Call Before You Claim

•  May 08, 2018
•  Complete DKI

Above is the literature the Marketing Team uses to promote the Call Before You Claim Program (CBYC) to insurance agents. There is also an informational video on the process that should be watched prior to implementing the process. What to Know About the Program:

• The Marketing Team has pushed this program to the agents to send us claims before the client files a claim.
• Every CBYC lead should be treated as a job to be sold. It is an emergency job. These job leads are no different than jobs from Google or TPA’s.
• The customer is confused when they call in- should they make a claim or not? It’s our job to schedule a Mit PM to go and EVALUATE the claim.
  1. Do not use the term “Assess” because it can be misinterpreted by the homeowner (HO)
  2. All evaluations are no charge- this is not an Estimate
• It’s the Job Coordinator’s responsibility to push for an evaluation, versus an estimate.
• MOST, not all but most, water damages are either small and no claim needs to be made, or are large and a claim will need to be made. Very few residential water damages are just “medium.”

Process for Receiving a CBYC Job from a Homeowner (HO):

• Receive the call as per normal standards.
  1. Get all pertinent job info- as usual
• Ask for the cost of HO’s deductible. The deductible info should go into notes for the job.
  1. If the HO doesn’t know the deductible- educate him/her on how to find it. “That’s not a problem Mr. HO. Do you have a copy of your insurance policy? The very front page is called Declaration Page, it will have your deductible amount on it. Can you have that ready for the Mit PM when he arrives?”
• If the HO is pushing for an estimate, ask “Did your insurance agent refer you to Complete DKI?”
  1. YES- “ You must be calling as a CBYC customer- we are here to help. I’m going to assign you a Mit PM. And schedule a time for the Mit PM to meet with you and evaluate your situation. Once onsite, he will be able to advise you whether or not to make a claim. If you need to make a claim, he will walk you through the claims process.”
  2. NO- This is an opportunity to sell. If we can get the Mit PM into the home, we can usually get the job. Educate the homeowner on an Evaluation vs. an Estimate. We should only charge for estimates if HO is attempting to bid out the job, or if it’s not an insurance claim. We should always try to sell insurance jobs via an evaluation. It’s our chance to win the customer.
     1. Evaluation- The Mit PM meets with the HO to look at the claim and to answer questions. This is especially helpful if no claim has been filled. “Mr. HO, it sounds like what you need is an evaluation of the water damage. I can schedule for a Mit. PM to meet with you, walk through the water loss, do some moisture reading to see how wet it is and give you some advice on how to proceed. You may need to make a claim but you might not. The Mit PM will be able to tell you more once he is on site. If you do need an estimate, that is something we can address after the evaluation. This is pretty standard for insurance-related work.”
• Schedule the CBYC job just like any other emergency mitigation job and add in notes, “This is a CBYC job”

Process for receiving a CBYC from an Agent: Usually, the agent will identify themselves and the agent calling on behalf of a homeowner. This is a job- instead of the agent filling the claim for the HO, they have trusted us to take care of the HO.

• Take the job info from the agent as usual
• Ask for additional information
  1. The deductible
  2. Does the agent want the Solitaire Link for the claim?
     1. If so, it’s the Project Coordinator’s responsibility to share this link with them.
• Contact HO to get additional info and to schedule for a Mit PM to evaluate the situation

Call Before You Claim Process for the Mit PM: CBYC leads are jobs- the HO just needs to be educated on how to handle the claim, what the claims process is and what role we are going to play. Do moisture reading and evaluate the situation, just as you would with any other claim. Spend the time to build a rapport with the HO so they will give us the job.

1. Take the time to show the HO what is affected and how it will impact the cost of the job.
2. There are two options for the HO when a Mit PM goes to evaluate the situation.
   1. It’s too small to make a claim- as an IICRC Certified professional, you believe this work will cost less than the HO deductible.
      1. If it’s something the HO can handle on their own, advise them how to
      2. If it’s something that is better suited for a handyman, explain to the HO why and recommend someone

• Ask the HO to leave Complete DKI a review via the Podium app

1. It’s large enough to make a claim and we want the work. This is a chance to sell the job.

• SELL THE JOB- Educate the HO on how insurance works, explain why the HO won’t need an estimate up front; if you have to- compare it to health insurance; you’re only responsible for your deductible and the insurance industry sets the pricing through Exactimate.
• Assist the HO in making the claim. Use the sheet of 1-800 numbers, “Good Afternoon Mr. Carrier. This is Mike, Mit PM for Complete DKI. I’m here with Mr. HO, we are working on his water loss and he needs to make a claim. I’m going to put him on the phone now.”
• Process with the job with normal Complete DKI standards.