Lorega Limited is a UK Chartered Loss Adjusting company which offers a claims presentation and negotiation service to brokers and commercial concerns.
Lorega recently carried out an independent survey* of SME insurance customers and they found that there remains a clear gap between the experiences and expectations of SMEs in the UK when it comes to making a commercial insurance claim.
The finding of the survey indicated:
- Nearly 70% of SMEs say interim and final claim amounts were not agreed promptly.
- 6 out of 10 SMEs received no advice on loss mitigation as part of the claims process.
- Only 16% of businesses had a Loss Adjuster visit within 24 hours of reporting a claim.
- Close to 60% of SMEs had no regular communication from their Insurer on claim progress.
- Over half of SMEs got no explanation of claims responsibilities.
SMEs surveyed who had not made a claim had clear views on the most important aspects they would expect to receive as part of the claim service. Top of the list was for their Insurer to provide regular communication on the claims progress. This was closely followed by advice and support in preparing a claim and prompt agreement of interim and final claim settlements.
There were also strong expectations around receiving information on cover and which sections might be relevant for the type of claim being made. Guidance from their Insurer on how to mitigate the impact of the loss on the business also featured highly amongst SMEs.
Lorega commented that the foundation of their business is to provide Policyholders with access to claims expertise, enhancing the service they receive when it came to making and settling claims. They suggest the result of the survey revealed that this approach is more relevant and necessary than ever before.
There is no reason to believe that the response of SMEs in this country would be any different to that in the UK. Arguably Insurers need to take a more holistic approach to supporting SMEs who suffer claims in excess of €5,000 and “Claim Consultants” and indeed brokers need to be cognisant of the service levels expected. In this respect I would suggest that an appropriately qualified Loss Adjuster/Assessor acting on your Client’s behalf is part of the answer.
*(Lorega’s research was conducted by Censuswide with 250 SME business owners between 19th April 2017 and 24th April 2017).