The Insurance Perspectives Podcast involves contributors outside of HawkSoft. The participants' views are entirely their own and may not reflect the views of HawkSoft.
This recap of the Insurance Perspectives Podcast gives highlights of the two episodes about HawkSoft Partner ClaimSetter. We interview Elnor Rozenrot of ClaimSetter and Torry Wilcox of Insure Pro, an agency that uses ClaimSetter. Elnor and Torry discuss how improving the claims process transforms the painful claims experience for both agencies and insureds.
In this article:
- Part 1: ClaimSetter (Elnor Rozenrot)
- Part 2: Insure Pro (Torry Wilcox)
Part 1: ClaimSetter (Elnor Rozenrot)
Watch the video podcast - Part 1
Question 1: Why does ClaimSetter exist? What is your reason for participating in the independent agency channel?
- Elnor Rozenrot explains that ClaimSetter simplifies the complex, confusing claims process into just three simple steps for insureds: choosing a contractor, defining the scope of work, and confirming satisfaction with the repair.
- Elnor originally started out in the financial industry, and started ClaimSetter after a friend had a frustrating experience where a claim was adjusted within 7 days, but he didn’t receive the money for 8 months.
- ClaimSetter’s goal is to build trust among all parties—carrier, broker, customer, and contractor—and help them focus on solving the problem together efficiently, rather than obstructing each other.
- Torry Wilcox agrees that the claims experience for insureds has only gotten more difficult and frustrating for insureds over time, and echoes the need for products like ClaimSetter to help manage the process.
“There's a complete lack of trust between the different entities: the carrier and the broker and the customer and the contractor. The idea for ClaimSetter was, let's focus on fixing this and on creating trust between these entities so everybody gets exactly what they need, and they’re not creating barriers that make it hard for everyone else to get what they need.”
Question 2: If you had to pick one aspect of ClaimSetter that draws in and keeps agencies working with you, what would that be and why?
- Elnor notes that agents want to fulfill the promises they make to clients, especially during claims, and ClaimSetter helps agencies deliver a great customer experience during that otherwise painful process.
- ClaimSetter helps agencies provide better service and more value to their clients, which in return helps them retain and grow their book of business.
- Torry agrees, saying that clients view their agent as being responsible for their claim, when in reality it can often be out of their control. ClaimSetter helps ensure a positive experience for all parties.
“The agencies we partner with are obsessed with having the right customer experience. Having a good claims experience moves the flywheel in terms of in terms of customer retention and acquisition. You can't just have a great customer experience when you're selling. You also have to have a great customer experience when you actually need to deliver.”
Question 3: How does ClaimSetter approach data ownership with regard to your customers?
- Elnor explains that ClaimSetter only uses and transmits data relevant to servicing the claim. Data is never sold or shared with other parties.
- ClaimSetter adheres to strict data privacy regulations, including those in California and Europe.
- Elnor comes from a financial services background, where data is highly restricted and regulated, and has brought a similar approach to ClaimSetter.
“We only receive claim-relevant data, as a claim is happening, and we solely use it to provision a better experience, whether that means interacting with a contractor or the adjuster or the agent. We never share the data with anyone that is not absolutely required for the provisioning of the service, and we obviously never sell that data.”
Question 4: What is the hardest part of working with insurance agencies?
- Elnor feels the biggest challenge is industry inertia—agencies and carriers can sometimes be set in their ways, and have become used to inefficient processes instead of adopting solutions.
- He appreciates the openness of insurance professionals to discuss the challenges of the claims process while ClaimSetter was being built, and to provide feedback on how to best meet their needs.
- Torry acknowledges the difficulty of breaking industry norms and praises Elnor for pushing through resistance to start ClaimSetter.
“Agents are very open about their challenges. In some cases they treat those challenges as if that’s just the way life is, and there’s nothing we can do about it. But there are also agents like Torry, who are trying to solve the problem even though it’s just one small part of their business, which was a great help to us.”
Question 5: What is the best part of working with insurance agencies?
- Elnor loves meeting agencies who are obsessed with improving customer experience and delivering on their promises.
- He feels the diversity and uniqueness of each agency offer endless opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
“I love finding agencies that are truly obsessed with doing something better for their customer, from that deep desire to live up to the promises that they've made, to provide strategic and tactical short term and long term value for the agency.”
Part 2: Insure Pro(Torry Wilcox)
Watch the video podcast - Part 2
In this episode:
Question 1: Tell us about your agency. How long have you been in the business, and how did you get into the business? Do you have any specializations? What gets you excited about insurance?
- Torry Wilcox shares he started out with Farmers Insurance before deciding to move to independent and starting InsurePro 16 years ago. The agency now has 25 employees.
- Insure Pro’s business mix is 50% personal lines, 25% commercial, and 25% health and life, with a focus on personal lines for affluent households.
- Insure Pro’s goal is find customers that are looking for risk advisors that will consult with them and provide value, rather than simply selling policies.
- Torry enjoys solving the insurance puzzle for clients to ensure they have the best coverage.
“I love taking somebody's situation and all the different puzzle pieces they need—carriers, pricing, coverages—and making it fit for that person so they are adequately protected. Figuring out that puzzle and making sure that it comes together when they need us, that's what gets me up and doing it every day.”
Question 2: What was your agency looking for when you first encountered ClaimSetter?
- Torry noticed a decline in the claims experience for his clients, due to reasons beyond the agency’s control such as carrier or adjuster issues, and was concerned it would hurt the agency’s retention.
- Insure Pro found ClaimSetter aligned with their vision of improving the claims process, and feels it has greatly improved the client’s claim experience.
- Elnor adds that agencies often discover ClaimSetter when trying to improve their claims process internally, to help client retention.
- Torry notes that ClaimSetter allowed the agency to take better control of the claims process and be proactive advocates for their clients. This can be a big differentiator for independent agencies, as many completely defer the claims process to the carrier.
- Elnor points out that while ClaimSetter cannot control the outcome of the claim, which lies with the carrier, it can control the experience, such as making sure the client gets the information quickly.
“Because of the carrier or the adjuster not doing their job in a timely manner, the claims experience was degrading over time. I had started working on this problem when I came across ClaimSetter, and our vision really aligned as far as helping the customer have a great claims experience.”
Question 3: What is your agency able to do now with ClaimSetter that you couldn't do before?
- Torry feels ClaimSetter provides an advocate to simplify the claims process, accelerate resolution, and offload the time-intensive process from the agency.
- The agency can have ClaimSetter send contractors to assess damage, which helps them make an informed decision about filing the claim with the carrier.
- Once the claim is filed, ClaimSetter has dedicated people to work with the adjuster and proactively move the process forward.
- Elnor says speed and certainty are some of the biggest benefits ClaimSetter provides, giving an example of an insured being able to get a whole roof replacement within nine days of their first contact with the agency.
- Clients are happier and more likely to stay with the agency or consider adding additional lines of business after a positive claims experience.
“The thing ClaimSetter has brought to the table for our agency is the ability to have an advocate working for our clients at a level that we don't have the resources to do. Having them to walk through that very complex claims process and really simplify it for our clients has been awesome.”
Question 4: What is one thing that you would change about ClaimSetter if you could?
- Torry has seen some carriers push back against working with ClaimSetter instead of the insured, due to it being a new product and model. He is hopeful this will change over time.
- Elnor shares that while some carriers are hesitant about working with ClaimSetter at first, no carrier has refused to work with them after trying the process.
- Elnor feels some of the carrier apprehension might be due to fear that ClaimSetter will argue the claim, but repeats that ClaimSetter’s mission is to make the process more fast, easy, and efficient rather than changing the outcome of the claim.
- Torry feels ClaimSetter has always been helpful and responsive to work with, and appreciates receiving a weekly email with updates on ongoing claims.
“Most carriers have been really good to work with, but we've had pushback from some carriers saying we are not allowed to work with other parties on their claims. So it is going to take time for some, and others will be early adopters.”
Question 5: How would you describe the value that ClaimSetter brings to your agency?
- Torry feels ClaimSetter creates more happy customers, which leads to retention, referrals, and upsell opportunities.
- ClaimSetter helps agencies deliver on the promise of protection, resulting in positive reviews and client satisfaction.
- Torry emphasizes that ClaimSetter allows agents to feel good about helping clients through difficult situations.
“What we're selling is a promise, which isn’t something they can touch and feel until they have a claim. And so when they have a positive experience, that makes you feel good as an agent. And that's why a lot of people are in this business, is to feel good about helping a client get out of a bad situation.”
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