Filing an insurance claim can be a very complex and overwhelming process. So can defending a claim against your company. This is especially true in the construction industry, where workers compensation and auto claims are filed frequently. The emotional and financial toll of experiencing losses that are often personal—involving injury or loss of life—can be extremely stressful. Construction claims affecting lives and livelihoods can range in the millions of dollars and take a long time to resolve.
Your broker should advocate on your behalf, allowing you to take care of yourself, your team, and your business. It is important to have an insurance broker who is invested in you as a client, who is proactive and acts as an extension of your team.
What should you expect from your broker during the claims process?
- Your broker will be your voice and will stay on top of the claim so you don’t have to.
This is their specialty, not yours. Your broker should answer all your questions and guide you through the claims process. Count on them to track claims and provide regular reports. Choose a broker who will be thorough and follow through on every detail to the conclusion of the claim.
- Your broker should have excellent relationships with the insurance carriers.
All good business is based on good relationships, right? It is important to have a broker that has positive working relationships with the insurance carriers. This leads to clearer communication, and can bring about a smoother, faster resolution.
- Your broker will be proactive and suggest ways to mitigate risk now and in the future.
Your broker should provide you with a full understanding of all the aspects of a particular claim and recommend steps to take to avoid a repeat of the incident that caused the claim.
What can you do to make sure claims get resolved quickly?
- Collect all relevant information before contacting your broker.
The first step is to gather all the information that you can regarding the claim, including:
- The date and location that the accident or incident occurred.
- A description of what happened.
- Names of all parties involved, including general contractors, subcontractors, .
- If police or emergency services were called and any reports that resulted from the incident.
- Provide the identities of any collateral parties that may or may not have been related to the claim. Specifically, this means General Contractors, other subcontractors or witnesses who were on site at or near the time of the incident.
- Report the incident as soon as possible.
Help your broker be proactive by reporting the incident as quickly as you can. As they say, “The sooner we know, the smoother it will go.” While the information listed above is important, do not hold up reporting the claim while awaiting certain information. You want to get your carrier partner involved as soon as possible and you should view them as an asset that can assist in the claims process. Your broker is there to manage that process.
- Be responsive
Be on the lookout for notifications regarding the claim, especially from the insurance carrier or adjustor. Pass this information on to your broker so they can address it.
Maintain an ongoing dialogue with your broker
Here at MRG, we provide our clients with quarterly claims reviews. We look at the types of claims, if any, and use that information to determine a plan for the future. We do not simply regurgitate the facts of the claim because you are already familiar with those facts. We are always focused on resolution and how we can mitigate the claim for our clients. We also may recommend additional safety training, changes in safety policy, or similar steps to keep everyone safe and reduce future claims.