4 Reasons for Your Insurance Company to Hire an Independent Insurance Adjuster
Insurance companies have entire departments dedicated to adjusting claims. But some situations require you to look beyond your in-house capabilities. Here are four reasons you might search the independent insurance adjuster CO–based market for help.
Distribute the Workload
After a mass disaster, your claims department might get overwhelmed with work. But you must still comply with your obligations under Colorado law to affirm or deny coverage in a reasonable time and make a good faith effort to effectuate a prompt settlement.
After a mass event like a wildfire or blizzard, you can hire an independent insurance adjuster to comply with your legal duties and protect your claimants. As a result, you can avoid the complaints that cost your company time and money and may trigger regulatory investigations.
Reduce the Risk of Litigation
Every insurance company dreads a bad faith insurance accusation. These cases can cost a lot of money to defend, force the company to expose its internal policies, and even prompt insurance regulators to investigate. Worse yet, a sympathetic jury can stick your company with a multi-million dollar judgment if you lose.
An independent insurance adjuster substantially reduces your risk of bad faith claims. An independent adjuster will not be subject to the same accusations of bias that an in-house adjuster is. Moreover, when you engage an independent adjuster, you can make your expectations and procedures clear. This papers the file so you can rebut any assertions of self-dealing during the claim adjustment process.
Acquire Subject-Matter Expertise
The public is often surprised by the range of policies an insurer can write. From a performer’s legs to a collector’s art collection, a creative company can insure almost anything. But when a claim comes along, you might not have the subject-matter expertise to adjust the claim. Turning to an independent adjuster can provide the expertise needed to investigate the claim and resolve it fairly for you and your customer.
Having an independent adjuster handle these specialized claims will give you the peace of mind that your company is protected. It will also help you rebut any assertion that your company failed to adequately investigate the claim. An independent adjuster with prior experience in those types of claims will have access to resources ranging from expert appraisers to accountants who can assist in resolving the claim.
Save Money
Hiring an independent insurance adjuster will often save you money in the long run. This happens for a few reasons, including:
- You can add adjusters as contractors when needed rather than hiring them full time
- Independent adjusters bear overhead associated with payroll and benefits
- You do not need to train and supervise independent adjusters
- Independent adjusters can often settle specialized claims more quickly than in-house adjusters
Ultimately, these cost savings will flow to your bottom line. And the more you save on overhead and expenses, you more your company has to invest in reinsurance and other lines of business.
