Property Claim Services® (PCS®) has published a new benchmarking study, the PCS Commercial Lines Catastrophe Claims Planning and Response Report. This report details results of a survey of industry participants on how they plan and respond specifically to commercial lines catastrophe claims. Insurers can now benchmark their company’s practices relative to industry respondents in terms of staffing, customer service, technology, understanding exposure, and more.
The PCS Commercial Lines Catastrophe Claims Planning and Response Report is the third report in the PCS Benchmarking Series, following reports on catastrophe compensation and personal lines planning and response. This latest report determined that, while insurers are generally well prepared for commercial catastrophe response, there are opportunities for improvement.
Here are some of the report findings:
- Most companies that responded do not have a dedicated corporate office resource specific to commercial claims that fills the leadership role in the field.
- A majority of companies have an entire commercial claim adjusted by one adjuster rather than a team of adjusters.
- About half of the participating companies do not require claims to be inspected by a field adjuster before making a payment or closing a claim.
PCS noted the following as some of the opportunities for improvement:
- Only 21 percent of participants have a training program to instruct noncommercial adjusters to handle commercial catastrophe claims. Developing a training program can increase the number of staff members available to adjust commercial catastrophe claims.
- About half of the participating companies involve agents in the claims process. More companies may wish to include agents to discuss policy coverage and exposures.
- Web and mobile applications for the insured to submit claim documentation are not available at 67 percent of the companies that responded. Both efficiency and customer experience can be improved by offering such apps.
PCS is committed to serving our customers and supporting the global insurance industry through catastrophe identification and the provision of reliable, accurate, objective, and timely catastrophe loss estimates. Stay tuned for our next PCS Benchmarking Series report, which will address best practices in automobile catastrophe claims planning and response.
For more information or to request the report, please contact: Ted Gregory at 201 469 3144 or tgregory@verisk.com.