Do you - have a claims service?

When the rubber hits the road - that promise - when your client first took out their policy for be it life, total disablement, critical illness (trauma cover) or income protection - that promise that sadly for your client now, they or their family need you to deliver on.

That worst case scenario now facing them, is your moment the true test of your business.

What do you do? What are you prepared to do? Are you prepared?

This can not be an administrative process. This is a human interaction that transcends your other client engagement protocols.

Are you prepared?

Do you have at your disposal :

- committed empathetic staff

- people trained to deal with grief

- a process of engagement

- a network of specialists: counsellors, physical therapists, builders, car services, food delivery, florists, child minders, caterers, doctors, handymen services, travel agents

- what can you deploy immediately to help your client with whatever they need

- can you anticipate and deliver

- do you want to?


And that last question is key.

Claims take an enormous commitment from an advice business. Complicated claims can focus the business on nothing else and so we can understand why some businesses are moving to a fee for service for claims management.

But what is claims management?

Is it simply getting the money to the client as quickly as possible?

Many would argue that yes that is the purpose.

For us that is the minimum. And if that is what you are planning on charging for.....well we want to say shame on you ....but we do get business...we've been there....we've experienced dealing with claims.....but we always wanted to do so much more.

To be that central hub, to organise all of the things our clients need to get better, to recover, to get through the grief, to deal with the loss, to share the time left with a loved one.

Our promise to clients is to provide the financial framework for them to live their dreams and to support that with a back up plan in the worst case scenario.

Should not then the promise be to deliver as many of those dreams as possible perhaps as merely being a facilitator - and sometimes being so much more.

What sort of claims service do you want to provide?