It's always been a part of our culture to help our clients during the claims process. In fact, even when I was with another agency, before I started with our independent agency, we helped our clients with the claims process. I was recently shocked to find out that most other insurance aren't involved in the claims process at all!
Honestly, I didn't realize this until I started talking to other agents. I was chatting with an agent about an issue that had come up in one of his claims, and was confused on why he didn't get it resolved.
Finally, something he said started to shed light on the subject. He mentioned casually, "Well, I don't get involved in the claims process."
I responded, confused, "What do you mean?"
He replied, "They just turn in a claim, and that's it. Turning it in is all I really do."
Really? You've got to be kidding me!
Apparently that's how a lot of agents are. Knowing this has really shed some light on issues I've seen.
The Right Way To Handle An Insurance Claim
I once had a client that I found out had been dealing with a claims issue for months. She happened to mention it after it had dragged on for months, and we were able to take care of it in three days. Our client told us, "I didn't even know you could do anything."
Thankfully, that was followed by, "You're awesome, thanks so much!"
The same thing happened with another client. We added some extra coverage to a client who bought a Condo. I've been advising clients to do that for a long time, just because I knew something weird could happen one day. And although it increased the investment for our client, I knew it was worth it.
When their Condo association wouldn't cover some hailstorm damage, I turned in the claim for them so they could still get paid for it. The adjuster told them they didn't have coverage for that.
The problem was that the adjuster is used to standard Condo policies. People basically never get the type of coverage I advise my clients to get. So he either didn't look at their policy, or didn't look at it closely. So I called him and told him exactly where in the policy it said they were covered.
His response was, "Oh, wow! I didn't see that. Sorry about that. We'll pay."
Thrive Insurance's Role
Adjusters talk in insurance language. Normal people don't. We understand both insurance language and real world words, so that's the role we play.
Knowing that even our clients may not realize we can help, it's up to us to take that into account. So the process we currently use helps our clients understand what to expect during a claim.
How Thrive is Different
If you have to turn in an insurance claim with us, that's when our claims process kicks in. While your claim is open (being worked on), we'll call you each Friday to check in. It's simple but it's something we're surprised most agents don't do. We want to know how things are going and if you have any questions along the way. It's a great safety-valve for us in case there's ever an issue we'll have a chance to help out without the claim dragging on longer than necessary.
After all, the entire purpose of purchasing insurance is to protect what you own and to seek professional advice or get help along the way. It just so happens we have a pretty good claims process as well. It's built-in for all of our clients. Give us a call and we can help you find out what best suits your needs.
SEE ALSO: 3 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Insurance Checks
SEE ALSO: Are You Prepared for Total Loss?
