A Real Newbie Question

[squeed]

If you are an independent and you sell any products ranging from Life, to P&C to Health etc ...

And excuse the "newbieness" here. If someone files a claim, is that your issue or the carriers ?

For example. You sell a life insurance policy and the person passes away, their wife is the beneficiary. Is that your issue to deal with from soup to nuts ?

If you sell an auto policy and someone crashes their car and files a claim or health and they file a claim ...

How much after the sale stuff are you responsible for ?

-S

 

[Newby]

In a perfect world the selling agent would be there to help the client with a death claim.

In the real world it is usually a funeral director, lawyer or family member that does it.

 

[djs]

In life insurance, once the claim is filed, the client file can be closed (so to speak).

In health, agents are rarely involved in claims, though clients will call about something not being covered or to complain. Day to day though, not a big portion of the day or week.

In P&C, my clients frequently call me first. They want to know if they should file a claim, how it will impact their rates, what if it is the other persons fault, what is covered, etc. I probably get somewhat involved in 30-40% of the claims. Of course, handholding someone through the process is a good way to get referral sales. I don't want to oversell this, its usually a 15-20 minute conversation and depending on the severity, a short followup call later, but it makes a world of difference to the client.

In all cases, a claim call is usually a matter of giving the person the right number to call. If I'm in my office, I'll connect them to the claims department and 3 way the call until they get the policy information completed, then I bow out (my office phone system allows me to do this without disconnnecting the call).

In P&C, once you have helped a few people through the process of a claim, it really helps you feel more comfortable selling the coverage.

Dan

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

djs, care to share with me which phone system your using?

 

[djs]

Trixbox. Fonality trixbox CE, an Asterisk-based PBX Phone System (formerly Asterisk@Home) | trixbox I use the community edition.
It's a free pbx system, works great.

Dan

 

[LGilmore]

"How much after the sale stuff are you responsible for ?"

Depends..What would you expect your agent to do?

I do the same now as when I was captured. When called upon, I help. Maybe it means something down the road, maybe it doesn't. When called upon, I help. period.

 

[insuranceexec]

Why would an agent not want to be involved in a death claim?

Death proceeds are the future annuity contracts!