UK Shuts Down Claims Management Firms

In the UK, strict regulation has faced the claims management industry since 2007, and as of late, those regulations are being even more strictly enforced. In fact, since 2007, the Ministry of Justice, the UK’s regulating body, has shut down over 1,100 rogue claims management firms. Most of the shutdown companies are personal injury claims companies.

While strict regulations do exist for claims management firms and insurance firms in the United States, there is speculation that those regulations could get even more strict, following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom. As such, you need to make sure that your insurance company is operating within the confines of the law and handling its claims management processes effectively. If you have doubts and would like to have a professional take a close look at your company and suggest improvements and/or if you just need some extra help handling every claim in the way it deserves to be handled, know that HC Adjusters is there for you.

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Insurance Company Being Sued

Frank G DeSalvo, a man from Belle Chasse, New Orleans, has recently brought suit against a wide range of organizations, including his insurance company. DeSalvo claims that he did not receive necessary protection from these entities and that they are at fault for his development of lung cancer related to working in an asbestos-laden environment. He is suing the company for which he worked and the other entities for not disclosing and for purposefully hiding potential dangers in the environment. He is also suing for a lack of safe work equipment and conditions.

Unfortunately, any company can face commercial insurance claims such as these, including the ones you insure. Knowing how to handle these claims is imperative and having enough available, qualified staff to handle such claims is also important. If your company is ill-equipped to deal with commercial insurance claims of this caliber, then get the help you need from HC Adjusters, which can assist you with even the most serious of claims.

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Could Homeowners Catch a Break on Flood Insurance Costs?

In South Mississippi and other parts of the country that are prone to flooding, flood insurance is an absolute necessity. Unfortunately, however, flood insurance can often get quite costly; even policies that are initially affordable often grow more and more expensive over time due to rate hikes. Fortunately for homeowners, Congressman Steven Palazzo recently introduced a flood insurance relief bill, which was passed in the senate. However, the bill still has yet to be voted on by the house.

The bill aims to keep flood insurance rates reasonable and to stop companies from offering low flood insurance rates that they gradually raise over time. If the bill passes, that could mean an increase in the number of people securing flood insurance and the number of people filing related claims. Obviously, these people will require the help of a professional insurance adjuster, and if your company isn’t equipped to provide enough adjusters to assist them, you’re likely going to need some outside help.

Fortunately, you can think of HC Adjuster as your go-to spot when you need a professional insurance adjuster or several. In fact, any time you get backed up or require any extra help, it’s the place to go!

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Insurance Fraud Becoming More and More Prevalent

The National Insurance Crime Bureau recently conducted a study of insurance fraud and suspected insurance fraud in the United States, and the findings of that study were quite disturbing. According to the Bureau, fraud rose approximately 27% between 2010 and 2012 with a whopping 100,000 potentially property insurance claims and casualty insurance claims cost insurance companies around $30 billion each year.  Insurance criminals don’t always act alone either; sometimes, there are entire rings dedicated to insurance fraud, making the problem even more prevalent.

fraudulent claims submitted during that time. It gets worse too; the Bureau estimates that fraudulent

With such a rise in insurance fraud, it’s important that your company carefully investigates all property insurance claims and casualty insurance claims. Of course, giving every claim the attention it deserves can be difficult when you’re overstaffed and your workers are overstressed. Know that you don’t have to bear the full brunt of these responsibilities, however; you can get help from the friendly insurance pros at HC Adjusters, who carefully investigate each and every claim that comes their way.

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Volunteer Fire Department Suffers Damages

Located in Jumping Branch, West Virginia, the Jumping Branch and Nimitz Volunteer Fire Department has reported that it’s suffered damages as a result of the recent winter storm that swept most of the nation. The fire department got an estimated twenty-five to twenty-six inches of snow accumulation on its roof, resulting in a sagging roof and trust damage. Fortunately, the department was able to move valuable and important equipment to a neighboring fire department, and its next step is to bring in an independent insurance adjuster to assess the damage.

Unfortunately, this small volunteer fire department isn’t the only organization to experience damages as a result of the winter weather. Stories like this one are cropping up across the United States. If you need help handling the influx of claims you are likely experiencing, know that you can contact an independent insurance adjuster with HC Adjusters for assistance at any time.

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Wintery Catastrophes Lead to an Increase in Claims

Image via CrunchBase

The Allstate Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of insurance, has been keeping its catastrophe claims adjuster professionals quite busy! Allstate announced that, for the month of January alone, it received catastrophe claims totaling a whopping $277 million before taxes.  While all kinds of catastrophes likely occurred during that month, a large chunk of them, according to the company, were related to the recent extreme winter weather conditions.

The truth is, though, that you never know when there may be an unexpected spike in catastrophe claims, and as such, you should always have sufficient catastrophe claims adjuster professionals to handle these claims. If you can’t do that or if doing so would cause your company to take a loss, then have a backup plan in place. HC Adjusters can be that backup plan; it provides claims management services for those “unexpected spikes” in claims or for when your business just gets a little overwhelmed and needs some help getting caught up quickly.

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Business Insurance Options You May Want to Consider

Due to the recent extreme weather conditions experienced by most states in the US, more and more businesses are getting serious about having adequate insurance coverage. As such, your insurance firm can really make a profit by expanding the types of insurance coverage it offers to businesses.

If you’re not already doing so, you may want to consider offering business personal property insurance, business interruption insurance, which covers profit losses when business must be closed due to certain circumstances; ingress or egress coverage, for when physical damages cause a business to lose ingress or egress; and many others.

which will cover a client’s office equipment, tools, machinery, and the like. Other policies you may want to think about offering include

If the thought of an increase in profits sounds nice (and of course it does!), but you are worried about having enough property claims adjuster professionals to handle the new claims that may result, know that you don’t have to go it alone. No, you can contact HC Adjusters and get connected to an entire team of property claims adjuster professionals who can help you with insurance claims every step of the way, as often as you require assistance. 

HC Adjusters has a dedicated, experienced staff servicing the states of New Jersey, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.

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The Importance of Structure Estimates

The owners of a property in Salt Lake City, Utah are likely up to their elbows in dealing with their insurance adjuster right now. The property, an under-construction apartment building located at 540 E. 500 South Street, was recently a victim of an intentionally set fire. The insurance adjuster who provided the structure estimate says that the property has suffered approximately 6 million dollars in damages.  Sadly, the building has now been declared a total loss.

What’s even sadder is that stories like this one are not uncommon, and if one of your customer’s properties suffers a similar fate, you need to know how to handle the claims process. One of the most important parts of that process is arriving at a structural estimate. A good claims management company will create an estimate based on each room and space within a given property.

HC Adjusters prides itself on creating some of the most detailed structure estimates in a timely manner, so it’s definitely the place to call if you require assistance with this all-important step in the claims management process.

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