Imagine a scenario where a driver runs a stop sign and hits Mary Smith’s midsize sedan. Mary’s insurer pays for her vehicle’s damages minus her deductible — which, hoping to save on insurance costs, Mary increased to $1,000 when she renewed her policy. Four months after the accident, Mary’s insurer still has not recovered her deductible. In discussing her experience and frustration with her colleagues, Mary discovers that Tom was involved in a similar loss, but his carrier recovered his deductible within six weeks. Mary switches to Tom’s insurer and tells all of her friends about her negative experience with her original insurer and Tom’s positive experience with her new carrier.
Mary’s original insurer missed a big opportunity to increase customer satisfaction by handling its customer’s subrogation claim in a timely and effective manner. It handed Mary — and probably many more customers — right over to the competition.
Word-of-mouth advertising has always existed. But today, a tweet or Facebook status update can tell a personal and receptive audience of hundreds of people about a positive or negative experience. In such an instant-communication environment, it’s more important than ever to deliver positive customer service. And accurate investigation and timely settlement of claims directly affect customer retention.
Through subrogation, insurers can retain or acquire customers with timely recovery and reimbursement of deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. The quick recovery of insureds’ deductibles in accidents where they bear little or no fault is an effective way to keep current customers from jumping ship to a carrier that promises lower rates in its big-budget advertising campaign.
Yet the subrogation process remains a challenge for many insurers. The reasons range from claims staff focusing on closing claims quickly to lack of a streamlined process for making referrals to the subrogation department.
ISO Subrogation Advisor™ can increase opportunities for recovery and help manage the process better. The new tool in the ISO Claims Outcome Advisor® product suite uses advanced qualifying methods to minimize missed opportunities in subrogation recoveries.
Once ISO Subrogation Advisor identifies that a claim has subrogation potential, the tool flags the claim and can easily refer and assign it to a subrogation adjuster with the right level of experience based on complexity of the claim.
If you’re interested in learning more about how ISO Subrogation Advisor can help you improve customer service, please fill out this form, call 1-866-846-6032, or send an e-mail to info.coa@iso.com.