Time to Establish Excellence in Claims Handling Unlisted Video

A Proposal to Create a Staff of Claims Professionals

To avoid claims of breach of contract, bad faith, punitive damages, unresolved losses, and to make a profit, insurers must maintain a claims staff dedicated to excellence in claims handling. That means they recognize that they are obligated to assist the policyholder and the insurer to fulfill all the promises made by the insurer in the wording of the policy.

An insurer can create a claims staff dedicated to excellence in claims handling by, at least:

Hiring insurance claims professionals.
If claims professionals are not available to hire away from other insurers, the insurer must be able to train all members of the existing claims staff to be insurance claims professionals.
Training each member of the claims staff annually on the local fair claims settlement practices regulations.
Supervising each claims handler closely to confirm all claims are handled professionally and in good faith.
Explaining to each member of the claims staff the meaning of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Making clear to each member of the claims staff that it is the position of the insurer that all insureds and claimants are to be treated fairly and in good faith.
Demanding excellence in claims handling from the claims staff.
Being ready to dismiss any claims handler who fails to treat every insured with good faith and fair dealing.

If any experienced claims professionals exist on the insurer’s staff the insurer must cherish and nurture them and use their experience and professionalism to train new claims people. If none are available, the insurer has no option but to train its people from scratch using available materials and professionals who have – for a reasonable fee – the ability to properly and effectively train claims personnel.

© 2021 – Barry Zalma

Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related disputes. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 52 years in the insurance business. He is available at http://www.zalma.com and zalma@zalma.com.

Mr. Zalma is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend Award.

Over the last 53 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials to make it possible for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance claims professionals.

Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma;  Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ Read posts from Barry Zalma at https://parler.com/profile/Zalma/posts; and the last two issues of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/  podcast now available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zalma-on-insurance/id1509583809?uo=4