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Below are a selection of stories from
INSURANCE TIMES magazine that have featured Carmichaels:
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| Carmichaels
Thriving |
Far from suffering -
contracting and down-sizing - Carmichaels is now
bigger and employing more trained loss adjusters
than ever before.
So while major firms forced by claims departments`
insistence on price, cost-cutting and moving volume
claims, can only see the “pile it high, sell
it cheap” route, Carmichaels and other medium-sized
loss adjusters have prospered by going down more
traditional routes.
Only recently, while one of the big five national
adjusters was thrown off one insurers panel, we
strengthened our hold with an extension of our remit.
One reason must be that we have never forgotten
service. If that means the firm loses work which
requires only 'box ticking' at marginal rates -
well, so be it! There are still plenty of insurers
which realise that major savings can still be achieved
by proper loss adjusting.
Our commitment to service, almost regardless of
the effect on final profit margins, means the savings
that we can achieve on claims through proper investigation
is only one side of the equation. Adjusters who
bring professionalism and expertise to the claimant
are adding value to the whole insurance contract.
In fact, everything else in the insurance process
is supply-driven rather than market-led. It is the
quality of claims handling that may well secure
the loyalty of the policy provider.
Falling service standards
Recently, a block of flats where one of our adjusters
lives suffered storm damage.
One of the “big five” loss adjusters
was employed by insurers, and they, as is becoming
more and more common these days, instructed a nominated
contractor to clear up the mess and repair the damage.
The contractor turned out to be a sub-contractor
of a sub-contractor and, almost inevitably problems
arose.
The nominated adjuster's attitude was “all
enquiries should be directed to the contractor and
not to either us or the insurer”. A level
of service which falls far short of anything that
our firm would provide and a level of service which
calls into question the very existence of loss adjusters
in the marketplace.
There is a lot of talk in the industry about technology.
What is not often mentioned is how far behind the
insurance industry is generally – and claims
departments in particular. While some household
names have made dramatic strides in marketing their
domestic products over the internet, few have done
much to see how claims can be similarly brought
Into line. This is finally beginning to change.
While fewer than five percent of insurers today
can offer claims Initiation and/or processing by
the web, it is expected that, in the next three
years, 40% of policy administration and 25% of claims
initiation will be done on the internet.
How far insurance companies have travelled can be
seen by recent research which showed that fewer
than half of their claims departments used e-mail
for routine correspondence and fewer than ten per
cent could receive reports electronically, let alone
digital images or other attachments.
Embracing the future
Those loss adjusters which have embraced technology
– e-mail, digital cameras, web sites and the
like - will be in a position to help their insurance
clients make the great leap forward.
Carmichaels, for instance, is already looking at
an insurance shop which will sell a variety of policies
over the internet. Whichever way policies are sold,
claims will also have to be handled more efficiently.
Paying claims without any kind of adjustment investigation
is a sure way to higher premiums and ultimately
no business.
Even now, we are seeing a change in stance with
some insurers moving away from the “sausage
machine” approach and with some even lowering
the limit for claims investigation to as low a figure
as £500.
Carmichaels slogan is “linking technology
with tradition”. To that, I should add further
that the future of the firm rests in training, the
quality of staff and not least, their morale which
is a vital ingredient. Pride in your work starts
at the bottom.
Those who have sacrificed everything to a dumbed
down, skeleton service, geared to producing a mass
product are already finding that their overall service
is affected - sometimes terminally. While my adjusters
can never be experts on every subject, we aim to
be the “Jacks of all trades, masters of some”.
It may never be that my firm will ever be a top
five player. But the fact is that we have survived
over the last 15 years, by providing the market
with a service that is still very much in demand. |
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| New
Insurance Crime Scam |
Loss adjusters Carmichaels
is warning of a new ploy by fraudsters, whereby
they claim not to be insured after reporting a crime
or fire. This immediately reduces the chances of
an investigation to almost nothing.
Keith Curling, a partner at Carmichaels, says in
some parts of the UK as many as 20% of victims claim
not to have insurance. |
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| PCS
Study 'Is Not Believable' |
KENT BASED loss adjuster
Carmichaels has strongly disputed research by rival
firm PCS which found insurers were less concerned
about service levels than they were about industry
track record and price (Insurance Times, November
25).
Partner Keith Curling described the findings as
"unbelievable" and said that his firm
would not stay in business if service standards
slipped.
The research was carried out by PCS amongst 60 insurance
firms to assess the current state of the loss adjusting
sector and analyse future trends. Most insurers
said they expected service standards to slip because
of panel alterations.
"Carmichaels
and the policyholders we deal with are fortunate
in so far as the insurers for whom we work are most
concerned that service criteria are maintained and
we have no intention, survey or no survey, to allow
our service standards deteriorate," Curling
said.
"If we did, I cannot believe
that we would stay in business very long." |
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| Quick
Wits, Iron Nerve |
Keith Curling, a partner
with Carmichaels, the Maidstone loss adjuster got
more than he bargained for when handling a claim
in Tunbridge Wells recently. The claim was a straightforward
one: £2,000 for damage to a traveller's caravan
after a gas cylinder had exploded.
That was as straightforward as it got.
On entering the camp area, a dog ran into and under
his car, before limping off into the undergrowth.
Then, when he got to the damaged caravan, the insured
announced he did not have a bank account: he wanted
to be paid in cash. Curling told him this was not
the normal policy, The traveller, stocky and unsmiling,
responded by saying that there was no way he could
leave unless this was sorted. Curling used his mobile
phone quickly, and after a rather bizarre conversation
with the insurance company, it was agreed that the
insured would meet a company representative outside
the bank in two days time.
Released, Curling moved speedily to his car, but
on the way out, a young child jumped on his car
bonnet demanding £50 for "hitting his
dog". By this time the loss adjuster had started
to box rather clever. He got out his car and explained
that although he did not have the money on him,
he would be back within the hour. A white lie that,
under the circumstances was fully understandable. |
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| We
Must Explain to the Insured by
Keith Curling |
There was much That
was good in Gary Strong's article on subsidence.
While agreeing that we all have to work within set
parameters and uphold service standards, there is
another vital ingredient - winning the hearts and
minds of the insured. Not least because the 80/20
rule is alive and well In subsidence claims.
Whilst the majority respond quickly to established
cures, in a minority of cases a series of measures
have to be tried. It is crucial to the adjusters
role that time is taken out to explain to the insured
what you and your engineer are doing and why. I
have found that I have often spent more time explaining
to the insured what we are doing and why, than working
out how to solve the problem. But it is always time
well spent. |
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