview of the textile restoration process, ensuring that the insured has accurate expectations of what can be restored and an understanding of the next steps. Dealing with the emotional side of the situation is equally important; quite often the insured is faced with a once-in-a-lifetime tragedy, compounded by uncertainty about what to do and where to start. CRDN's professionals are specially trained to demonstrate empathy, setting the insured's mind at ease since clothing tends to be among the most personal items affected by a loss.
In this initial meeting, the insured learns about emergency needs clothing—items that will be restored and returned within 24 to 48 hours, saving ALE and enabling the insured to focus on other parts of their loss. This "rush" service demonstrates action, reflecting positively on the adjuster, and creates greater confidence in CRDN's ability to successfully restore garments and textiles, as the insured can inspect restored items within a day or two.
The insured also appreciates the manager as the point of contact for any questions or needs that arise during the textile restoration process, alleviating unnecessary calls to the adjuster. The manager on-site scopes the loss with the insured as well as the adjuster whenever possible to detail affected textiles. This scope forms the blueprint for the customer service representatives who handle the itemized pack-out and prepares the textile restoration staff for the quantity of items and type of contaminant when the textiles are brought to the cleaning facility. The scope also provides an initial estimate that allows the adjuster to set reserves in a timely manner and to provide direction on the textile component based on severity of the loss and any potential coverage limitations.
Processes such as these enable CRDN, The Textile Experts, to bring a systematic approach to an otherwise chaotic set of circumstances. CRDN continues to listen to the industry and provide solutions that meet the needs of our clients, as well as needs of the insured homeowner: immediate response, job transparency and exceedingly attentive customer service. It's all part of our commitment to those we serve.
Wayne Wudyka is CEO of CRDN (Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network), an international organization of textile restoration experts. CRDN's national claims assignment call center can be reached at 1-800-963-CRDN or www.CRDN.com.
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