Hurricane season approaches quickly, and it always has the potential to create chaos within insurance companies and adjuster processes.
Part of the issue is the nature of the beast: A hurricane can look menacing and suddenly turn away from landfall, delivering a sigh of relief for everyone. It can also move from moderate to severe just as quickly and cause major damage.
While we can’t control the unknowns or the ultimate impact, insurance carriers and adjusters can prepare to quickly respond (rather than merely react). At Hancock Claims, we are on standby for an immediate response so insurers can better serve policyholders during difficult times.
Here’s a few ways carriers and adjusters who partner with us remain as proactive as possible every hurricane season.
Supporting Policyholders Immediately After a Hurricane
The immediate aftermath of a hurricane is often devastating. Modes of communication are down, policyholders are displaced and conditions are generally difficult. With a systematic approach, insurers can inject rational processes into a chaotic scene.
Prioritize Policyholder Safety and Housing
Before anything can really happen on the ground, policyholders need safe housing to collect their thoughts and reset. With shelter and basic needs covered, it’s much easier to guide the processes needed to return to normal.
Follow these steps to help your policyholders and initiate the claims process:
1. Set up temporary housing immediately in affected areas to help policyholders find safe shelter and services. Hancock offers housing placement to help insurers gain immediate security after the storm.
2. Work with local authorities and emergency response teams to coordinate relief efforts and maximize resources.
3. Communicate with policyholders regularly to keep them informed. Leverage technology as much as possible to streamline communications and keep things simple. Knowing the status of their claims and next steps provides peace of mind.
4. Deploy trained personnel to impacted areas to assess the damage and provide immediate support to policyholders. With Hancock, 500 technicians are ready for rapid nationwide deployment within 24–48 hours of the request.
5. Prioritize claims based on severity, and ensure that policyholders with the most urgent needs receive prompt attention.
Streamline Utilization of Contractors and Experts
Now that your policyholders have temporary housing and open lines of reliable communication, it’s time to take action on the ground. There tends to be two schools of thought for managing this process:
1. Get out your rolodex and spend countless hours scheduling and coordinating with independent inspectors and contractors. Manage every detail manually, and slowly work through your stack of claims.
2. Communicate with a single point of contact at Hancock. Immediately access and deploy inspectors and a nationwide network of vetted contractors and experts. Quickly process claims and better serve policyholders.
Option #2 means you have access to a full suite of claims services Under One Roof. Hancock Claims makes life better for insurers and adjusters by providing:
- Inspections.
- Estimations.
- Contents Services.
- Preferred Expert Services.
- Preferred Repair Network.
Here’s a closer look at each operation Hancock Claims can deploy to assist with your claims cycles during hurricane season.
Property Inspections and Estimating
1. Initiate an inspection through our web form or estimating platforms.
2. Our customer service team schedules an inspection with your insured within four to eight hours of your submission.
3. A Hancock inspection technician arrives to assess the property within 24–48 hours of scheduling.
4. Detailed reports are delivered to the adjuster within 24 hours of the inspection.
Between reliable rapid nationwide deployment and accurate assessments of damage delivered in such a timely manner, cycle times are significantly reduced.
1. Step 1:
Option A: Send your existing inventory list, and our team will complete the valuation for each individual item.
Option B: Schedule a site visit. One of our 250+ technicians will meet with the homeowners for in-person inventory.
2. Our team uses connected tablets to finalize the inventory and valuation with real-time updates and instant report delivery to your desk.
Improve policyholder satisfaction and reduce cycle times with contents services.
1. To initiate repair work, fill out our simple web form with the location and details for each job. This arms us with the information needed to find the right professional for the job.
2. After scanning our network, we review the options and narrow down the list of best-in-class providers.
3. Once we select the best provider for the tasks at hand, they are assigned to your case and evaluate the damaged property to build an estimate for restoration.
4. The contractor delivers an official estimate for review. The project scope and cost are analyzed and approved by all parties.
5. The final approval is given through official authorization, and the work begins.
6. We monitor the job to ensure the contractor fulfills all obligations and completes the agreed-upon work.
Gain access to highly vetted and reliable contractors while managing everything from a single point of contact.
1. When the need for structural evaluations and specialized experts arises, engage our team to begin the process.
2. Provide the details through our evaluation request form to help us determine what type of expert is needed for the specific problem.
3. We locate the ideal vendor and supply them with all the pertinent information, so they can evaluate the project and move toward a resolution.
4. We coordinate time between the expert, contractor and policyholder to update estimates and specific needs.
5. A quality assurance evaluation is provided to confirm the report has all the needed elements the carrier requested to make an informed claim decision.
6. The report is supplied to the carrier for evaluation and next steps.
Manage costs, gain access to in-depth analytics, and remove the guesswork and delays from professional service needs.
Hancock in Action: A Working Example From Hurricane Ian
We have plenty of great examples, but Hurricane Ian really stands out. It’s difficult to process claims after a hurricane, but especially when island communities lose all access and services.
After Hurricane Ian, we coordinated boat travel to Sanibel Island so inspectors could assess the damage and work with contractors from our Preferred Repair Network. Through proactive planning and our robust suite of connected services, we were able to prep and mobilize a coordinated response.
While policyholders were cut off from their properties on the island, Hancock Claims worked to assess the damage and implement repairs. The result was a successful strategy to move claims forward and help insurers supply policyholders with critical information.
With our resources at the ready, adjusters and insurers will never need an independent contractor again. At Hancock Claims, we work hard to deliver the resources you need throughout big events like Hurricane Ian.
Bonus: Hurricane Preparedness Tips
Insurers can share government educational resources with policyholders ahead of the hurricane season. Preparedness should encompass everyone who could be impacted, especially those living along coastlines.
By proactively sharing important information, insurers can help policyholders assess risk, build evacuation plans and stay safe during an event. Consider making checklists and printable resources with contact information for everything from emergency services to adjusters.
When everyone is educated and on the same page, policyholders can return home sooner and resume their lives with fewer disruptions.
We are here for you this hurricane season. Stay connected on LinkedIn for relevant claims news that impacts insurers and policyholders.
When the big event arrives, request a service from Hancock Claims to move your claims efficiently to successful resolutions.
