No matter what your business or industry, some risks are unavoidable, and commercial insurance is there to protect you when an unexpected incident happens. From natural disasters to data breaches, the right type of business insurance can protect you from financial liability and help you avoid disruptions to your business operations.
Insurance claims management software can help you file and keep track of business insurance claims. By tracking claims data accurately, you can use claims analytics to monitor insurance trends and level up your risk management practices.
Let's take a look at how to make the claims administration process more efficient with a cloud-based claims management system.
6 Steps of an Effective Claims Management Process
Business insurance comes in many forms. Some types of insurance, such as workers' compensation, are required by law, while others are optional and may include general liability insurance, product liability insurance, auto insurance, and more.
Depending on the incident, you may need to process claims for one or more types of insurance and deal with multiple insurance companies and other third parties. Handling so many different claims simultaneously can be complicated, so having an end-to-end claims management process in place is important.
Follow these six steps for a speedy resolution of your insurance claims:
1. Plan Ahead
When a workplace safety incident occurs, your priority is addressing the situation, such as treating an injured employee or preventing further property damage. Filling out forms is the last thing you want to do — so plan ahead by preparing templates and using an automated claims system to generate documents like a first notice of loss (FNOL).
Pulpstream’s claims management platform can do this for you, automatically generating an OSHA report to kickstart the insurance claims process.
2. Gather Evidence
Insurance companies often require evidence of damage to process an insurance claim, so it's important to collect evidence in the form of photos and videos to pass on to the provider. If there is a theft or security breach, they may ask for surveillance footage, a police report, as well as proof of any security measures you have in place.
Create an inventory of damaged property or stolen items, and store any digital evidence in an online document management platform. Gather witness statements and consider conducting your own in-house accident investigation to support your claim.
3. Identify Relevant Insurance Coverage
Complex incidents, such as one that involves both property damage and personal injury, might require you to file a claim with more than one insurance carrier. After the incident, it’s important to identify all of the policies that might be relevant to your case.
Multiple claims or claimants may create complexities if the insurance companies have competing interests, or if the same issue is insured by more than one provider. These issues should be identified and resolved quickly, and you should stay in contact with your adjuster to ensure prompt claims handling and avoid subrogation.
4. Contact Your Insurance Carrier
Inform your insurance agent or broker about the incident as soon as possible. They can explain the claims process to you and make sure you have everything in place before you notify your insurance company. The sooner a policyholder notifies the insurance provider, the sooner the claims handling process can start.
In some cases, you may be working with a third-party claims administrator (TPAS) that your insurance carrier has contracted with to assist with policy administration. This is most common in healthcare but also in the commercial insurance industry.
5. Cooperate With Your Insurance Adjuster
Once you file a claim with your insurance provider, they will assign a claims adjuster to your case within a few days. This adjuster is responsible for investigating your claim and determining how much compensation the insurer is liable for.
If you make the adjuster's work easier by providing all of the evidence they need, your claims process will go smoother and you may have a better claim outcome.
6. Keep in Touch With Stakeholders
Any workplace incident has multiple stakeholders, from the injured employee filing a workers’ comp claim, to board members who need to be apprised of ongoing impacts on business risk or operational efficiency. You may also need to stay in touch with a medical service provider treating an injured employee.
Keep stakeholders informed throughout the process, while following any confidentiality requirements or business rules. If you ensure that any relevant information is shared with the required consent, your insurance claim will proceed more smoothly.
Pulpstream makes it easy to stay in touch with stakeholders with a centralized claims management system. Receive all communications in a single cloud-based portal and generate claims documentation on-demand with a user-friendly dashboard.
Benefits of an Automated Claims Management Process
Even for a simple insurance claim, the claims process can be complicated, especially if you’re processing documents manually. By digitizing and automating the process with a cloud-based software solution, you can save time and resolve claims more efficiently.
Here are some of the major benefits of using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) claims management system to automate the process:
Increased Productivity
Handling insurance claims manually is time-consuming, inefficient, and prone to human error. Claims management software like Pulpstream reduces the need for manual labor, saving time and energy and resulting in more accurate claims outcomes.
A claims management solution integrates all your workflows into a single ecosystem, allowing you to focus on resolving the claim as quickly as possible.
Better Decision-Making
Claims management solutions do more than just eliminate the need for paperwork and spreadsheets — they offer advanced functionality like claims analytics to assist you with risk management and decision-making. By generating reports, analyzing trends with a built-in dashboard, and tracking expenses and payments related to the claim, you can gain more visibility into your claim in a single, user-friendly interface.
With machine learning and AI-powered assistance, claims management software can help you identify trends, spot red flags, and mitigate fraud risks and safety issues.
Easier Communications
One of the most important parts of the claims process is communication — keeping the insurer and other stakeholders informed throughout the claims lifecycle. Remembering who needs to be notified when is a big responsibility and prone to errors. If you fail to notify the insurer of a new development, it may cause delays or difficulties.
A claims management system like Pulpstream enables you to automate notifications to both insurers and stakeholders, taking the guesswork out of the process.
Streamline Your Claims With an Automated Claims Management System
The claims process can get complicated, especially for a major incident that involves multiple stakeholders or insurance policies. Having a claims management system in place helps you stay ahead of the game and ensure a successful claims outcome.
Pulpstream’s no-code claims management platform is a cloud-based system that you can use to manage nearly any type of claim. Initiate a claim from a desktop or mobile device, and attach photos, emails, and even geolocation data to support your claim.
Manage existing claims with a digital portal featuring correspondence management, expense and payments tracking, and detailed loss run reports. Then, mitigate risk by running claims analytics and using our intuitive dashboard to view claims by month, type, age group, and other distinguishing factors.
Pulpstream is an all-in-one solution with custom pricing and a white-glove customer experience. Book a free demo today to see it in action and learn more!
